2 dead fish in 2 days.....

[Prozium]

well, make it 3 out of 4 dead today. the foxface is dead......there's something in my water.....toxin or something.....IDK, maybe the wrasse is killing them....but there are no bite marks.

no nitrite test, no new fittings, I'll add more later got to go to my nephew's b-day party

 

[Paulca916]

Man sorry to hear that.
I don't know if anyone has asked but I will.
What are using for water is it straight from your tap ?
This is a long shot I know but I've know people in the past that used tap water with treatments.
I understand that water companies some times increase the amount of clorine used in thier water in the hotter months also cloramines in some cities.
Like I said it's a long shot but everything else other than PH is looking ok and as far as we know your PH swing might be stressing out the fish.
Hope you find the answer

 

[apshooter]

yes, it's kind of a brown algae,

Is the "brown algae" a dinoflagellate bloom? I think that can be toxic to fish.

Here is an article on it:

http://www.reefkeeping.com/issues/2006-11/rhf/index.php

 

[iamwrasseman]

RMS ,please dont get me wrong as any nitrate level is an indication of inproper tank maintence ,overcrowding ,or dead fish decaying in the tank ans none are good . i had a 12 tank system with 75ish fish in it and my nitrates were sky high but i didnt lose fish and that is what i am drawing my experience from .
Paulca ,yes they will usually survive as no3 is the end product of the nitrogen cycle and can be tolerated by fish if other paramiters are in check .
again i done condone this and now i do everything in my power to keep my system 100% in check . i go through 120 gallons of water a week now and my corals and fish love me very much .

 

[Paulca916]

I understand the cycle but thanks because in the 30 plus years I've kept fish I have always been under the understanding that anything above 40PPM is deadly toxic.
Goes to show your never to old to learn new things.
Not that I in any way will let mine get higher than 20ppm in fish only tanks

 

[iamwrasseman]

yes i am not proud of keeping fish this way but it certainly can happen . also i never would try to keep fish in this manner and would never suggest that someone does .

 

[yehchien]

yes, it's kind of a brown algae, I'll do another 5g water change. it seems my protein skimmer has stooped making bubbles....I have to see whats wrong with it.

Did you say your skimmer stopped making bubbles??? There is definately something wrong with it because it can't function without bubbles. that's the whole premise of the skimmer. Check to see if your venturi is clogged or maybe your airline tubing is under water.

 

[yehchien]

that would almost explain everything. You're not exporting nutrients and your pH is low because your CO2 levels have increased in the tank from not having the skimmer on.

 

[sruiz]

I would think they simply got too stressed out being that they were pretty big in a small tank.

 

[Prozium]

I would think they simply got too stressed out being that they were pretty big in a small tank.

that's the only reason I could come up with (which makes me feel bad that I was just a little too late), but it doesn't make to much since to me for CBB.... but maybe.....

If we rule out ammonia (and nitrite), a next likely cause would be toxins. Any cleaners being used around the tank lately? Bug sprays, air freshener, etc.? Have you had your arm in the tank? Soaps, lotions, etc.?

no cleaners, no bug spry, and I rinse my arm well before I stick it in the tank when I need to get in there, and I haven't used any kind of lotions for some time now

Adding a Polyfilter to your tank would help remove and identify (color change) several possible toxins.

I'll have to look for some

What have you been feeding the tank, and how often?

In particular, what were you feeding the Lionfish? How often?

I was feeding 2 times a day brine shrimp or mysis 1 cube each time, with a small pinch of flake for the foxface, and once every other day one silver side or 1 to 1 and a half krill for the lion fish (he also eat mysis when I stuck it in the tank.)

Despite the ammonia reading of zero, I would still do a couple of larger water changes. It's still a prime candidate, and one of the safest steps to take.
I am.

How are the other fish looking and behaving?
same as they always had, eating fine, not looking stressed

Man sorry to hear that.
I don't know if anyone has asked but I will.
What are using for water is it straight from your tap ?

RO water

Is the "brown algae" a dinoflagellate bloom? I think that can be toxic to fish.

Here is an article on it:

http://www.reefkeeping.com/issues/2006-11/rhf/index.php

no, doesn't look like that pic and doesn't have the snot texture and doesn't trap air bubbles, it looks more like short-ish brown hair algae

 

[RonMidtownStomp]

CBB's are one of the hardest to keep alive fish in the hobby, in my opinion. They can decide one day that they don't feel like living anymore and be dead. I'm pretty sure I've killed at least 4 of them.

Ron

 

[yehchien]

have you fixed your skimmer yet?

 

[iamwrasseman]

Took a bit to get to the root of the problem but yes that skimmer should be up and running no matte what . IMO skimmers are the back bone on most systems .