Why do my fish keep dying

nickp9054

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I’ve had a 30 gallon set up since november. I have lost a tangoroa goby, two Midas blennies, a blackcap Basslet and all of the sudden one of my saddleback clowns just died. I’ve had the pair of clowns since January no problems. Please help any input would be much appreciated. What keep happening to my fish?
 

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I’ve had a 30 gallon set up since november. I have lost a tangoroa goby, two Midas blennies, a blackcap Basslet and all of the sudden one of my saddleback clowns just died. I’ve had the pair of clowns since January no problems. Please help any input would be much appreciated. What keep happening to my fish?
Nick we are gonna need some test parameters....especially since it's been under a year.
 
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nickp9054

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Ammonia 0
Nitrite 0
Nitrate 15 ppm
Salinity 1.024
Phos undetectable
It’s fish with rock and corals
Im using a sand bed
I run a hob protein skimmer as well as a canister filter that I clean every 1-2 weeks
 

CanuckReefer

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Ammonia 0
Nitrite 0
Nitrate 15 ppm
Salinity 1.024
Phos undetectable
It’s fish with rock and corals
Im using a sand bed
I run a hob protein skimmer as well as a canister filter that I clean every 1-2 weeks
Thanks for params , Is there any noticeable aggression between the fish?
 

Jekyl

GSP is the devil and clowns are bad pets
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Any symptoms prior to death?
 
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nickp9054

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No aggression at all. No symptoms for any of the fish accept the clown who seemed to not be able to keep himself from floating up. I should mention that the fish that are left are one clown a neon goby and a pajama cardinal. As well as a pistol shrimp who was paired with the tangoroa goby
 

mike550

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Your parameters look good. How long have the fish been lasting in your tank? Did you get them all from the same place?

Sorry. This can be disappointing and frustrating.
 
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nickp9054

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The tangoroa goby lasted about 2 months and then disappeared I couldn’t find the body. Exact same thing with the two Midas blennies. They lasted abt 2-3 months each. I got the second one after the first died. Clown lasted 5 months the other clown is still alive. I noticed a few nights ago that it could barely keep from floating upside down and then it just disappeared couldn’t find the body. I know they’re not jumping out I’ve looked all around the tank and have a lid. Maybe the pistol shrimp took the clowns boy? I noticed he moved to the other side of my tank and the clowns were swimming around his burrow. But that doesn’t explain why happened to the others. The Basslet lasted abt a week and then died it’s body what just on the sand bed. The Basslet, first Midas, tangoroa goby, and clowns all came from the same place called supreme reefs. Others were shipped from different places
 

brandon429

why did you put a reef in that
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For sure. Asking about parameters in a tank this old isn’t the hunt, asking how you handled fish disease prep supersedes all diagnostic input


when I type in cycling threads that 80% of folks not using known disease preps will have losses within the first eight months, thats due to cycling a lot of reefs online and then studying inputs about long term outcomes. The aquarists with super old, dense growth reefs who advocate skipping disease preps is who I fault for the massive degree of fish loss and waste in the hobby.

each fish added here vectored in compounding disease issues, per the fish disease forum. The sage reefers with the best tanks who don’t have disease, and recommend their ways to all, are notably missing from 100% of help threads in the fish disease forum, others are left to devise ways to clean up their recommendation mess. Our hobby tolerates and advocates complete wasting of live fish by not studying the long term effects of today’s cycling approaches, and by specifically excluding this aspect of cause from all troubleshooting events.


you would start with fish disease from skipping quarantine and fallow, and focus on params long after standard preps have been completed.
 
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terraincognita

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If they die overnight and you have a strong CUC. most likely they get eaten.

ive found a couple heads the following morning under rocks.

best to not go looking if you can’t find it easy, and just assume it’s been eaten.

Otherwise you may experience this.

the simpsons animation GIF
 

brandon429

why did you put a reef in that
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So let’s say you read for two hours Nick in the fish disease forum


this is what would become of it:

being able to keep fish a few months before compound losses directly excludes all param issues. You would remove all fish from your tank, fallow it, isolate observe and pre treat current fish for the known maladies they carry, and only add pre treated / qt / observed fish for the life of the tank.

you can see why many folks simply won’t do that, because it’s opposite from how freshwater fish are built up in tanks. The reason it keeps happening is because currently there are enough fish stocks avail for simple repurchase (put back into infected systems)


hopefully costs will increase to the point those availabilities run low or run out. Then the few fish remaining for trade will be prepped according to the best science we have.
 
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nickp9054

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Thanks, this does help a lot. I guess I should read up on the fish disease forum lol. And find a more reputable source for my fish. Sorry that was a little bit hard to follow for me. Your saying I should take the fish out, treat the tank and the fish and then reintroduce them?
 

brandon429

why did you put a reef in that
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That’s a great response, my main goal was to aim you in a direction of study and you can decide how to proceed. I myself don’t keep fish, it’s a coral only nano reef on my counter…but when the day comes to keep some I’d like to have professional bred clowns and I’ll be copying from the disease forum their best practices.


there was no intent harm or ill will in starting your tank as you have, nearly every LFS teaches this way and about 90% of forum consultants will not begin disease training up front, this is a new pattern emerging from the hobby and the fact you didn’t get mad when introduced to it means your animals are going to be fine as you search and hone options with an open mind.


fallowing means starving a tank of *some* diseases by removing the hosts (the fish) for a long time, you choose length of time by reading patterns and recommends


quarantine is as much about general observation as it is about medicating fish preemptively.

though many reefs exist that skipped fallow and qt, that method of assembly isn’t communicable very often or the fish disease forum wouldn’t be majority tanks under 8 mos old enduring the losses, any page we read.

the method is imperfect, but the best we have, and omitting the method is killing fish and we don’t have better methods to replace fallow and quarantine

when those methods exist, you’ll see a forum where other people’s tanks are worked vs just the authors tank as the focus for 160 pages. Many folks have an innate ability to run marine aquariums without any procedural preps in place, what they lack is the ability to communicate this method to dry rock cyclers which are 95% of all reefs ran nowadays.
 
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nickp9054

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Thank you so much. I will be keeping these things in mind for the future and will read up on that forum appreciate all of your help!
 

Lowell Lemon

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Thank you so much. I will be keeping these things in mind for the future and will read up on that forum appreciate all of your help!
Just remember you are taking advice from someone who just told you he does not have any fish experience....things that should make you go ooooooh.
 

Jimmyneptune

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Here are some things that maybe affecting your tank:
What is the temperature of the tank?
How do you measure salinity? what tool do you use? Is it accurate?
Is your tank grounded?
Where does your water come from? Do you use RO/DI?
where is your tank located in your home? If it is in or near a room with a lot of co2? it could be affecting your tank.
Do other people in your home use a lot of chemicals in the home? Household chemical maybe getting into the tank.
Do use lotions or soaps and put your hands in the tank?
Do kids or other animals have access to your tank? I once found a flashlight with batteries in my sump, thanks nephew who came over for a day. I heard of people with exotic cats that use sumps as a litter box.
 
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nickp9054

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Here are some things that maybe affecting your tank:
What is the temperature of the tank?
How do you measure salinity? what tool do you use? Is it accurate?
Is your tank grounded?
Where does your water come from? Do you use RO/DI?
where is your tank located in your home? If it is in or near a room with a lot of co2? it could be affecting your tank.
Do other people in your home use a lot of chemicals in the home? Household chemical maybe getting into the tank.
Do use lotions or soaps and put your hands in the tank?
Do kids or other animals have access to your tank? I once found a flashlight with batteries in my sump, thanks nephew who came over for a day. I heard of people with exotic cats that use sumps as a litter box.
Temp is 80 and has been steady I use a thermometer
I use a calibrated refractometer
Not sure what you mean by grounded
I use rodi
Tank is located in my bedroom I don’t think it gets a particularly large amount of co2
I have a cleaner that comes in and uses chemicals in the bathroom which is close to the tank
I don’t think soap is getting into the tank
No kids or animals have access to the tank.
 

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