Fish die within 24 hours!!!

nitr8

nitr8

Active member
:headwallblue: Can anyone please help me figure out why I can't seem to keep fish alive in my tank? It's not all fish just most. As of now I have a small yellow tang, banggai cardinal, yasha goby, chromis and a mandarin. I've lost (3) Royal Grammas, (2) Wyoming White Ocellaris, (1) B&W Ocellaris, (1) ORA Black Snowflake Ocellaris, (2) Sunburst Anthias and most recently (today) a Blue Spot Jawfish all within 24 hours of being introduced. I've done a drip acclimation with all fish ranging from 15 minutes to 3 hours. Invertebrates and coral all do fine. Is this just the way it goes, you win some you lose some, or is there something seriously wrong with my tank? The ORA Black Snowflake and the the Blue Spot Jawfish both lived in my QT for about a month with no issues and seemed healthy which is why I added them to my display. Both died within 24 hours after being added to my tank. They were added a few days apart. The tank is a little over 4 months old and all my parameters seem to be in check. I do weekly 15% water changes. 90g display, sump, refugium, skimmer, carbon reactor, GFO reactor. Please help!!!

Lowest and Highest over the past 2 weeks
Salinity: 1.025 - 1.026
Temp: 79.3 - 80.8
Ammonia: 0
Nitrite: 0
Nitrate: 2 - 3
Phosphate: .04 - .1 (working on this but I don't believe it's a contributing factor to the issue at hand)
pH: 7.89 - 8.17
Calcium: 402 - 416
Alkalinity: 9 - 9.6
Magnesium: 1280 - 1300
 
Definitely something wrong there. Clowns are the hardiest fish, when I moved out of my parents house and left my old Biocube there my mom kept 2 clowns alive for 2 years until we got rid of the tank. Not a single water change and she used to top off cold water straight from the tap.

Did you use dry rock? Could something be leaching from them?
 
Sounds like a lot very fast....you may wanna slow down a bit.

but in any case, have you seen hostility in the tank...added stress to an already stressed fish helps not.

15 min drip acclimate, really....i would not suggest any less than an hour unless the stress or ammonia in a shipping bag is so severe, there is no other way.

Just out of curiousity, did you happen to buy a mandarin that eats prepared foods


it does sound like you have an issue...what are your params, how often you test, and how stable are they.
 
myst said:
Definitely something wrong there. Clowns are the hardiest fish, when I moved out of my parents house and left my old Biocube there my mom kept 2 clowns alive for 2 years until we got rid of the tank. Not a single water change and she used to top off cold water straight from the tap.

Did you use dry rock? Could something be leaching from them?
Click to expand...

Yes I used Marco rock but again I would assume this would affect all inhabitants not just new fish if this was the cause. I have over 50 SPS corals that are all doing great. If something was leaching in the amount to kill fish in sure my corals would not be doing good.
 
Sounds like a lot very fast....you may wanna slow down a bit. 6 small fish in 4 months is fast? My tank is handling the additions with no ill effects to the water parameters

but in any case, have you seen hostility in the tank...added stress to an already stressed fish helps not. Not that I've seen. The only suspect would be the yello tang but I haven't seen any aggression.

15 min drip acclimate, really....i would not suggest any less than an hour unless the stress or ammonia in a shipping bag is so severe, there is no other way. I agree that 15 minutes is not long enough. My LFS suggest 15 minutes. Figured I'd give it a try. None of these fish were shipped. All were bought locally.

Just out of curiousity, did you happen to buy a mandarin that eats prepared foods. Nope, strictly pods. I culture them and the moment I seem to be keeping up with the demand. He's fat and happy.


it does sound like you have an issue...what are your params, how often you test, and how stable are they. This should answer all three questions.

Lowest and Highest over the past 2 weeks
Salinity: 1.025 - 1.026
Temp: 79.3 - 80.8
Ammonia: 0
Nitrite: 0
Nitrate: 2 - 3
Phosphate: .04 - .1 (working on this but I don't believe it's a contributing factor to the issue at hand)
pH: 7.89 - 8.17
Calcium: 402 - 416
Alkalinity: 9 - 9.6
Magnesium: 1280 - 1300
 
Did you purchase all of the fish from the same store?

If so I would purchase your next fish at a different store and see how that works out. I see you're from Lakeland. If there's not a lot of options out your way a half day trip to Orlando will provide countless options for fish.
 
There could be a disease in the aquarium that is ravaging any new addition. I would fallow the aquarium for about three months- meaning that i would not add ANY new object for those three months. Fallowing allows the aquarium to level out and if there was a disease or anything of the kind- it would die off. After those three months i would try a single chromis and then evaluate.
 
My father in law had the same problem....6 fish added at one shot and they all died within 2 days. There was no disease in his tank, but his bioload couldn't handle all of the new additions. Also, drip acclimating for 15 minutes is (and I'll just say it) kind of ridiculous. 2 hours is minimum recommended for anything (fish, coral, etc). Good luck!

Matt
 
Rollins4Miles said:
Did you purchase all of the fish from the same store?

If so I would purchase your next fish at a different store and see how that works out. I see you're from Lakeland. If there's not a lot of options out your way a half day trip to Orlando will provide countless options for fish.
Click to expand...

Multiple stores. I work in Lake Mary and frequent the Tampa area so I've bought fish from all over.
 
dinger28 said:
My father in law had the same problem....6 fish added at one shot and they all died within 2 days. There was no disease in his tank, but his bioload couldn't handle all of the new additions. Also, drip acclimating for 15 minutes is (and I'll just say it) kind of ridiculous. 2 hours is minimum recommended for anything (fish, coral, etc). Good luck!

Matt
Click to expand...

Most of the time, the fish were added individually. 15 minutes was recommended by my LFS.
 
reeferstace said:
Low O2?
Stray voltage?
Chemical contaminants?
Click to expand...

I haven't tested for any of these but with a 80x turnover rate I don't believe o2 should be an issue. I'm not being shocked when I put my hand in the tank. My first tank had stray voltage and you knew it as soon as you touched the water. Chemical contaminants I'm sure wouldn't target new fish.
 
6 small DEAD fish in 4 months is fast, IMO. I agree to fallow the tank and let what is there continue to thrive or diminish. When you add new inhabitants, you throw all reasonable deductive possibilities out the window as you add new variables without asessing what is going on. I would take it easy, save your money for a while, what is killing these fish will rear its head sooner or later.

Good luck
 
Reefer54 said:
6 small DEAD fish in 4 months is fast, IMO. I agree to fallow the tank and let what is there continue to thrive or diminish. When you add new inhabitants, you throw all reasonable deductive possibilities out the window as you add new variables without asessing what is going on. I would take it easy, save your money for a while, what is killing these fish will rear its head sooner or later.

Good luck
Click to expand...

Good advice!
 
Sounds like an extreme case ofMarine Velvet. It happened to me about two years ago. All of my butterflyfish died overnight when i added a coral beauty. If i was in your situation i would not add anything new to the aquarium and continue water changes as normal for a minimum of three months. It may sound like a long time but the wait is completely necessary in this instance.

Best of luck.
 
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