Possible disease has hit my RG Basslet and Midas Blenny. Thoughts on which it could be?

DannoOMG

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I feed them frozen mysis and brine shrimp. 13.5 gallon tank. I do not have a QT tank cause I don't have the space or money. If something happens to these fish this will be an invert and coral tank only. (I hope)

Video/Pictures of fish first... Then the story...



20211203_170222.jpg
20211203_170218.jpg



Last weekend I noticed the RG Basslet had some shiny spots on him (sorry no pics of that). He was acting skiddish and didn't eat. So since I don't have a QT tank to do proper medication I did have some Fluconazle. I threw 1 capsule in the tank. The next day the Basslet ate. Then a few days later I noticed my Midas Blenny acting strange. He was nipping at his own tail or using his tail to scratch his face. Almost looked like a dog would if he had an itch. He would also swim to the top of the water like he was trying to surface for air, slowly swim to the sand and as soon as he hit the sand he would jump up like he was electrocuted. So I did a 30% water change. Today he is a lot calmer, he is still eating like a pig even though he is still doing that tail scratch thing.

My questions are :

(1) Is there a way I can send a sample of my water to some place that can ID what kind of pest or fungus or fish killing disease is in my tank?
(2) I noticed this started after I got a... cyphastrea coral and an emerald crab from a local store. Is it possible for fish parasites or disease to hitch a ride on those two things?

Aside from this their skin looks a little extra textured. I don't know how to describe it.

Either way I am pretty sure my nano is now Chernobyl for fish and that is the end of that. I'm not going to put fish in this tank and hope they do okay. That's not cool.

I definitely know more about handling corals than I do fish in my noobie experience.
 

Jay Hemdal

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What temperature is your tank at? The fish are breathing a little fast.

Yes, corals and invertebrates can carry diseases into tanks if there was an active disease in the tank they came from. I talk about that in this article:

Fluconazole is primarily an algae control aid. It can affect fungal diseases, but external fungal diseases are VERY rare in marine fishes.

There is a company that can test aquariums for microbes. I've never used them, but their name is AquaBiomics.

Just a side observation - your midas blenny is getting thin. They often die from this in captivity, I don't know why - internal parasites, high metabolism, inability to digest aquarium food?

Jay
 
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DannoOMG

DannoOMG

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What temperature is your tank at? The fish are breathing a little fast.

Yes, corals and invertebrates can carry diseases into tanks if there was an active disease in the tank they came from. I talk about that in this article:

Fluconazole is primarily an algae control aid. It can affect fungal diseases, but external fungal diseases are VERY rare in marine fishes.

There is a company that can test aquariums for microbes. I've never used them, but their name is AquaBiomics.

Just a side observation - your midas blenny is getting thin. They often die from this in captivity, I don't know why - internal parasites, high metabolism, inability to digest aquarium food?

Jay
Holy crap I am extremely embarrassed. My tank normally I try to run it at 77 degrees. I just checked the thermometer and it is at around 80 (maybe higher). I have the heat on in the basement and that probably didn't help.

Eugh.

Thanks for the article and the company recommendation.

I feed him and the basslet once a day. I alternate between mysis and brine. I give them enough where I can just see a few pieces still floating so I know they have had enough. The midas blenny usually enjoys grazing on the glass and rocks but lately hasn't. I wonder if my tank got too hot and is stressing them out?

Poor guys if that is the case.
 
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DannoOMG

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Update. Both fish are in bad shape. The basslet is dying and I assume the midas blenny is on it's way too. I ordered that thing to get my water tested for fish disease.

I can't get a picture of the basslet at the moment. But he is on his side in the sand bed. Their skin looks like it has aged over night.

20211204_092633.jpg



I feel like an jerk to these poor fish. Whenever I get the kit from AquaBiomics and learn what did them in I will bump this thread back.

It's safe to say this tank will be a no fish tank. I'm going to make anymore fish suffer like that. =/ This is what I get for not having a QT tank...
 

Jay Hemdal

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Update. Both fish are in bad shape. The basslet is dying and I assume the midas blenny is on it's way too. I ordered that thing to get my water tested for fish disease.

I can't get a picture of the basslet at the moment. But he is on his side in the sand bed. Their skin looks like it has aged over night.

20211204_092633.jpg



I feel like an jerk to these poor fish. Whenever I get the kit from AquaBiomics and learn what did them in I will bump this thread back.

It's safe to say this tank will be a no fish tank. I'm going to make anymore fish suffer like that. =/ This is what I get for not having a QT tank...

Very sorry to hear. I can't really say what the issue is. Velvet is always a possibility, but really, the fish weren't breathing that fast yesterday, to have crashed today. Flukes are pretty common on RG, but they won't cause a fish to crash overnight like that, they just gradually get worse over weeks.

I didn't ask, but I presume that all of the corals and inverts are doing o.k.? That helps rule out water quality issues.

To be honest, I have a 16 gallon AIO in my home office, and I just bought one tank raised Darwin clown for it and called that good as the only fish...less issues that way.

Jay
 
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DannoOMG

DannoOMG

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Very sorry to hear. I can't really say what the issue is. Velvet is always a possibility, but really, the fish weren't breathing that fast yesterday, to have crashed today. Flukes are pretty common on RG, but they won't cause a fish to crash overnight like that, they just gradually get worse over weeks.

I didn't ask, but I presume that all of the corals and inverts are doing o.k.? That helps rule out water quality issues.

To be honest, I have a 16 gallon AIO in my home office, and I just bought one tank raised Darwin clown for it and called that good as the only fish...less issues that way.

Jay
The corals are doing okay. Since I had a nitrate spike from 2 - 10 and phosphates from 0 - .1 in a week some corals look a little shrunk like my Illuminati Zoanthids. Inverts are doing fine. My snapping shrimp badly wants to eat the basslet (he still breathing at the moment). Sea cuc is fine, urchin is fine, emerald crab is having a snack. Hermits and turbos are fine. My coco worm was out this morning. (He tends to hide when the lights are on... boooo).

I didn't read how long it takes them to give you results of your tank but I will definitely post the results here. I still may not get fish even if my tank comes back with a clean bill of health. Fish stress me out more than the corals.
 

vetteguy53081

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The corals are doing okay. Since I had a nitrate spike from 2 - 10 and phosphates from 0 - .1 in a week some corals look a little shrunk like my Illuminati Zoanthids. Inverts are doing fine. My snapping shrimp badly wants to eat the basslet (he still breathing at the moment). Sea cuc is fine, urchin is fine, emerald crab is having a snack. Hermits and turbos are fine. My coco worm was out this morning. (He tends to hide when the lights are on... boooo).

I didn't read how long it takes them to give you results of your tank but I will definitely post the results here. I still may not get fish even if my tank comes back with a clean bill of health. Fish stress me out more than the corals.
Are you using RODI water or tap water from the faucet ?
What test kits are you using ?
What is your ammonia-ph-?

For corals- the phos level is likely the culprit as you want to be below .04

Other parameter targets:
Temp 77-79
ph 8.1-8.3
salinity 1.025
nitrate < .6
phos < .04
Ammonia < .03
mG 1300
Alk 8-11
CA 400-440

be careful what you drop in tank. Flux is for fungal and not parasitical.
 
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DannoOMG

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As of 2 days ago...

pH - 8.2
Ammonia - 0
Nitrite - 0
Nitrate - 10-15 (have a hard time with the colors on Salifert)
phosphates - .1

Which made me do a 30% water change.

I am going to retest everything this morning.

I am using API for everything but nitrate and phosphate (saliftert) and red sea for magnesium. I have an RODI water maker I bought for the tank I work that I use for the house. It's city water too. So I make sure I dechlorinate just in case. I was using premixed saltwater with all the trace elements in it but the store stopped carrying it. So I had to make my own.

Basslet is gone. I will bump thread with today's test parameters. Here are better shots of the basslet to see if you can figure out what got him.
20211204_095414.jpg
20211204_095648.jpg
 
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DannoOMG

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Today's parameters:

pH - 8.1 (API)
Ammonia - 0 (API)
Nitrite - 0 (API)
Nitrate - 10 (salifert)
Phosphate - .1 (salifert)
Magnesium - 1440 (red sea)
Calcium - 440 (API)
Salinity - 1.025

I guess my 30% water change from 2 days ago did a whole lot of nothing.

Mind you I do have moderate GHA problem lately. What I use for filtration...

* A media bag with Denitrate stones in it (I just changed it out for new ones this week)
* A small protein skimmer that fits with the 13.5 evo
* Filter floss that gets changed 1 - 2 times a week
* A big bag of Chemi-pure Blue Activated carbon
* A small chunk of chaeto in the back of the tank with a small refugium light.

Pic of the chaeto section...

20211204_111249.jpg
 

Tamberav

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Holy crap I am extremely embarrassed. My tank normally I try to run it at 77 degrees. I just checked the thermometer and it is at around 80 (maybe higher). I have the heat on in the basement and that probably didn't help.

Eugh.

Thanks for the article and the company recommendation.

I feed him and the basslet once a day. I alternate between mysis and brine. I give them enough where I can just see a few pieces still floating so I know they have had enough. The midas blenny usually enjoys grazing on the glass and rocks but lately hasn't. I wonder if my tank got too hot and is stressing them out?

Poor guys if that is the case.

Midas blennies need several feedings a day of meaty foods. They are actually not algae blennies, more planktivors like an anthia. I would use something substantial like LRS. I agree yours is skinny. I would say due to their activity level and bioload (from needing lots of food) that a 13g is too small. A tailspot blenny would be more appropriate.

I am not saying this is why your fish are sick l, just that the emaciation is also a problem and if you do decide to get fish again. It is best not to get this particular blenny

As far as quarantine goes. All you need is a 5g bucket, something to hide in and a air stone.

You could also buy captive bred fish directly from ORA or Biota (not your LFS where they probably get exposed to wild fish) and corals from more safer places online that aquaculture everything like cultivated reef. My friend did this to skip QT and it worked very well.
 
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DannoOMG

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Midas blennies need several feedings a day of meaty foods. They are actually not algae blennies, more planktivors like an anthia. I would use something substantial like LRS. I agree yours is skinny. I would say due to their activity level and bioload (from needing lots of food) that a 13g is too small. A tailspot blenny would be more appropriate.

I am not saying this is why your fish are sick l, just that the emaciation is also a problem and if you do decide to get fish again. It is best not to get this particular blenny

There is a guy who installs aquariums for a living in the next town over. He is seeing if he can make room for the Blenny. Blenny is still alive and hiding in his house. I figured this will give him a better chance at survival if they take him off my hands.
 

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There is a guy who installs aquariums for a living in the next town over. He is seeing if he can make room for the Blenny. Blenny is still alive and hiding in his house. I figured this will give him a better chance at survival if they take him off my hands.

Hopefully they plan to QT him as to not infect the other fish.
 
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DannoOMG

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Hopefully they plan to QT him as to not infect the other fish.
I emphasized that first in my question to him if they have a QT tank. Also mentioned another fish died.

I'm honestly surprised he is still alive right now.
 
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DannoOMG

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Thank you all for the help.

Blenny was found dead this morning. Guy didn't get a tank in time.

I will report back whenever I get results for what kind of fish disease plagues my tank.
 

Jay Hemdal

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Thank you all for the help.

Blenny was found dead this morning. Guy didn't get a tank in time.

I will report back whenever I get results for what kind of fish disease plagues my tank.
Sorry to hear. The RG had a slightly opened mouth upon death, was the blenny's mouth gaping also?

Jay
 

Jay Hemdal

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I honestly cant recall. No more open thsn usual I think.
O.K., I was just trying to rule hypoxia in or out. Extended mouths upon death can point to that....

Jay
 
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DannoOMG

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No - dissolved oxygen tests are expensive ….
Jay
Someone recommended this DNA test on the tank but then someone else told me it wasn't that great. I thought I'd post it here so you could have a laugh at it.
 

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