Tank Tanked

[mdmfn]

Hi Everyone! Trying to figure out what happened to my tank.

So about 3 weeks ago I introduced a flame angel and a wrasse (dont have a QT). A week ago I noticed my royal gramma was not eating and looking a bit listless. She eventually started eating again a few days after I noticed that but she seemed still off. Her body looked like it was a bit roughed up and she was swimming near the top not in her usual spot. I saw some white spots so thought maybe ich. Well she died shortly after that and basically took the entire tank with her. My two clownfish, two bangaii cardinals and the flame angel all died within a day or two. Thinking back the clownfish were swimming a bit funny and at least one of the bangaii cardinals was rocking back and forth. I also noticed that the clownfish looked to be gulping more than usual but were not on the surface. The flame angel hid in the rock cave before dying.

So the sole survivors are the wrasse, the diamond goby and all 4 shrimp. The wrasse and diamond goby seem to be acting normal and have a lot of energy. Any ideas what might have caused this? I was able to get 2 pics of the dead clownfish.

Water parameters are Nitrates .25, phosphates .1, ph 8.2 and ammonia 0. 75 gallon tank running for 1 year.

 

[Jay Hemdal]

Welcome to Reef2Reef!

Unfortunately, post-mortem pictures don't tell us much. In this case, the clownfish has ripped fins. Did this happen before it died, or did something attack it after it died?

What species of wrasse do you have?

This was mostly likely a parasite issue, but it is not really common for wrasse to survive those while the other fish died (gobies sometimes do).

Jay

 

[dstockwell]

Welcome to the Reef.

Hopefully you get this figured out qucikly

 

[vetteguy53081]

The clown has shredded fins but could have been after death. Sounds like a disease issues but as Jay indicated- hard to determine anything with a dead fish
Any unusual behaviors you noticed such as Heavy breathing, Lethargic behavior, dots, cloudy eyes, Yawning, scratching, darting, anything you recall?
What is current ammonia and Nitrate level?

 

[MnFish1]

I would guess flukes or velvet. which was introduced with the flame angel. it seems a little too deadly for flukes (i.e. the speed) - so I would wonder about velvet as the cause. the shrimp would not be affected by velvet or flukes.

 

[mdmfn]

Welcome to Reef2Reef!

Unfortunately, post-mortem pictures don't tell us much. In this case, the clownfish has ripped fins. Did this happen before it died, or did something attack it after it died?

What species of wrasse do you have?

This was mostly likely a parasite issue, but it is not really common for wrasse to survive those while the other fish died (gobies sometimes do).

Jay

Thanks! I think the fins probably got ripped after it died. 6 line wrasse.

The clown has shredded fins but could have been after death. Sounds like a disease issues but as Jay indicated- hard to determine anything with a dead fish
Any unusual behaviors you noticed such as Heavy breathing, Lethargic behavior, dots, cloudy eyes, Yawning, scratching, darting, anything you recall?
What is current ammonia and Nitrate level?

The royal gramma was definitely lethargic and swimming near the top away from its normal perch. I did see a few white dots on the gramma initially but they went away before it died. The clowns were the only ones I noticed heavy breathing from but neither were swimming up to the surface.

Thinking back I think all the fish that died were swimming a bit funny. One of the bangaiis was rocking back and forth and the small clownfish was swimming a bit more clumsier than normal. Didn't think too much of it because they were still eating normally. The flame angel and one of the bangaiis both hid in the rock cave before they died which they never did before (the hiding in the rock cave part not the dying part).

 

[mdmfn]

Nitrates were around .25 and ammonia was 0

 

[vetteguy53081]

Thanks! I think the fins probably got ripped after it died. 6 line wrasse.





The royal gramma was definitely lethargic and swimming near the top away from its normal perch. I did see a few white dots on the gramma initially but they went away before it died. The clowns were the only ones I noticed heavy breathing from but neither were swimming up to the surface.

Thinking back I think all the fish that died were swimming a bit funny. One of the bangaiis was rocking back and forth and the small clownfish was swimming a bit more clumsier than normal. Didn't think too much of it because they were still eating normally. The flame angel and one of the bangaiis both hid in the rock cave before they died which they never did before (the hiding in the rock cave part not the dying part).

Velvet is my suspect. Leave this tank with no fish in it running for at least 6 weeks however coral and inverts can be enjoyed during this time

 

[Jay Hemdal]

The trouble with this case is that with the wrasse and the diamond goby still in the tank, a fallow period will help, but not eliminate the chance of the disease starting back up in the future.

The very best thing to do would be to move the wrasse and goby to another tank, treat them with copper and then let the tank lay fallow for the full 75 days and then, quarantine all new fish going forward.

Is that easy to do? Nope, but it is considered "best practice".

Jay

 

[mdmfn]

The trouble with this case is that with the wrasse and the diamond goby still in the tank, a fallow period will help, but not eliminate the chance of the disease starting back up in the future.

The very best thing to do would be to move the wrasse and goby to another tank, treat them with copper and then let the tank lay fallow for the full 75 days and then, quarantine all new fish going forward.

Is that easy to do? Nope, but it is considered "best practice".

Jay

Yeah I think that's what I'm going to do. I have a spare 13.5 tank so not much more than just a little effort into setting it up and catching those two fish.

Thanks for all the advice!