I think my tank is dying

RabidClownFish

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Almost all my fish seem lethargic this morning and are not eating

So I have a 150g mostly fish setup. Couple softies but I’ve really been trying to take it slow with corals.

I have three fire fish, two clowns, two bengai cardinals, a royal gramma, a bicolor Blenny, a coral beauty, and a magnificent foxface.

This morning I fed them and nobody is really eating except the foxface. It just seems weird that nobody would come out. Sometimes the fire fish skip breakfast so that’s not too weird and the clowns are always weird but I’m just worried something is wrong because the foxface is the only one swimming around and it just doesn’t seem normal.

Idk if I’m just being a hypochondriac or overthinking but I’m worried something is wrong because normally all the fish are out and swimming around by this time and the tank looks empty.

I added a Halloween hermit crab yesterday other than that everything is normal. I checked the temp (76.5), salinity (1.025), ammonia (0), nitrates (pretty high at about 20 ppm but I just removed about half of my dragons breath from the refugium and a ton of hair algae so I expect the tank to need time to catch up) (not sure if that would cause this), ph (about 7.5 which I have been struggling with. I have ph plus but I try not to use it too much because people say not to chase this number although it does seem important idk), alk (8 I think. That test is weird), and I believe that’s everything I tested.

One thing I know is bad is I still don’t have my RODI set up and I’ve been using tap water for water changes. I’ve had three plumbers ghost me now and one even kept a security deposit and won’t get back to me. I should have done that before even setting the tank up but this is where I’m at with that. From what I’ve read this is not a major problem as long as I use dechlorinator which I always do. I head it’s just best practice to use RODI water.

Sorry this is a lot I’m just freaking out a little because this seems weird and I am paranoid about having an out of nowhere tank crash. Everyone is hiding and it’s just making me super nervous.

For anything else I can think of, I don’t see any weird spots or anything on the fish I can see, the foxface looks like he isn’t stressed, (he’s got his happy colors on), the zoas look happy, the shrimps are chillin like normal, idk everything seems fine except all the fish are hiding.

Am I just being paranoid? Again sorry for the long read I appreciate all comments and criticism.

Update 1: My purple fire fish is dead. He was the main one I was worried about swimming near the bottom. It looked like he finally just kind of gave up and stopped swimming completely. Really hope he’s the only one

Update 2: I put carbon in the filter socks and two emergency bubblers in the tank to see if that helps. The foxface is starting to act weird now too. My LFS is closed right now and I don’t really know who else I could call.
 

hebdizzle

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Sorry, really not sure. First suggestions are to check parameters, for voltage, run bubbler and do a water change. If you think water is the issue, obviously don’t do that step.
 

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I would suspect you introduced some type of disease like velvet or maybe some toxin with the addition of the crab. That is the only thing I know that can cause widespread death that rapidly. The use of tap water does not really affect fish IME. Are the fish breathing heavily?
 

Ben.QLD2

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Conduct a massive water change to start with, 50% or so. Make sure all your equipment is working, skimmer etc. Then start looking for disease symptoms. When was your last addition, apart from the crab? Photos may help. Whole tank and individual fish.
 
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RabidClownFish

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Hello! Sorry everyone I haven’t been on here I’m just freaking out and have been talking to people on Reddit. I don’t use this site much.

So far I’ve lost one firefish for sure and it looks like a second one is on his way out. They look normal I don’t see any marks or anything weird on them. The foxface goes through periods of terrible looking color and weird swimming behaviors to looking fine and hanging out in his cave. My foxface and coral beauty ate a little bit of dinner but nobody else ate.

I added two air stones as someone on Reddit suggested maybe it’s O2, I can’t really tell if it’s doing anything. The firefish do seem to be struggling to breathe but everyone else seems to be breathing fine.

I don’t have a skimmer or anything fancy, I have a 65 gallon sump with filter socks and a refugium full of dragons breath and hair algae. I tried to do a big ‘fuge clean two days ago and removed a ton of algae and stuff so idk if maybe I released something into the tank? It got pretty bad, my dad died three weeks ago and the little cleaning I was doing in the sump went to zero while I went home for a week and my neighbor fed the fish.

I also got sick when I came home so I’ve been in bed for like a week. Now that I’ve been better over the last couple days I tried getting the tank back to where it was. I always wash my hands really well before going in the tank but could they have gotten sick from me? That sounds kind of crazy but I’m out of ideas. I don’t know what I had but my wife and daughter didn’t get it. Nor my cats…

I have to go to work tomorrow morning for a 48 hour shift and I’m worried everything is gonna die while I’m gone and my wife won’t know what to do beside remove the dead ones and tell me about it. This sucks
 

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Rmckoy

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First thing that comes to my mind is something changed ..
either you added something new , stirred the sand , moved rocks , dosed something ,

these types of things don’t normally just happen suddenly .

unless disease had a chance to enter ? But if so you would have noticed it after some sort of addition or change
 

vetteguy53081

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Hello! Sorry everyone I haven’t been on here I’m just freaking out and have been talking to people on Reddit. I don’t use this site much.

So far I’ve lost one firefish for sure and it looks like a second one is on his way out. They look normal I don’t see any marks or anything weird on them. The foxface goes through periods of terrible looking color and weird swimming behaviors to looking fine and hanging out in his cave. My foxface and coral beauty ate a little bit of dinner but nobody else ate.

I added two air stones as someone on Reddit suggested maybe it’s O2, I can’t really tell if it’s doing anything. The firefish do seem to be struggling to breathe but everyone else seems to be breathing fine.

I don’t have a skimmer or anything fancy, I have a 65 gallon sump with filter socks and a refugium full of dragons breath and hair algae. I tried to do a big ‘fuge clean two days ago and removed a ton of algae and stuff so idk if maybe I released something into the tank? It got pretty bad, my dad died three weeks ago and the little cleaning I was doing in the sump went to zero while I went home for a week and my neighbor fed the fish.

I also got sick when I came home so I’ve been in bed for like a week. Now that I’ve been better over the last couple days I tried getting the tank back to where it was. I always wash my hands really well before going in the tank but could they have gotten sick from me? That sounds kind of crazy but I’m out of ideas. I don’t know what I had but my wife and daughter didn’t get it. Nor my cats…

I have to go to work tomorrow morning for a 48 hour shift and I’m worried everything is gonna die while I’m gone and my wife won’t know what to do beside remove the dead ones and tell me about it. This sucks
I assure you- with Reddit- Youre going to get many conflicting recommendations. Many experienced an long term reefers on here.
I dont recall any parameters mentioned especially your levels for ammonia-nitrate-ph - salinity.
What test kits are you running ?
How long has tank been running ?
How did you acclimate/introduce fish and for how long ?

I would do a good water change and add an airstone for added oxygen ASAP

Are fish itching or darting?
Any of them holding mouth open like yawning ?
Any of them swimming in front of power heads?
What type of filtration are you running ?
Are you using RODI water or tap water from faucet ?
 

OldRed1

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I assure you- with Reddit- Youre going to get many conflicting recommendations. Many experienced an long term reefers on here.
I dont recall any parameters mentioned especially your levels for ammonia-nitrate-ph - salinity.
What test kits are you running ?
How long has tank been running ?
How did you acclimate/introduce fish and for how long ?

I would do a good water change and add an airstone for added oxygen ASAP

Are fish itching or darting?
Any of them holding mouth open like yawning ?
Any of them swimming in front of power heads?
What type of filtration are you running ?
Are you using RODI water or tap water from faucet ?
He said he’s using tap with a dechlorinator.
 

Rmckoy

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I assure you- with Reddit- Youre going to get many conflicting recommendations. Many experienced an long term reefers on here.
I dont recall any parameters mentioned especially your levels for ammonia-nitrate-ph - salinity.
What test kits are you running ?
How long has tank been running ?
How did you acclimate/introduce fish and for how long ?

I would do a good water change and add an airstone for added oxygen ASAP

Are fish itching or darting?
Any of them holding mouth open like yawning ?
Any of them swimming in front of power heads?
What type of filtration are you running ?
Are you using RODI water or tap water from faucet ?
Fish swimming towards wave makers ?
I have a few that do that on a regular basis .and thought it’s just a weird thing they like doing

for example the sailfin will swim across the flow over and over getting pushed half way across the tank
 

vetteguy53081

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He said he’s using tap with a dechlorinator.
Yeah , I just wanted to re-iterate as It appears New Tank with tap water , not cycled and more
 

vetteguy53081

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Fish swimming towards wave makers ?
I have a few that do that on a regular basis .and thought it’s just a weird thing they like doing

for example the sailfin will swim across the flow over and over getting pushed half way across the tank
Thats ok- swimming in front of it for extended period of time is not
 
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RabidClownFish

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I assure you- with Reddit- Youre going to get many conflicting recommendations. Many experienced an long term reefers on here.
I dont recall any parameters mentioned especially your levels for ammonia-nitrate-ph - salinity.
What test kits are you running ?
How long has tank been running ?
How did you acclimate/introduce fish and for how long ?

I would do a good water change and add an airstone for added oxygen ASAP

Are fish itching or darting?
Any of them holding mouth open like yawning ?
Any of them swimming in front of power heads?
What type of filtration are you running ?
Are you using RODI water or tap water from faucet ?

So I’m actually doing the math and I guess we’ve only had fish in it for three and a half months now. We cycled it for about a month and a half as per all the instructions. There hasn’t been any ammonia since the cycle was finished.

Today I have 0 ammonia, 0 nitrites, and about 20 nitrates. I’m using the API test kits I have the master saltwater one and master reef kit.

I’ve been trying to introduce fish very slowly. I started with the two clowns and three firefish, I was told that’s fine for a 150g after the cycle is complete. I had them for a week or two, not sure on exact dates but I slowly added fish since then one or two at a time every week or two. Also added shrimp, snails, and crabs throughout. And copepods. I’ve been trying to do everything slow.

For acclimation I usually pick them up at my LFS, I float them for 15-20 minutes to adjust to the temp, then I drip acclimate in a bucket until it has four times as much water. Then I add them to the tank. Everything has seemed fine they usually go and find a hidey hole and come out a day or two later. Everything has been fine except for I had two Benggai cardinals die I believe it was from bullying. Also had random hermit crabs die. And two emerald crabs. My LFS said they probably starved so I started feeding two frozen cubes a day of different kinds and I also put two algae wafers in every night.

Right now, everyone seems to be hiding in the caves. The fire fish that died came out and swam/twitched on the bottom before giving up and floating away into the power head where I pulled him out. The second firefish is just laying on the bottom, sometimes he tries to swim or goes back to his cave, but he does look like he is breathing more than normal. Nobody is swimming into power heads and they all seem to be breathing normal.

The foxface with randomly swim out of the cave and he changes to his angry colors and looks awful but then he’s fine.

For filtration I have a 65g sump with three filter socks, a refugium full of dragons breath and hair algae that I’ve been battling, then it goes through a big pond lookin filter, and the pump compartment where it’s sent back to the tank. I have a bunch of live rock for biological filtration plus two of the big 8x8x4 whatever super pourous rocks for added bacteria space as well as copepod housing.

Using tap water with dechlorinator
 

vetteguy53081

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So I’m actually doing the math and I guess we’ve only had fish in it for three and a half months now. We cycled it for about a month and a half as per all the instructions. There hasn’t been any ammonia since the cycle was finished.

Today I have 0 ammonia, 0 nitrites, and about 20 nitrates. I’m using the API test kits I have the master saltwater one and master reef kit.

I’ve been trying to introduce fish very slowly. I started with the two clowns and three firefish, I was told that’s fine for a 150g after the cycle is complete. I had them for a week or two, not sure on exact dates but I slowly added fish since then one or two at a time every week or two. Also added shrimp, snails, and crabs throughout. And copepods. I’ve been trying to do everything slow.

For acclimation I usually pick them up at my LFS, I float them for 15-20 minutes to adjust to the temp, then I drip acclimate in a bucket until it has four times as much water. Then I add them to the tank. Everything has seemed fine they usually go and find a hidey hole and come out a day or two later. Everything has been fine except for I had two Benggai cardinals die I believe it was from bullying. Also had random hermit crabs die. And two emerald crabs. My LFS said they probably starved so I started feeding two frozen cubes a day of different kinds and I also put two algae wafers in every night.

Right now, everyone seems to be hiding in the caves. The fire fish that died came out and swam/twitched on the bottom before giving up and floating away into the power head where I pulled him out. The second firefish is just laying on the bottom, sometimes he tries to swim or goes back to his cave, but he does look like he is breathing more than normal. Nobody is swimming into power heads and they all seem to be breathing normal.

The foxface with randomly swim out of the cave and he changes to his angry colors and looks awful but then he’s fine.

For filtration I have a 65g sump with three filter socks, a refugium full of dragons breath and hair algae that I’ve been battling, then it goes through a big pond lookin filter, and the pump compartment where it’s sent back to the tank. I have a bunch of live rock for biological filtration plus two of the big 8x8x4 whatever super pourous rocks for added bacteria space as well as copepod housing.

Using tap water with dechlorinator
Ok, much clarification
The filtration is basic but I would recommend adding a protein skimmer- even a hang on version and especially not trusting Spi known for false readings, take a water sample or someone at home if you have to work to a Trusted LFS that does not use API test kits and have them test ammonia- nitrate and ph and see what readings they come up with and to compare with yours and you’ll then know
In addition to skimmer, you can add a hang on power filter (even $20 one at Walmart) for added mechanical filtration
On the water, if you have that much hair algae, your lights are on too long or your nitrates are higher than you realize and use if tap water also causing this and other issues
Better off buying bottled water refill station water from grocery store or Walmart than using tap
 
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RabidClownFish

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First thing that comes to my mind is something changed ..
either you added something new , stirred the sand , moved rocks , dosed something ,

these types of things don’t normally just happen suddenly .

unless disease had a chance to enter ? But if so you would have noticed it after some sort of addition or change
I did add a Halloween hermit crab yesterday. Also did a big sump clean two days ago maybe I stirred something up? I did a water change after and sucked down as much junk as I could.
 
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RabidClownFish

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Ok, much clarification
The filtration is basic but I would recommend adding a protein skimmer- even a hang on version and especially not trusting Spi known for false readings, take a water sample or someone at home if you have to work to a Trusted LFS that does not use API test kits and have them test ammonia- nitrate and ph and see what readings they come up with and to compare with yours and you’ll then know
In addition to skimmer, you can add a hang on power filter (even $20 one at Walmart) for added mechanical filtration
On the water, if you have that much hair algae, your lights are on too long or your nitrates are higher than you realize and use if tap water also causing this and other issues
Better off buying bottled water refill station water from grocery store or Walmart than using tap
Ok I will find a protein skimmer and can look into an extra external filter. I have a 7 stage RODI I have just been ghosted by three plumbers so far that we’re supposed to install it. I hear it’s easy but I don’t wanna mess it up and flood my basement. I can try to find somewhere else to get the water tested but the next fish store I believe is a little over an hour away. I’ll look into better test kits too
 

jackyywayne

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Ok I will find a protein skimmer and can look into an extra external filter. I have a 7 stage RODI I have just been ghosted by three plumbers so far that we’re supposed to install it. I hear it’s easy but I don’t wanna mess it up and flood my basement. I can try to find somewhere else to get the water tested but the next fish store I believe is a little over an hour away. I’ll look into better test kits too
our Tank is a 75 gallon. had it for about one year. how long have you had your Tank? are The Salt Levels balanced good enough to make sure the Fish & coral are healthy?
 
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