Are my fish DOOMED!!!

[galoot]

Long story short.....

My tank has been up and running for a year or so. No problems what so ever.

120 gal total volume,
SG .025
Temp 80
PH 8-8.2
KH 9
CA 400
Amon, Nitrites, Nitrates all ZERO

Mixed reef with a single clown, mimic tang, blue tang, royal gramma, ebili angel, midas blenny and anthias. Never a single issue with any of the fish. Always healthy and hungry...

Now the problem.... I purchased a Solar Wrasse on Tuesday. I don't have a QT setup. I know, I know. I'll deal with that later. Everything seemed fine. Friday my wife didn't see the Solar Wrasse or Ebilli. Strange for the Ebili as he is always out swimming. Didn't think much about the wrasse since he is new.

I came home from work this morning to find my Mimic Tang dead. Also, I can't find the Ebili or Solar Wrasse. I start freaking out. I start searching for the dead fish. I can't find the Ebili anywhere, dead or alive. I find the Solar Wrasse thinking he is dead. He isn't. But he is very lethargic and appears to be breathing rapidly. He hasn't hardly moved in the last couple of hours.

I start watching all the other fish and the anthias and blue tang seem to be breathing rapidly too. The Midas and Royal Gramma not so much and the clown looks normal.

So do you think there is some sort of parasite attacking the fish? Is it possible for it to kill off two very healthy, or atleast appearing that way, fish in three days? I have good flow and aeration in the tank, so I don't think that is an issue.

The other problem I have is I have to go to work tomorrow for 24hrs and wont have a chance to pull out an treat the fish if that's what is needed.

Am I going to lose them all???

 

[Sk8r]

Ich, most likely. Sometimes you don't see it broken out like salt on the fish---sometime it goes for the gills. if you have to use a poly bucket, pull them to it, aerate with a fine bubbler, and start treatment immediately. If you have a spouse, bribe same heavily; or call your lfs if they have a service where they can come in. Otherwise it's not likely to go well. TO CATCH FISH RAPIDLY: use a pump and pump out water until fish are confined to a low spot in sand, net fish out, rewater the tank rapidly. If at this hour you can't get any treatment, try hyposalinity. Go to the fish disease forum and get the setting for that. This is what I could find online: "
Lowering Salinity
Over a period of about 36-48 hours (use 48 for most Tangs, Butterflyfishes, Lionfishes, Puffers, and Dwarf Angelfishes) lower the specific through water removal and RO/DI or distilled water additions. Watch pH and temperature of the added water -- match that of the water being replaced. Use only a refractometer to measure the specific gravity. Lower the specific gravity to a reading of 1.008 to 1.009 sp. gr. units. Hold it there throughout the treatment." You're going to have to push it, or at least start it now, and finish it when you get somebody, a friend, anybody, to come in and put more ro/di into the bucket with the fish. Don't try to do it in your tank: you could kill off bacteria and have a tank crash. Do it in a bucket or spare tank.

 

[galoot]

GREAT, I'm screwed. No way anything is getting done while I'm at work. When I got up for work I spotted the Solar Wrasse in the same place and still alive. He hasn't hardly moved. The other fish were all in the normal resting areas. I have to hope they make it until Monday morning when I get off and have the chance to do something.

 

[Flippers4pups]

Stress most likely. If the Solar wasn't showing any signs of a parasite and was eating before bringing him home. Yes, you should have quarantined him as with any fish you buy, but the damage is done. Did you acclimate him properly? Introduce him with the lights off? I would watch him and the others for any signs of a parasite for the next few days and would in the mean time, go get everything for a quarantine tank up and running ASAP, just in case.(In this case now, a Hospital tank.)

 

[galoot]

Yes, the fish was eating at the store and in my tank. He was swimming all around and acting normal until Friday.

As far as setting up a QT or hosp tank, how big does it need to be? I would guess big enough for all the fish. There are 5 fish ranging from 3-5in. I don't have the room for that. I'm guessing doing the fish ni batches probably isn't that great of a solution either.

 

[unclejed2]

Yes, the fish was eating at the store and in my tank. He was swimming all around and acting normal until Friday.

As far as setting up a QT or hosp tank, how big does it need to be? I would guess big enough for all the fish. There are 5 fish ranging from 3-5in. I don't have the room for that. I'm guessing doing the fish ni batches probably isn't that great of a solution either.

I hate reading threads like this one! We have all been there...the tank is perfect (we think) but oh, wait....let's add one more fish, we do it and all hell breaks loose. We must learn to be content when all is well. In the future, purchase some Marine-Max by Tropical science and start using it (now to help the fish remaining) and then after they are healthy dose 1 day before adding a new fish.

 

[larder]

Sounds like Brooklynella. Ich does not progress that quickly, and stress from the transfer would not effect the other fish in the tank.

Brook is a parasite that divides directly on the fish. That's why it kills fish so quickly. Copper does not work on brook. The fish med "QuickCure" is specifically designed to treat brooklynella as a dip, more effective in freshwater. It is formalin and malachite green. Generally, once symptoms are noticed, you have less than three days before fish start dropping off, and this can wipe out your entire tank. The only fish I've seen survive a brook outbreak are wrasses that sleep in the sand and rabbitfish.

 

[Flippers4pups]

Sounds like Brooklynella. Ich does not progress that quickly, and stress from the transfer would not effect the other fish in the tank.

Brook is a parasite that divides directly on the fish. That's why it kills fish so quickly. Copper does not work on brook. The fish med "QuickCure" is specifically designed to treat brooklynella as a dip, more effective in freshwater. It is formalin and malachite green. Generally, once symptoms are noticed, you have less than three days before fish start dropping off, and this can wipe out your entire tank. The only fish I've seen survive a brook outbreak are wrasses that sleep in the sand and rabbitfish.

I would have to disagree with you on the stress factor. Any new addition to an established community of fish, places varying degrees of stress on every fish.

As far as brooklynella, here:Treatment of brooklynellosis(FOR THE FISH):

Both Lom (1995) and Noga (2000) recommend formalin baths of between 0.125 and 167 mL/L for 30 to 60 minutes. The warmer your water, the less formalin that should be used as both formalin and increasing temperature reduces the oxygen saturation of the water.

The bath water should be matched closely with the tank water and probably the best way is to take water from the tank and place it in a bucket, add the formalin. mix well and treat the fish. Replace the removed water with fresh seawater (artificial or natural depending on what is normally used). Add an airstone to the dip bucket to ensure good aeration (and then toss the airstone away). After the dip is completed, dilute the dip water with 4 times the volume of tap water and discard.

To each gallon (or 4 litres) of bath water, around 0.6 mL of formalin should be added to get the desired dosage.

Have a second bucket of tank water ready to transfer the fish to when the treatment is complete or the fish shows signs of stress. The second bucket allows the fish to be "rinsed" before it is placed back into the tank.

Don't use formalin if the water temperature is greater than 27°C (80°F).

If the fish appear to have trouble breathing - more so than before the bath started - remove them.

Keep in mind that once the fish get sick, it usually takes 2-3 days for the fish to die if untreated.
_____

 

[galoot]

So the Marine Max can be added to the tank? Do you think it will be effective with the fish in their current state?

 

[larder]

I would have to disagree with you on the stress factor. Any new addition to an established community of fish, places varying degrees of stress on every fish.
_____

Existing fish in a tank do not turn up dead from generalized stress caused by a new addition to the tank. This does not happen. It's either aggression or a pathogen is involved.

 

[TripleT]

Recheck your water parameters.

Assume the possibility of toxins, and start mixing water for a water change.

Add a Polyfilter pad, today:

Check for stray voltage, or a stuck heater.

 

[galoot]

I won't be able to make it home until Tuesday now. Luckly my lfs is willing to come out tonight and hopefully treat the fish. All I can do now is hope for the best.

 

[unclejed2]

So the Marine Max can be added to the tank? Do you think it will be effective with the fish in their current state?

Just read this post today. Yes, Marine-Max will help even if the fish already has ich. I have used it after a couple of mine got it and they recovered. It boosts their immune system to make the fish able to fend off not only ich but many other maladies.

 

[galoot]

Just a quick update for you all. When I got home tuesday morning I was expecting the worst. But to my suprise, everything looked good. The surviving fish were breathing normal again. The wrasse was still not moving much, but his breathing was back to normal too. The LFS said my water parameters all check out and they did a large water change for me while they were there.

It's now been over a week and everyone is back to normal, the wrasse included. I have no idea what happened. Maybe something chemical related??? Funny thing is all the corals looked fine the entire time. I just find it really odd that all of a sudden I'd lose two healthy fish and the others appeared altered.

HMMMM, guess I'll never know.