Fishes dying. Water parameters stable

[shivangid]

I had a lot of my fish died suddenly in my 55 gallon tank (3 cardinal, 2 firefish, 1 yellow clown goby and 1 royal gamma basslet). No visible marks on the fish except for the firefishes were swimming upside down. Water parameters are all stable (Nitrate - 0, Ammonia - 0.03, Phosphate - 0.08, salanity -33, pH - 8.2)

 

[shivangid]

Firefishes died with mouth wide open

 

[Pistondog]

Welcome to r2r,
Seems like a new tank?
How do you get your saltwater?

 

[shivangid]

Welcome to r2r,
Seems like a new tank?
How do you get your saltwater?

6 months old tank. I use tap water and mix reef crystal salt in it. I use seachem prime water conditioner in the water before making salt water mix. I can not set up the RODI system because I live in a rented apartment. I have 2 circulation pumps, protein skimmer, 1 canister inlet so there should be no oxygen deficiency.

 

[robotrash]

6 months old tank. I use tap water and mix reef crystal salt in it. I use seachem prime water conditioner in the water before making salt water mix. I can not set up the RODI system because I live in a rented apartment.

Fwiw, you can set up RODI in an apartment, there are plenty of adapters for bathroom/kitchen sinks that would allow you to make some RODI without altering plumbing. It's definitely worth looking into as there are a lot of toxins that can be in tap.

I have no idea if that was the cause, just my 2 cents.

 

[Pistondog]

Can you list all livestock?

 

[shivangid]

Can you list all livestock?

1 Diamond goby, 1 mandarin dragonet, 2 remaining black cardinal, 3 scooters, 1 hippo blue tang, 2 clown fish, 1 foxface tang, 2 urchins, 3 cleaning crew crabs, 3 tornado snail,1 pom pom crab, corals (zoa, torch, clove polyp, mushrooms, acroporas, goniopora)

 

[Pistondog]

Takes some time, but maybe icp water test and use distilled water to make your salt water. Do not use tap water.

 

[Idech]

Did you add a fish or invert recently ? Did you deep clean your sand ?

 

[ISpeakForTheSeas]

Welcome to Reef2Reef! Sorry for your troubles.

As mentioned, you can get a small RO/DI system and an adapter so that you can just pull the RO/DI out, set it on the counter, and hook it up to the sink faucet when you need to change water - no plumbing or screws in the walls/cabinets needed. I haven’t looked at Austin’s water report, so I don’t know what the water quality is like, but an RO/DI system is something I’d recommend regardless of local water quality just to be safe.

That said - assuming your tank is cycled - I doubt that the tap water is the issue here. It could be (I’m not an expert), but I’d assume disease is more likely. With that in mind, I’d suggest posting here in this thread the information suggested by the link below:

Some Helpful Hints When Posting or Responding to Threads in the Fish Disease Treatment and Diagnosis Section

Aquarium Fish Disease Problem Solving Determining the best course of action for a problem with your aquarium can be a difficult task. Even advanced aquarists will often need to seek the help of others for complicated or unique issues. Our intent here on Reef 2 Reef is to offer expert advice...

www.reef2reef.com

And to get some expert opinions here: #fishmedic#fishmedic

 

[shivangid]

Did you add a fish or invert recently ? Did you deep clean your sand ?

yes, i deep clean sand every week whenever i do water change. Yes, i added red ruby dragonet which jumped out of the tank and i found it on my carpet and I added 2 hermit crabs as well.

 

[MnFish1]

Can you describe what you do with your sand? Siphoning off does not make a difference. Was there anything that happened just before - i.e. had you done a water change, - how long after you added the new fish did you have the deaths - did they all happen at once - or one by one over days. Did they have any other symptoms - When you say swimming upside down do you mean swimming at the water surface?

Any problem with any inverts in the tank? And what if anything survived - it's a little unclear. PS - sorry about your fish.

 

[shivangid]

Can you describe what you do with your sand? Siphoning off does not make a difference. Was there anything that happened just before - i.e. had you done a water change, - how long after you added the new fish did you have the deaths - did they all happen at once - or one by one over days. Did they have any other symptoms - When you say swimming upside down do you mean swimming at the water surface?

Any problem with any inverts in the tank? And what if anything survived - it's a little unclear. PS - sorry about your fish.

I siphon off the sand but is there any other way to deep clean the sand? First 2 fishes died after 2 weeks of adding dragonet and inverts then others died like 2 fishes in a day after a week of first two fishes death in 2 consecutive days. All inverts are perfectly fine.

Found clown goby and 1 black cardinal sticking to canister inlet. 1 black cardinal sticking to circulation pump. Rest of them found on sand. Firefishes died in front of my eyes and they started swimming upside down and laying on sand with arched body in between.

 

[El Toro]

I had a lot of my fish died suddenly in my 55 gallon tank (3 cardinal, 2 firefish, 1 yellow clown goby and 1 royal gamma basslet). No visible marks on the fish except for the firefishes were swimming upside down. Water parameters are all stable (Nitrate - 0, Ammonia - 0.03, Phosphate - 0.08, salanity -33, pH - 8.2)

What was the water temp? High pH and high temp can increase the toxicity of ammonia. Do you have a QT tank? Were any fish alive? Sometimes a "dead" looking fish will pop back once in a small, stable QT tank.

 

[shivangid]

What was the water temp? High pH and h8gh temp can increase the toxicity of ammonia. Do you have a QT tank? Were any fish alive? Sometimes a "dead" looking fish will ppp back once in a small, stable QT tank.

78 is water temp. pH is 8.2. No, none of them were alive, immediately after 1 firefish fell on sand, Diamond goby grabbed it. For the second firefish, when it fell on sand tang grabbed it. I didn’t know what to do or how to save them. I just don’t want to loose anymore fish and anyhow save them if it’s a disease.

 

[00W]

RO buddy. $69 on Amazon. Comes with adapters for faucet etc. Works great, portable and no screws or anything complicated. It's what I use.
On to your problem.
My opinion. Seems like a lot of fish for a 55.
My opinion.
Got any pictures?
Sometimes, as it's said, pictures say a thousand words.

 

[El Toro]

78 is water temp. pH is 8.2. No, none of them were alive, immediately after 1 firefish fell on sand, Diamond goby grabbed it. For the second firefish, when it fell on sand tang grabbed it. I didn’t know what to do or how to save them. I just don’t want to loose anymore fish and anyhow save them if it’s a disease.

Sorry about losing your fish. Sometimes a hasty 1.024 saline bucket is better than nothing when trying to save fish.

 

[Jay Hemdal]

Firefishes died with mouth wide open

Welcome to Reef2Reef!

This dying with an open mouth is an important clue. That is a sign of either low dissolved oxygen or gill disease.

That NONE of the invertebrates have died, including corals, means that this is not a basic water quality problem.

First off - does that tank have good aeration, not just circulation? Are there air bubbles breaking the water's surface? A protein skimmer will do that, as will an air stone. Second best would be a water pump pointed at the surface to make bubbles.

Then, given the fish dying every few days or so, I think you can rule out the disease known as velvet, that would kill the fish much faster. That leaves gill flukes as a possibility.


Jay