all of my fish are dying!

cside

New member
I just lost the bicolor blenny. All were breathing extremely heavy. Params are fine and fish looked fine last night
 
Do you have a powerhead that breaks the surface of the water? It sounds like oxygen deprivation might be a possibility.
 
Could be Marine Velvet? Look it up and see what you think.
I lost fish to it before and they basically suffocate to death and have very labored breathing. It kills very quickly, I tried to quarantine but it was too late.
 
how do you check with a multimeter?

I would get a grounding probe (which plugs into the ground pin of a wall outlet), put the black (ground/negative) lead of the multimeter on that, then put the metal part of the red lead into the water. Can check both DC and AC voltage to see if there is any stray voltage in the water (should be close to 0 if everything is ok). Not sure what it would read if things (heater, pump, etc) were bad/leaky, but it would be significantly higher than 0.

If you get something, you can unplug things one-by-one till the reading goes to zero. The last thing you unplugged may be the culprit.


(Disclaimer: people should know multimeter basics before using one around electricity)
 
Thanks!:)


I would get a grounding probe (which plugs into the ground pin of a wall outlet), put the black (ground/negative) lead of the multimeter on that, then put the metal part of the red lead into the water. Can check both DC and AC voltage to see if there is any stray voltage in the water (should be close to 0 if everything is ok). Not sure what it would read if things (heater, pump, etc) were bad/leaky, but it would be significantly higher than 0.

If you get something, you can unplug things one-by-one till the reading goes to zero. The last thing you unplugged may be the culprit.


(Disclaimer: people should know multimeter basics before using one around electricity)
 
Could be marine velvet, in which case it is too late. But my fish look pretty normal. My fang blenny is now completely paralyzed and almost dead but still breathing. I have had these fish for over a year and i didnt add any other livestock. All of my inverts and coral are fine as well. Do not have anything to check for stray voltage but the fish are in QT now anyway in a seperate tank.
 

I also should have said that it is IMPORTANT not to put the multimeter in Current measurement mode. You DON'T want to complete the circuit and encourage more electricity to exit any leaky devices.


Also, sorry for the thread hijack.
 
its ok schudini. I have just confirmed marine velvet. the blenny is covered in this stuff :thumbdown all of my fish are going to die :(. How do I prevent this in the future?
 
thanks for the article. ive never heard of using hydrogen peroxide. I guess ill try it. the qt is 10g
 
If you are going to try it, let me run the calculations.

Also, mix up some fresh saltwater to do a water change in the qt or whatever you are using.
 
Disclaimer: I'm no chemist, but I did stay at a Holiday Inn Express last night...



Ok, so the article says we need 75ppm (with a maximum of 150ppm, but lets shoot for 75) of H2O2 (hydrogen peroxide).

I'll do the calculations for a single gallon, that way you can scale up to whatever container or tank you are using.


1 gallon = 128 fl. oz.
75ppm is equal to 0.000075 (just take 75 and divide it by 1 million)

Multiplying we get 128fl.oz. X 0.000075 = 0.0096 fl. oz. of pure H2O2 needed per gallon.


Now a typical brown bottle of H2O2 solution from the store is 3%. That means for every fluid ounce in the brown bottle, you get 0.03 fl. oz. of pure H2O2.

With me so far?


If we need 0.0096 fl. oz. of pure, and we get 0.03 fl. oz. pure from each ounce out of the brown bottle, then we only need about 1/3 of an ounce from the brown bottle of H2O2 per gallon of saltwater.

(0.0096 / 0.03 = 0.32 or about one-third)


Since 1 standard teaspoon holds about one-sixth of an ounce, and we need one-third of an ounce, then we need to use 2 standard teaspoons out of the brown bottle of hydrogen peroxide per 1 gallon of saltwater to make approximately 75ppm.

(0.32 / 0.1667 = 1.9196 teaspoons)


So if you are using a bucket with four gallons of saltwater (in a 5 gallon bucket) to dip your fish, you would need 8 teaspoons of H2O2 from the brown bottle of standard 3% hydrogen peroxide from the drugstore or walmart (4 gallons at 2 teaspoons per gallon). Probably the best way to go.

The article suggests a 30 minute dip.


Now having said all of that, you can do this at your own risk. I don't take any responsibility for fish loss of life or anything else. I also would not spill hydrogen peroxide on yourself or anything else and be sure to make a new dip solution every day you treat the fish. Hydrogen peroxide can loose potency when exposed to air, so keep the cap on the bottle, and make your dip solution fresh right before you are ready to use it. Don't use any metal containers or spoons with your hydrogen peroxide solution, as it is mildly corrosive (and you don't want to expose your fish to metal anyway).
 
thanks for doing the math, I really appreciate it. Im no chemist either (although as a sophomore in high school I am in chemistry :uhoh2:) I only have fire fish left and they are actually looking slightly better. the H2O2 is my last resort. if they look any worse then i will use it. I understand the risk as explained in the article, but is the only chance left. I used copper and did a fw dip already
 
I think you're off by a factor of two given that H<sub>2</sub>O<sub>2</sub> weighs about twice as much as water. ppm is a unit of weight ratios, not volume.
 
Disclaimer: I'm no chemist, but I did stay at a Holiday Inn Express last night...



Ok, so the article says we need 75ppm (with a maximum of 150ppm, but lets shoot for 75) of H2O2 (hydrogen peroxide).

I'll do the calculations for a single gallon, that way you can scale up to whatever container or tank you are using.


1 gallon = 128 fl. oz.
75ppm is equal to 0.000075 (just take 75 and divide it by 1 million)

Multiplying we get 128fl.oz. X 0.000075 = 0.0096 fl. oz. of pure H2O2 needed per gallon.


Now a typical brown bottle of H2O2 solution from the store is 3%. That means for every fluid ounce in the brown bottle, you get 0.03 fl. oz. of pure H2O2.

With me so far?


If we need 0.0096 fl. oz. of pure, and we get 0.03 fl. oz. pure from each ounce out of the brown bottle, then we only need about 1/3 of an ounce from the brown bottle of H2O2 per gallon of saltwater.

(0.0096 / 0.03 = 0.32 or about one-third)


Since 1 standard teaspoon holds about one-sixth of an ounce, and we need one-third of an ounce, then we need to use 2 standard teaspoons out of the brown bottle of hydrogen peroxide per 1 gallon of saltwater to make approximately 75ppm.

(0.32 / 0.1667 = 1.9196 teaspoons)


So if you are using a bucket with four gallons of saltwater (in a 5 gallon bucket) to dip your fish, you would need 8 teaspoons of H2O2 from the brown bottle of standard 3% hydrogen peroxide from the drugstore or walmart (4 gallons at 2 teaspoons per gallon). Probably the best way to go.

The article suggests a 30 minute dip.


Now having said all of that, you can do this at your own risk. I don't take any responsibility for fish loss of life or anything else. I also would not spill hydrogen peroxide on yourself or anything else and be sure to make a new dip solution every day you treat the fish. Hydrogen peroxide can loose potency when exposed to air, so keep the cap on the bottle, and make your dip solution fresh right before you are ready to use it. Don't use any metal containers or spoons with your hydrogen peroxide solution, as it is mildly corrosive (and you don't want to expose your fish to metal anyway).


Thank you! Very helpful! :)
 
Back
Top