Mystery Sickness Killing ALMOST All My Fish

[Vintageblues]

For quite some time now I have had a really terrible go of it when trying to keep fish alive. I feel like I’ve tried every trick in the book and it isn’t working. Also, it’s strange because it doesn’t affect all of my fish. I have a pair of clowns, a lawnmower blenny, and a mandarin goby that are totally unaffected and have been long time residents of the tank (over 2 years).



The Symptoms:

The fish is still eating but is wasting away. Other times the fish appears healthy for a month and then becomes lethargic and dies suddenly without any apparent cause. No spots, not skinny, no velvet, no apparent parasites. Water params are stable and my coral looks amazing. Just can’t keep fish alive.

Previous Treatments:

I have let the tank sit fallow for 90 days while keeping all fish quarantined on copper.

I tried medicated mysis that mixed metroplex, focus, and general cure for a time frame of 5 days straight. A flame angel died almost immediately after completing the treatment with no apparent cause of death.

I’ve dosed fluconazole for the recommended 14 day period (mostly for treatment of pest algae but this should have treated the fish as well).

Fish That Have Died:

1- Flame Angel (no apparent cause of death)

4- Various Wrasses (no apparent causes of death)

3 - Diamond Goby (all wasted away despite eating regularly)

Tank Specs:

60g cube

Salinity - 1.025
Nitrates- around 20ppm
Nitrites- 0
Phosphates - 0
Ammonia - 0
Calcium- 440
DKH - 9

Regular 10%-20% water changes every week


Summary:

I don’t use aerosols in the house and I’ve heard of the dangers of scented candles but I’ve never burned any near the tank.

My only suspicion is that something nasty is living in my sand bed and is causing trouble which would explain the diamond goby issues. Perhaps a bacterial issue for my other mystery fish problems?

 

[Birdbrains?]

Aw, that sounds painful, I am sorry to hear that.
Have you seen any signs of intestinal worms?
Are any of these fishes ocean caught?
Tank raised fishes are so much harder to stress.
Do you think any of this can be caused by infighting that you have initially overlooked?

 

[EmdeReef]

Sorry for your problems. If there are no visible signs on the fish it could be a toxin, an internal parasite, even cyanide poisoning.

You don’t happen to have pictures of dead fish? Without a necropsy it may be tough to pinpoint the cause.

We’re there any ammonia increases during floconazole treatment?

 

[Birdbrains?]

Do you get these fishes from the same dealer or different dealers? Does the dealer net the fish out?

What is the pH?
Anything else you can add, at all?

 

[Vintageblues]

Aw, that sounds painful, I am sorry to hear that.
Have you seen any signs of intestinal worms?
Are any of these fishes ocean caught?
Tank raised fishes are so much harder to stress.
Do you think any of this can be caused by infighting that you have initially overlooked?

I haven’t seen signs of intestinal worms but that would make sense. I HAVE previously treated with flatworm exit too. Totally forgot to mention that one. All of my fish were purchased from my LFS. Not sure if they’re aquacultured or ocean caught. I’m sure it’s a mixture of both.

 

[Vintageblues]

Sorry for your problems. If there are no visible signs on the fish it could be a toxin, an internal parasite, even cyanide poisoning.

You don’t happen to have pictures of dead fish? Without a necropsy it may be tough to pinpoint the cause.

We’re there any ammonia increases during floconazole treatment?

I didn’t think to check the ammonia after the treatment. I have more, I might try that next time. I wasn’t able to find any old photos of the fish but I’ll be sure to include one if I find it.

 

[Vintageblues]

Do you get these fishes from the same dealer or different dealers? Does the dealer net the fish out?

What is the pH?
Anything else you can add, at all?

They’ve come from 3 different LFS’s. PH is normal. I haven’t checked it recently but it’s never been off.

 

[Birdbrains?]

Good, okay so you didn't somehow overlook a pH issue or forgot to open the windows or something,

Hmm I guess worms are actually rather sensitive to the treatment and would not be of high concern.

I know that ocean caught fishes tend to suffer much more from psychology trauma than we tend to get told when we start up though. Once I bought two fishes and left them a few days in the store but when I picked them up, the tank had a dead anemone in it. Those two fishes died in my tank overnight. Sometimes we want to do right so badly, that we mistakenly believe everything is our fault, so remember to think about every possibility that you can possibly come up with.

I actually have read a lot online about blennies being stealth assassinator and killing other livestock without any noticeable bullying, make sure you keep an eye on it