Hello everyone! I’m honestly clueless about what could be causing these repeated fish deaths, and I’m hoping someone experienced with fish diseases can help me figure this out.
Here’s what happened:
Early October
I noticed that my purple tang, which I had purchased from local hobbyists in September, had developed some spots. It was a healthy, medium-sized fish when I bought it. I suspected either ich or velvet, but since it was still eating, I initially decided to manage it as ich while waiting for my quarantine tank to arrive.
Two days later, my Midas blenny, which had been eating well the day before, suddenly lost interest in food and died that night.The following evening, one of my clownfish also died.Worried about losing more fish, I quickly performed H₂O₂ dips and transferred the fish to my QT with copper at 2 ppm. Unfortunately, my purple tang died a few hours after the dip. Another clownfish died in quarantine the following day.After my formalin and metronidazole arrived
A few days later, I started performing 30-minute formalin dips every 2–3 days, followed by 100% water changes to provide a clean environment. I also treated the quarantine tank with copper and metronidazole.
I continued the treatment protocol for approximately two weeks before removing the copper. After that, I only did once a week water change with metronidazole.
Fast-forward to now
Two days ago, I noticed one of my anthias had a bulging eye and was breathing extremely rapidly. I performed another water change and added metronidazole, hoping to help it recover. I had also ordered Epsom salt, thinking it might help with the swollen eye, but unfortunately, the anthias died the following day before the Epsom salt arrived. (Forgot to take photos)
Then, this evening, I found another anthias dead. When I checked on the fish that morning, it wasn’t breathing heavily, so its sudden death caught me completely off guard.I’ve attached photographs of my deceased fish because I’m struggling to understand what’s happening.
Here’s what happened:
Early October
I noticed that my purple tang, which I had purchased from local hobbyists in September, had developed some spots. It was a healthy, medium-sized fish when I bought it. I suspected either ich or velvet, but since it was still eating, I initially decided to manage it as ich while waiting for my quarantine tank to arrive.
Two days later, my Midas blenny, which had been eating well the day before, suddenly lost interest in food and died that night.The following evening, one of my clownfish also died.Worried about losing more fish, I quickly performed H₂O₂ dips and transferred the fish to my QT with copper at 2 ppm. Unfortunately, my purple tang died a few hours after the dip. Another clownfish died in quarantine the following day.After my formalin and metronidazole arrived
A few days later, I started performing 30-minute formalin dips every 2–3 days, followed by 100% water changes to provide a clean environment. I also treated the quarantine tank with copper and metronidazole.
I continued the treatment protocol for approximately two weeks before removing the copper. After that, I only did once a week water change with metronidazole.
Fast-forward to now
Two days ago, I noticed one of my anthias had a bulging eye and was breathing extremely rapidly. I performed another water change and added metronidazole, hoping to help it recover. I had also ordered Epsom salt, thinking it might help with the swollen eye, but unfortunately, the anthias died the following day before the Epsom salt arrived. (Forgot to take photos)
Then, this evening, I found another anthias dead. When I checked on the fish that morning, it wasn’t breathing heavily, so its sudden death caught me completely off guard.I’ve attached photographs of my deceased fish because I’m struggling to understand what’s happening.
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