Every Fish Dies...!!!

[Porksound]

Hey everyone... it's been a while since I posted here... which is supposed to be a good sign, it should mean things are going well, eh?

Well, they are and they aren't. And I think I need some greater knowledge kind of help.

I have a 38 gallon LPS reef that has been around now for 28 months... tons of "micro" stars and Nerite snails (TONS of nerites) healthy hermit population and thriving corals.

However for about 10 months now every fish I put in the tank dies within 24 hours. This flies in the face of all of my knowledge. Corals thrive, water quality is awesome, I rarely skim (because there are NO fish), and the tank is grounded (in case of dirty power issues)...

These are not delicate hard to keep fish either. three days ago I bought three damsels (blue devil) to see how it would go... they seemed healthy and active all day, even eating when I fed in the evening. Next morning it's carnage. Two are dead and the third is doing the huff and puff in the corner.

I'm relatively sure it's not a predator, because they are intact when I remove them.

it makes no sense to me whatsoever.

Can anyone help me with this mystery?

Amon: 0
Nitrite: 0
Nitrate: 0

Balance is good, everything looks good... double checked with a water test at the LFS...

p

 

[King-Kong]

how about getting fish from another source?

 

[andycook]

Sounds like it might be an acclimation problem. How are you acclimating them to your tank water?

Skimming isn't just for fish waste. Skim for a few weeks before you get more fish.

 

[Porksound]

"how about getting fish from another source?"

Been doing business with my LFS for years and I trust them... but I've heard this advice from others. They "say" that their fish aren't cyanide caught, but I'm pretty sure that's hard to verify, hehehe...

I never buy a fish without making sure he's been in the LFS tank for a week first... seems odd they'd die straight away once at my place... but maybe the stress of the move???

...

I'm acclimating on an intermittent drip... I start with the bag in the unlit tank, to get them used to any temp changes. After about 30 minutes I begin adding water from my tank to the bag, usually about a 1/4 cup every 20 minutes. Whole process takes me about 3 hours. I admit to being less diligent with a hardy fish like a damsel... but not to the point of being unconcerned about their well being.

I will try skimming for a few weeks and see... but, wouldn't anything dangerous to a damsel also be bad for a coral? I added a new xenia frag a week ago and it's pulsing and dancing and already spreading onto surrounding rock. I guess my knowledge is incomplete (highly likely, hehehe)... I always thought that any levels that harm fish would harm corals first.

shrug...

Thanks so much for the advices...

p

 

[isom]

3 hours is on the long side IMO...
not that this should be unhealthy for fish, it's probably even better. I usually float for 15-20 min for temp, then add 1/4 - 1/2 cup of water at a time for every 15 min for 45min to an hour. this has been foolproof for me.... 3 hours just seems excessive. i would thing the bag would get fulll well before three hours was up.

how bout some more info on your setup... what type of skimmer, what type of heater, what type of filtration/water movement. also, have you tested Ca, alk, salinity, etc...?

 

[Agu]

Do they look fine the first day and dead the next ? If so my wild guess would be low oxygenation of the water that drops even more overnight, suffocating the fish.

Studies have shown O2 levels can drop dangerously low overnight without proper circulation.

http://reefkeeping.com/issues/2005-08/eb/index.php


Also, if the skimmer is off with no water running through it you're creating a toxic soup that's released into the tank when you plug it in. (If you merely submerge the air intake and leave it running ignore this part ) Starting the skimmer could add to the problem by creating/feeding an algae bloom which also depletes oxygen.

 

[jeffbrig]

Have you measured the salinity of the water from your LFS? Some keep the salinity as low as 1.017. If this was the case, raising the fish to 1.025 to match your reef, even over a couple of hours, would be quite a shock. I always check sg and pH in the bag as a first step.

 

[Porksound]

cheers "isom"

well, I'm not sure what brand of heater I'm using, to be honest, it's been submersed in my sump for about a year. But it's submersible, titanium...

I have a Remora C skimmer but haven't skimmed in months... I feel a little stupid now, because the time spent not skimming may well corralate to the fish death issue. I'm thinking maybe certain corals I've kept for some time have become acclimated to possibly toxic levels of trace metals that I'm not regularly testing for... which could be poisoning new vertebrates... (embarrasingly foolish of me, I know)

I don't use any other filtration, preferring to let "nature" take it's course... but I have a powerful return pump from the sump and a powerhead in the column which provides counter movement.

As of Monday:

Ca: 412mg
Alk: 2.6m/l
S/gravity: 1.022

thanks

p

 

[KDodds]

Sounds like Agu hit the nail on the head to me. If you're willing to do a little experiment. Get 3 damsels again. Introduce them. Leave the lights on. All night. This will prevent plant respiration by zoox and other algaes. If the fish make it through the night, I think you've found your problem. A skimmer, if you're not using one, will definitely help with this. More flow/surface break as well. Possibly a reverse lighted algae refugium.

 

[brentp]

When I set up my current tank I removed all of the coral (mostly SPS) and fish and put them in two rubbermaid containers with powerheads. Well I forgot to plug in the powerhead in one of the containers and I lost a beautiful powder blue tang, all of the corals were fine. Lack of oxygenation can happen very quickly and won't always effect corals IME.

 

[sagitariuscbc]

Porksound... i know you been around since 09/20/2004 but welcome any how!

to reefcentral!~)

check out a local reef club... MARS www.marineaquarist.org also we have a forum here on rc....http://reefcentral.com/forums/forumdisplay.php?s=&forumid=173

shawn!~)

 

[Porksound]

wow, thanks everyone...

It does indeed sound like oxygenation in the tank... man, in 7 years of reefkeeping this hasn't been a problem... I always thought sufficient surface agitation did the trick!

Thanks so much... any more ideas advices are more than welcome...

I will begin skimming immediately in case of metal build up... AND to accelerate oxygenationl... my Remora skimmer is a champ at introducing aeration... hehehe.

I'm not willing to experiment with new fish again so soon... I'd hate to be wrong and needlessly kill MORE fish... but will try again in a couple of weeks.

Reverse light cycles with my refugium is something I've wanted to do for ages, unfortunately I have a built in sump on my tank, and can't reasonably light one without lighting the other.

Thanks again, everyone...

p