What is Going In With My Tank?

Cetus

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So this is coming after the mysterious death of my flame hawkfish and now I’m worried something else is going on in my tank. My bi-color blenny is not dead persay but I’m honestly not optimistic about his chances. This guy’s just sitting in the corner of the tank not really moving. Hes still breathing and alive but i can literally push him around with my finger without much resistance.

My flame died from what I thought was aggression but now my bi-color is dying too and the only other fish is a royal gramma who just hides in his owner corner of the tank. Both fish were quarantined and medicated for velvet, ich, and internal parasites so I have no idea whats going on. Water parameters are stable too.

This is seriously frustrating since my tank is in its earliest stages but what could be going in? My royal gramma is very much out and about but I’m not sure if it’ll come down with something too. I really need help here.

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Going to need more info. How old is your tank, what are your parameters, water source, any dosing, etc?
 
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Going to need more info. How old is your tank, what are your parameters, water source, any dosing, etc?
Thanks around 6 months old. 0 Ammonia, 30 Nitrate, 8.4 pH.
Water source is RO/DI which I get from a store.
No dosing as there aren't any corals.
Only livestock was a flame hawkfish who died, the bi-color blenny who is dying, and the latest was a royal gramma who's completely normal.
A few snails here and there. Some like the trochus have died but others like the nassarius, ceriths, or nerites are ok.
 
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So he died just today and I really don’t know whats going on. They seem healthy at first and can last a month or so with no issues but then they just suddenly degenerate. Is this like a bacterial infection or maybe I introduced something? Kinda worried I’m doing something wrong. Everything seems perfectly fine too as far as parameters go. No ammonia, salinity’s stable, nitrates manageable. I could really use some advice here.
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What are your nitrites ? I would recommend dosing dr Tim’s one an only nitrifying bacteria. Snails might be dying tank looks to clean nothing to eat..
 
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Thanks around 6 months old. 0 Ammonia, 30 Nitrate, 8.4 pH.
Water source is RO/DI which I get from a store.
No dosing as there aren't any corals.
Only livestock was a flame hawkfish who died, the bi-color blenny who is dying, and the latest was a royal gramma who's completely normal.
A few snails here and there. Some like the trochus have died but others like the nassarius, ceriths, or nerites are ok.
I am sorry for your loss.
What is your water change schedule? Temperature? Specific Gravity? Photo of tank is often helpful too.
 
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What are your nitrites ? I would recommend dosing dr Tim’s one an only nitrifying bacteria. Snails might be dying tank looks to clean nothing to eat..
Tested nitrates just last night and they were around 20-30. I've already cycled the tank many months ago and there isn't any ammonia either. The tank being too clean might explain snail deaths though.
 
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I am sorry for your loss.
What is your water change schedule? Temperature? Specific Gravity? Photo of tank is often helpful too.
I change water when Nitrates get too high which is around every 2-3 weeks? I don't have a lot of fish so it takes a bit.
Temperature is around 76-77
Salinity tends to hover around the 1.026 range and I add RODI water to deal with that.
You can see pieces of the tank in the photo I took and it's basically that. Mostly very barren at the moment. Been waiting for algae to start growing but not much has been happening yet.
 

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What size is the tank and what lights? Think I see a piece of liverock?

If I were you, I would start the habit of weekly water changes 10-20% of your volume. Do you make saltwater or buy it? Did you do the QT procedures or someone else?

The blenny color looked off, but I didn't see anything obvious. Stray voltage?

Your photos of the fish were excellent. A photo of your tank is often very helpful.
 
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What size is the tank and what lights? Think I see a piece of liverock?

If I were you, I would start the habit of weekly water changes 10-20% of your volume. Do you make saltwater or buy it? Did you do the QT procedures or someone else?

The blenny color looked off, but I didn't see anything obvious. Stray voltage?

Your photos of the fish were excellent. A photo of your tank is often very helpful.
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125 gallons with a 20 gallon sump. Very basic lighting not sure what it is but it came with the tank as a set. All dry rock and dry sand.

I did all QT. 30 days in copper at around 1.75-2.00 checked religiously with Hanna checker. 14 with metroplex. And a week with PraziPro. That’s my typical routine.
 
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How long have they been in your DT since you had them in QT? Please tell us what you did for your QT procedure
About a month or two and he only started degrading in the last few days or so.

My QT process is: 30 days in copper at around 1.75-2.00 checked religiously with Hanna checker. 14 with metroplex. And a week with PraziPro.
 

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So this is coming after the mysterious death of my flame hawkfish and now I’m worried something else is going on in my tank. My bi-color blenny is not dead persay but I’m honestly not optimistic about his chances. This guy’s just sitting in the corner of the tank not really moving. Hes still breathing and alive but i can literally push him around with my finger without much resistance.

My flame died from what I thought was aggression but now my bi-color is dying too and the only other fish is a royal gramma who just hides in his owner corner of the tank. Both fish were quarantined and medicated for velvet, ich, and internal parasites so I have no idea whats going on. Water parameters are stable too.

This is seriously frustrating since my tank is in its earliest stages but what could be going in? My royal gramma is very much out and about but I’m not sure if it’ll come down with something too. I really need help here.

4075B2EA-7D88-4928-AF43-AA4E45F53D5E.jpeg

1FCD27A6-ED5B-4DC5-91B7-16CD5C7983D0.jpeg
B93D8913-D5C4-4413-B1D6-0EBBE939B700.jpeg
8DEFFAE1-75DE-4304-89DC-84386E08A4CB.jpeg
This might be a long shot, but what do you use to test your salinity? I once had a similar problem with my fish when I first started my tank. After a month or two or fish sitting in the corner, then dying a week or two later, I began to question my refractometer and surely enough it was off by 0.010 SG!!!! May not be your issue, but if everything is testing perfectly, maybe question your testing methods.
 
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This might be a long shot, but what do you use to test your salinity? I once had a similar problem with my fish when I first started my tank. After a month or two or fish sitting in the corner, then dying a week or two later, I began to question my refractometer and surely enough it was off by 0.010 SG!!!! May not be your issue, but if everything is testing perfectly, maybe question your testing methods.
I have a Hanna Salinity Tester. Should be calibrated too since I did that...
I use a Red Sea Reefer kit for testing water parameters. Maybe I should find an alternative?
 

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OK. A few observations:
--Copper: therapeutic levels vary depending on the type of copper product you're using. What were you using?
--Rock: your tank doesn't have nearly enough rock to sustain a good biofilter for your water volume. You'll get different suggestions on the amount, but at least 1 pound per tank size gallon (so 125 pounds of rock in your case)
---QT: Were you doing that medication regimen sequentially or in parallel?
 

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I have a Hanna Salinity Tester. Should be calibrated too since I did that...
I use a Red Sea Reefer kit for testing water parameters. Maybe I should find an alternative?
I use Red Sea as well and recently verified with a Triton N-ICP test. It was on 7-3 and the numbers in parenthesis are the lab results. The number before is my results from RedSea. So I know that for calcium and magnesium it is pretty accurate but phosphate was off by a bit and the nutrients aren’t tested for so I can’t say anything for the accuracy of those tests. I also use a Red Sea refractometer for salinity which hasn’t failed me once as long as I calibrate it EVERY time. Maybe it’s worth the $50 so you can at least rule it out if salinity checks out.
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This is very unusual .
You need to check your Salinity and check again with another Refractometer

poor guy those guys are very hardy so something basic comes to mind for me like salinity
 
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OK. A few observations:
--Copper: therapeutic levels vary depending on the type of copper product you're using. What were you using?
--Rock: your tank doesn't have nearly enough rock to sustain a good biofilter for your water volume. You'll get different suggestions on the amount, but at least 1 pound per tank size gallon (so 125 pounds of rock in your case)
---QT: Were you doing that medication regimen sequentially or in parallel?
Copper Power. I used a Copper Power dosing calculator just to be sure.

Rock is a good explanation so I may need to stock up on it. Thanks for the observation!

The medication regiment was... Slowly ramping up Copper to therapeutic levels then adding metronidazole. Continued this treatment until both were finished then changed tank water and added carbon for a day to clear tank of copper. Tested for Copper and if minimal traces are left, add Prazipro and wait a week.
 
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This is very unusual .
You need to check your Salinity and check again with another Refractometer

poor guy those guys are very hardy so something basic comes to mind for me like salinity

I'll recalibrate it and see to be sure. I have one pack of calibration fluid left.
 

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