Need help fish keep dying

[cbcigar]

Hi everyone,

Somewhat of a newbie. Had Salt water aquariums as a kid with my dad, but its been a long time since owning one. I have a 25 gal IM lagoon that has been thriving for 8 months. Amazing coral growth , fish doing great. Never really an issue.

My issue is my 40 gal fish only tank. I set this up beginning of April with two large pieces of rock (not cycled) Let it cycle for 3 weeks. added fish slowly, off to the races. Things were great. No issues. I decided I wanted to make a rock wall and added about 20 lbs of caribsea 3rd week into May. I added without cycling it (I know now that was a mistake) after a couple days aquarium clouded up then cleared up after a week. About the 1st week in June, all fish were dead one morning. ( 5 fish - Clowns, an angel, dotty back, damsel) This was strange, as they looked great the night before, eating and everything. Checked standard parameters, all looked good. I coughed this up to possibly the rock causing some water parameter spikes so I let cycle the rest of June adding Stability once a week. Come July 1st. Checked standard parameters, all looked good. Added a couple clowns on the 29th . Swimming and eating great for a week. Added an angel fish, and a dottyback. on the 5th went home from work last night, All dead but one clown who currently does not look good. They ate and looked great the night before. I have no idea what the heck is going on. This is almost identical from the last die off. To cover all basis and provide all the information, the night before they all died I did top off the tank with fresh RODI. About 3/4 of a gallon. I use the same water in my reef tank. Two possibilities that have come to my mind, purhaps a to much of a salinity drop to quick? This is only about a 2% water add. Or possibly the PH is dropping to hard with adding to much of the RODI PH in the tank typically hangs around 7.8. Is there any other possibilities I might be missing? I am getting ready to just drain the dang thing and start over. Maybe thats the route to take? Change the substrate and not use the rock? I am lost what to do.

Salinity 1.023 - I use Instant ocean reef crystals (tank is fish only)
Have done 10% water changes every other week.
Temp 79
Dkh 9.8
Nitrates 10-15ppm
Nitrites 0ppm
ammonia 0 - .25 ppm was .25 checking it last night. I use API test kit

 

[TX_REEF]

Hi everyone,

Somewhat of a newbie. Had Salt water aquariums as a kid with my dad, but its been a long time since owning one. I have a 25 gal IM lagoon that has been thriving for 8 months. Amazing coral growth , fish doing great. Never really an issue.

My issue is my 40 gal fish only tank. I set this up beginning of April with two large pieces of rock (not cycled) Let it cycle for 3 weeks. added fish slowly, off to the races. Things were great. No issues. I decided I wanted to make a rock wall and added about 20 lbs of caribsea 3rd week into May. I added without cycling it (I know now that was a mistake) after a couple days aquarium clouded up then cleared up after a week. About the 1st week in June, all fish were dead one morning. ( 5 fish - Clowns, an angel, dotty back, damsel) This was strange, as they looked great the night before, eating and everything. Checked standard parameters, all looked good. I coughed this up to possibly the rock causing some water parameter spikes so I let cycle the rest of June adding Stability once a week. Come July 1st. Checked standard parameters, all looked good. Added a couple clowns on the 29th . Swimming and eating great for a week. Added an angel fish, and a dottyback. on the 5th went home from work last night, All dead but one clown who currently does not look good. They ate and looked great the night before. I have no idea what the heck is going on. This is almost identical from the last die off. To cover all basis and provide all the information, the night before they all died I did top off the tank with fresh RODI. About 3/4 of a gallon. I use the same water in my reef tank. Two possibilities that have come to my mind, purhaps a to much of a salinity drop to quick? This is only about a 2% water add. Or possibly the PH is dropping to hard with adding to much of the RODI PH in the tank typically hangs around 7.8. Is there any other possibilities I might be missing? I am getting ready to just drain the dang thing and start over. Maybe thats the route to take? Change the substrate and not use the rock? I am lost what to do.

Salinity 1.023 - I use Instant ocean reef crystals (tank is fish only)
Have done 10% water changes every other week.
Temp 79
Dkh 9.8
Nitrates 10-15ppm
Nitrites 0ppm
ammonia 0 - .25 ppm was .25 checking it last night. I use API test kit

It seems to me that you "cycled" too fast and probably added fish too fast. Can you expand on how you cycled (what products and how did you test) and what fish you added and when/how long in between before they all died the first time

What are you using for filtration? do you have sufficient surface agitation for gas exchange? That's important, especially when you are rushing to over-stock a smaller tank with fish.

 

[W31Olds]

The ammonia level should be 0 indicating your tank is not fully cycled. That with the fish load is additive. That being said, take a look at gas exchange as O2 levels drop at night.

 

[dangles]

Also a good idea to send out an AquaBiomics TankDNA test to screen for any fish disease/parasites. Not super cheap, but very worth the money.

 

[luffy]

Hi everyone,

Somewhat of a newbie. Had Salt water aquariums as a kid with my dad, but its been a long time since owning one. I have a 25 gal IM lagoon that has been thriving for 8 months. Amazing coral growth , fish doing great. Never really an issue.

My issue is my 40 gal fish only tank. I set this up beginning of April with two large pieces of rock (not cycled) Let it cycle for 3 weeks. added fish slowly, off to the races. Things were great. No issues. I decided I wanted to make a rock wall and added about 20 lbs of caribsea 3rd week into May. I added without cycling it (I know now that was a mistake) after a couple days aquarium clouded up then cleared up after a week. About the 1st week in June, all fish were dead one morning. ( 5 fish - Clowns, an angel, dotty back, damsel) This was strange, as they looked great the night before, eating and everything. Checked standard parameters, all looked good. I coughed this up to possibly the rock causing some water parameter spikes so I let cycle the rest of June adding Stability once a week. Come July 1st. Checked standard parameters, all looked good. Added a couple clowns on the 29th . Swimming and eating great for a week. Added an angel fish, and a dottyback. on the 5th went home from work last night, All dead but one clown who currently does not look good. They ate and looked great the night before. I have no idea what the heck is going on. This is almost identical from the last die off. To cover all basis and provide all the information, the night before they all died I did top off the tank with fresh RODI. About 3/4 of a gallon. I use the same water in my reef tank. Two possibilities that have come to my mind, purhaps a to much of a salinity drop to quick? This is only about a 2% water add. Or possibly the PH is dropping to hard with adding to much of the RODI PH in the tank typically hangs around 7.8. Is there any other possibilities I might be missing? I am getting ready to just drain the dang thing and start over. Maybe thats the route to take? Change the substrate and not use the rock? I am lost what to do.

Salinity 1.023 - I use Instant ocean reef crystals (tank is fish only)
Have done 10% water changes every other week.
Temp 79
Dkh 9.8
Nitrates 10-15ppm
Nitrites 0ppm
ammonia 0 - .25 ppm was .25 checking it last night. I use API test kit

It seems to me that you "cycled" too fast and probably added fish too fast. Can you expand on how you cycled (what products and how did you test) and what fish you added and when/how long in between before they all died the first time

What are you using for filtration? do you have sufficient surface agitation for gas exchange? That's important, especially when you are rushing to over-stock a smaller tank with fish.

I agree that you didnt let your tank cycle, i helped start my girlfriends 25 gallon tank and it took over a month for her tank to cycle with simple live/dead rocks. For all my tanks that i have a simple eye indicator that a tank would be cycled would be algae bloom but other that definitely added fish too fast or tank just wasn’t cycled, did you dose anything within the 3 weeks?

 

[Mr. Mojo Rising]

Is the water properly oxygenated?
Those are also some pretty aggressive fish, you sure there's no battle royal going on?

 

[cbcigar]

It seems to me that you "cycled" too fast and probably added fish too fast. Can you expand on how you cycled (what products and how did you test) and what fish you added and when/how long in between before they all died the first time

What are you using for filtration? do you have sufficient surface agitation for gas exchange? That's important, especially when you are rushing to over-stock a smaller tank with fish.

I will try to answer all the questions in this post.

Cycle was simply a small piece of shrimp added, then dosed every other day with Stability. First initial fish were two standard clowns. added the initial angel a week or two after. Then added a couple more a week after that. All was fine for I would say 2 or 3 weeks. Did the rock wall, two weeks after that all dead in one night.

Filtration is two Fluval AC50's running ceramic rings, and carbon. - two Hagger 50 gal. power heads, one running at the surface creating surface ripple and agitation second is mid water column to create water movement. No lid on this tank. Would the consensus be this is appropriate gas exchange? If not, what are some options to do more?

Purhaps it was a rush to stock, in my mind it did not feel like I was over stocking with 5 fish in a 40 gal. purhaps I was wrong.

From setup to where I am now, I would have thought it would be cycled. If that is wrong, its my own ignorance. I would get a .25 ppm ammonia hit now an then, but I have read that, that API kit is notorious for giving a false .25 reading in salt water, that coupled with having appropriate Nitrate levels and no Nitrites. I assumed it is cycled.

I never saw any major aggression. A chase now and then, but no damaged fish, no marks and no fighting.

Appreciate the discussion. I hope I can get to the bottom of this. I've attached an image of my reef tank to show the success I have had with it. Its nuts right??!! I got the reef dialed in, growing great basic coral from small little starter frags, but cannot get the FOT figured out for the life of me.

 

[cbcigar]

I agree that you didnt let your tank cycle, i helped start my girlfriends 25 gallon tank and it took over a month for her tank to cycle with simple live/dead rocks. For all my tanks that i have a simple eye indicator that a tank would be cycled would be algae bloom but other that definitely added fish too fast or tank just wasn’t cycled, did you dose anything within the 3 weeks?

I did get a bloom 3 weeks in initial cycle. got algae kept lights off to keep it at bay. When I added the rock wall weeks later, it bloomed again. Its worth noting I did not use any products after adding the rock wall.

 

[luffy]

Just to get everything out of the way, did you use glue when u did your rock wall or just balanced it?

 

[cbcigar]

Just to get everything out of the way, did you use glue when u did your rock wall or just balanced it?

I did use glue. Seachem reef glue, some held. some did not, so I had to balance some.

 

[Gumbies R Us]

Do you have pictures of the tank?

 

[cbcigar]

So for the discussion. I think i have velvet in the tank. Ive read some threads. The way the fish have been dying off it kind of fits. This is the only lone fish in the tank still alive.

 

[W31Olds]

Cb, you need the Fish Medics as your clown is very sick. Don't add anything else until you get a diagnosis but more than likely ich.@vetteguy53081

 

[JumboShrimp]

Is that a Saddleback Clown by any chance?

 

[Celestion]

Go sps for a awhile ... no fish lol

 

[cbcigar]

Cb, you need the Fish Medics as your clown is very sick. Don't add anything else until you get a diagnosis but more than likely ich.@vetteguy53081

Yes. Thanks. Vettguy had already been discussing this with me in aother theead. Appreciate it.