I lost my whole tank in one day.....Need advice/motivation

[MattR]

Well here it is...I never thought it would happen to me, I lost 3 pairs of clowns in the matter of 24 hours.
Timeline: last night I looked into my tank to see a mocha storm dead on the bottom, no nipping no holes etc. Took out/water change
Woke up this morning to see my snowflakes at the bottom (swimming slowly but breathing rapidly), 10 minutes later one snow flake died.
30 minutes later, the other snowflake is rapdily breathing not moving, thought I had an ammonia spike for some reason, took the snowflake out into another tank, within 45 minutes he was breathing slower, still laying on it side. Seperated into a specimen container with an airstone, to prepare a FW dip and treatment, 2 hours later dead. 7 Oclock roles around....Clarkiis start acting weird. One at the top gasping for air, one on the bottom on its stomach looking like it was sleeping. 5 minute freshwater dip, nothing came off, 90 minute Reef rally dip (2 Tsp for 2 gallons). Looked alot better while doing treatmnet. After treatment walked to QT tank to drip and get settled in. Both clarkiis dead.


Tank 20 gallon High divided for each pair.
3 large sponge filters
Heater (Constant 79)
No other inhabitants
Fish were in tank for about 3 months together (seperated)
water change 1x per week about 20%

Parameters (this morning before I lost the clarkis
Ph 7.8
Alk 153
Ammonia 0
Nitrite 0.1
Nitrate 0.22
Ca 503
Mg 1478
Phos 1.5 (maybe the issue)

My thoughts, brooklynella due to no ammonia but rapid breathing

I am very close to getting out of the hobby currently as I am so upset.

Any help advice would be great

 

[WirelessMike]

I’m sorry for your loss. I battled something similar a while back. I also felt the same way about dropping out of the hobby and slowly licking my wounds. However, I realized the joy and challenge this hobby has brought me and I took it on the chin and vowed to be better the next go around. I really hope you stick it out. It’s never fun to have a crash like that but I think that if you had the passion to post this and ask opinions you really want to keep going! I really hope that is the case and once again I’m sorry for such a devastating loss. It totally sucks when it happens!

 

[Greg P]

Doubt it was PO4 but I may be wrong
Also doubt it was Brook as it usually kills within days not months

I suggest you post this in the fish disease forum

 

[Homebrewer]

How much live rock do you have? I’m looking at you using 3 sponge filters as a means of mechanical filtration. For what it’s worth, I have 5 fish in a 65 gallon with probably 70+ pounds of live rock, skimmer, other mechanical filtration. I haven’t had a detectable nitrite reading in almost 15 years.

The fact that you had a nitrite reading prior to the initial death indicates to me that your system was on the cusp of being out of balance where the input of “bad” stuff (fish poop, etc.) was starting to overwhelm the ability to get rid of it (your biological and mechanical filtration). The initial death could have tipped the scales.

So here is some motivation: you maintained a system with 3 pairs of clownfish for months when in my estimation it should have failed in weeks. This obviously speaks to your attention to the system and husbandry skills. Now you get to dig into the hobby more, do a little more research, maybe obtain some better equipment, and start over. If the idea of that excites you, then you have your motivation; if it doesn’t, then maybe it’s time to hang it up. After all, this hobby is challenging, but it’s supposed to be fun!

 

[Reef Mamma]

I'm really sorry for your loss .. and can definitely feel your pain. Over the Holidays lost 5 of myself including 2 of my clownfish; whom had been with me for 4 months. I am in no way an expert but simply learning like many here. IME, it sounds like you may have caught Brooklynella and unfortunately its highly contagious amongst clown. Both of mine had exact symptoms to yours and we misdiagnosed for Ick. As devastating as it can be, hang in there... the hobby in itself is rewarding and agree with Homebrewer post I applaud your husbandry skills. IMO only thought Temp maybe slightly high as clown fish thrive in 72-78 degrees and maybe try a QT for new ?

 

[MattR]

I’m sorry for your loss. I battled something similar a while back. I also felt the same way about dropping out of the hobby and slowly licking my wounds. However, I realized the joy and challenge this hobby has brought me and I took it on the chin and vowed to be better the next go around. I really hope you stick it out. It’s never fun to have a crash like that but I think that if you had the passion to post this and ask opinions you really want to keep going! I really hope that is the case and once again I’m sorry for such a devastating loss. It totally sucks when it happens!

Thank you for those words. I really think the frustrating part is not ever knowing what went wrong and potentially blaming myself

 

[MattR]

How would I go about moving the thread @Greg P

 

[MattR]

How much live rock do you have? I’m looking at you using 3 sponge filters as a means of mechanical filtration. For what it’s worth, I have 5 fish in a 65 gallon with probably 70+ pounds of live rock, skimmer, other mechanical filtration. I haven’t had a detectable nitrite reading in almost 15 years.

The fact that you had a nitrite reading prior to the initial death indicates to me that your system was on the cusp of being out of balance where the input of “bad” stuff (fish poop, etc.) was starting to overwhelm the ability to get rid of it (your biological and mechanical filtration). The initial death could have tipped the scales.

So here is some motivation: you maintained a system with 3 pairs of clownfish for months when in my estimation it should have failed in weeks. This obviously speaks to your attention to the system and husbandry skills. Now you get to dig into the hobby more, do a little more research, maybe obtain some better equipment, and start over. If the idea of that excites you, then you have your motivation; if it doesn’t, then maybe it’s time to hang it up. After all, this hobby is challenging, but it’s supposed to be fun!

Thank you for that! I have other tanks up and running right now fine (knock on wood) like an anemone tank and other tanks with clowns. I have no issue ever spending the money on whatever I could need, I thought I was doing everything right (on this tank) but I guess that was incorrect. Thank you again

 

[MattR]

I'm really sorry for your loss .. and can definitely feel your pain. Over the Holidays lost 5 of myself including 2 of my clownfish; whom had been with me for 4 months. I am in no way an expert but simply learning like many here. IME, it sounds like you may have caught Brooklynella and unfortunately its highly contagious amongst clown. Both of mine had exact symptoms to yours and we misdiagnosed for Ick. As devastating as it can be, hang in there... the hobby in itself is rewarding and agree with Homebrewer post I applaud your husbandry skills. IMO only thought Temp maybe slightly high as clown fish thrive in 72-78 degrees and maybe try a QT for new ?

Brook would also be the only thing I can think of. Temp is fine as I have a lot of friends who breed and keep fry, juveniles at 85 degrees. I may never know what went wrong which is frustrating

 

[Jay Hemdal]

Well here it is...I never thought it would happen to me, I lost 3 pairs of clowns in the matter of 24 hours.
Timeline: last night I looked into my tank to see a mocha storm dead on the bottom, no nipping no holes etc. Took out/water change
Woke up this morning to see my snowflakes at the bottom (swimming slowly but breathing rapidly), 10 minutes later one snow flake died.
30 minutes later, the other snowflake is rapdily breathing not moving, thought I had an ammonia spike for some reason, took the snowflake out into another tank, within 45 minutes he was breathing slower, still laying on it side. Seperated into a specimen container with an airstone, to prepare a FW dip and treatment, 2 hours later dead. 7 Oclock roles around....Clarkiis start acting weird. One at the top gasping for air, one on the bottom on its stomach looking like it was sleeping. 5 minute freshwater dip, nothing came off, 90 minute Reef rally dip (2 Tsp for 2 gallons). Looked alot better while doing treatmnet. After treatment walked to QT tank to drip and get settled in. Both clarkiis dead.


Tank 20 gallon High divided for each pair.
3 large sponge filters
Heater (Constant 79)
No other inhabitants
Fish were in tank for about 3 months together (seperated)
water change 1x per week about 20%

Parameters (this morning before I lost the clarkis
Ph 7.8
Alk 153
Ammonia 0
Nitrite 0.1
Nitrate 0.22
Ca 503
Mg 1478
Phos 1.5 (maybe the issue)

My thoughts, brooklynella due to no ammonia but rapid breathing

I am very close to getting out of the hobby currently as I am so upset.

Any help advice would be great

How do your sponge filters operate, by airlift?

My normal key diagnostic isn't available in this case; I always look for cases where invertebrates in the tank are thriving, but the fish died, that is ALWAYS the result of a fish disease. No inverts in the tank means I can't rule out other issues, the two most common are low dissolved oxygen and external poisoning of some sort. If your sponge filters operate off airlifts, then it isn't likely to be oxygen, and you just need to think back to determine if anything was used in the tank or in the room that could have caused poisoning. All that ruled out leaves Amyloodinium (velvet) as the most likely culprit - rapid breathing and death are often the only symptoms seen with that.

Jay

 

[HockeyRooster]

I have no solutions but wanted to say good luck and keep with it.

 

[GoReefin]

What's your salinity? Also were you dosing anything at all? We've all been there it's heart wrenching. Keep at it and you'll learn from this.

 

[MattR]

How do your sponge filters operate, by airlift?

My normal key diagnostic isn't available in this case; I always look for cases where invertebrates in the tank are thriving, but the fish died, that is ALWAYS the result of a fish disease. No inverts in the tank means I can't rule out other issues, the two most common are low dissolved oxygen and external poisoning of some sort. If your sponge filters operate off airlifts, then it isn't likely to be oxygen, and you just need to think back to determine if anything was used in the tank or in the room that could have caused poisoning. All that ruled out leaves Amyloodinium (velvet) as the most likely culprit - rapid breathing and death are often the only symptoms seen with that.

Jay

Jay,

Aeration was done buy sponge filters via airlift tubes. So I highly doubt it was O2, as far as velvet I did not notice any spots on any of the fish. I have pictures but they won't upload. Definitely no air borne pollutants, No air fresheners in the room, no cleaning supplies. In fact a I was opening the window every day for about an hour. Candles were lit in living room that about 20 ft in another room

 

[MattR]

What's your salinity? Also were you dosing anything at all? We've all been there it's heart wrenching. Keep at it and you'll learn from this.

Salanity was 10.025 via hanna checker

 

[HomebroodExotics]

You may have had an ammonia spike since you have nitrites showing. Possibly over fed them would be my first thought.

 

[Shadows Reef]

Well here it is...I never thought it would happen to me, I lost 3 pairs of clowns in the matter of 24 hours.
Timeline: last night I looked into my tank to see a mocha storm dead on the bottom, no nipping no holes etc. Took out/water change
Woke up this morning to see my snowflakes at the bottom (swimming slowly but breathing rapidly), 10 minutes later one snow flake died.
30 minutes later, the other snowflake is rapdily breathing not moving, thought I had an ammonia spike for some reason, took the snowflake out into another tank, within 45 minutes he was breathing slower, still laying on it side. Seperated into a specimen container with an airstone, to prepare a FW dip and treatment, 2 hours later dead. 7 Oclock roles around....Clarkiis start acting weird. One at the top gasping for air, one on the bottom on its stomach looking like it was sleeping. 5 minute freshwater dip, nothing came off, 90 minute Reef rally dip (2 Tsp for 2 gallons). Looked alot better while doing treatmnet. After treatment walked to QT tank to drip and get settled in. Both clarkiis dead.


Tank 20 gallon High divided for each pair.
3 large sponge filters
Heater (Constant 79)
No other inhabitants
Fish were in tank for about 3 months together (seperated)
water change 1x per week about 20%

Parameters (this morning before I lost the clarkis
Ph 7.8
Alk 153
Ammonia 0
Nitrite 0.1
Nitrate 0.22
Ca 503
Mg 1478
Phos 1.5 (maybe the issue)

My thoughts, brooklynella due to no ammonia but rapid breathing

I am very close to getting out of the hobby currently as I am so upset.

Any help advice would be great

What nitrate test kit are you using? Pro tip:
“When comparing nitrate values with other aquarists or to
published values, always make sure you know whether the value
your test kit provides is nitrate-nitrogen or nitrate ion. Otherwise,
your readings may seem too high or too low compared to others. To
convert nitrate-nitrogen values to nitrate ion multiply by 4.”

From
The Reef Aquarium Volume Three
J. Charles Delbeek & Julian Sprung

The Reef Aquarium Volume Three

Lifestyle & Home · 2013

books.apple.com

This material may be protected by copyright.

 

[Jay Hemdal]

Jay,

Aeration was done buy sponge filters via airlift tubes. So I highly doubt it was O2, as far as velvet I did not notice any spots on any of the fish. I have pictures but they won't upload. Definitely no air borne pollutants, No air fresheners in the room, no cleaning supplies. In fact a I was opening the window every day for about an hour. Candles were lit in living room that about 20 ft in another room

Amyloodinium in the gills can kill fish with no discrete spots showing on the skin - rapid breathing and swimming into currents or breathing at the surface can be the only symptoms...

Jay

 

[gentlefish]

I feel for you and the loss you experience. Reefing can be rewarding and heartbreaking at the same time. This was a sudden wipeout event and as Jay noted within 3 days everyone is dead, everyone with signs of disease is not recoverable. Sounds like velvet. I lost 1/2 crew to velvet and much as yourself hit rock bottom. Put the tank in the basement, but noticed over the next few month that there was still life. The copper survivors, the corals and that I was not done and over with. My wife was supportive enough for me to invest into a bigger system with UV and apex so that I have one more tank for QT. I hope that much as myself you can endure, learn , overcome and enjoy this hobby again reducing risks as you go. Best of luck and strength to you!

 

[Greg P]

How would I go about moving the thread @Greg P

I wasn't suggesting a move, but rather a new post.
Doesn't matter as the fish disease guys have jumped in !!

 

[Bepis]

Thank you for that! I have other tanks up and running right now fine (knock on wood) like an anemone tank and other tanks with clowns. I have no issue ever spending the money on whatever I could need, I thought I was doing everything right (on this tank) but I guess that was incorrect. Thank you again

Why don’t you do a ICP, Triton, or ATI test? Might help you find the problem.