Fish die within 24 hours!!!

[GroktheCube]

Those symptoms sound like velvet but I'm surprised none of the existing fish are dying if that's the case.

Waiting a few months and making sure everything is 100% stable and healthy might be the best idea.

 

[nitr8]

I'm going to try and fallow the tank and see what happens.

 

[nitr8]

Acclimation Process

Acclimation Process

All of the fish, dead or alive fall into (3) categories

Most of the dead fish and all of the live fish fall into category 1
-Straight home from the LFS. In most cases less than 15 minutes. In all cases less than an hour
-Dump entire contents of LFS bag into a 5 gallon bucket and start drip acclimating. Broken stream drip rate for about an hour. Sometimes less and sometimes more with the same result....DEATH!! I've gone as low as 15 minutes and as high as 3 hours.
-Net fish from bucket and introduce into display. Dispose of all water in 5 gallon bucket.
-Dead fish died within 24 hours of being introduced to DT.
-6 of 11 fish lived

(2) dead fish fall into category 2
-Straight home from the LFS. One 15 minute drive, the other 45 minute drive
-Dump entire contents of LFS bag into a 5 gallon bucket and start drip acclimating from QT. Broken stream drip rate for about an hour.
-Net fish from bucket and introduce into QT. Dispose of all water in 5 gallon bucket.
-Feed twice a day for first week, once a day second week
-Food soaked in Metronidazole and Focus
-Daily 20-25% water changes
-QT time for these two fish was 1 month and the other was 2 weeks
-Siphon 1-2 gallons from QT into a 5 gallon bucket and start drip acclimating from DT. Broken stream drip rate for about an hour.
-Net fish from bucket and introduce into display. Dispose of all water in 5 gallon bucket.
-Both fish died in DT within 24 hours

(1) dead fish falls into category 3
-Straight home from the LFS. 15 minute drive.
-Dump entire contents of LFS bag into a 5 gallon bucket and start drip acclimating. Broken stream drip rate for about an hour.
-Net fish from bucket and introduce into QT. Dispose of all water in 5 gallon bucket.
-Fish died in QT with 24 hours

It's probably also worth mentioning that the water column in the QT was 75% water from my display and the other 25% new saltwater. Wouldn't that rule out any kind of disease or parasite since (2) fish lived in my QT for an extended period of time?

 

[oldsaint]

Just some random thoughts after reviewing your thread. Not sure if any of it will help. But, figure it can't hurt.

All of the fish, dead or alive fall into (3) categories

Most of the dead fish and all of the live fish fall into category 1
-Straight home from the LFS. In most cases less than 15 minutes. In all cases less than an hour
-Dump entire contents of LFS bag into a 5 gallon bucket and start drip acclimating. Broken stream drip rate for about an hour. Sometimes less and sometimes more with the same result....DEATH!! I've gone as low as 15 minutes and as high as 3 hours.
I'd be curious of the temp of the water in the bucket after you're done acclimating
-Net fish from bucket and introduce into display. Dispose of all water in 5 gallon bucket.
Good idea to soak the net while the fish is acclimating. A dry net can be hazardous to the fish's slim coat. Which IMO, can be detrimental under an already stressful situation.
-Dead fish died within 24 hours of being introduced to DT.
-6 of 11 fish lived

(2) dead fish fall into category 2
-Straight home from the LFS. One 15 minute drive, the other 45 minute drive
-Dump entire contents of LFS bag into a 5 gallon bucket and start drip acclimating from QT. Broken stream drip rate for about an hour.
-Net fish from bucket and introduce into QT. Dispose of all water in 5 gallon bucket.
-Feed twice a day for first week, once a day second week
I would probably wait a day or at least the following day before feeding. My understanding, Fish have a limited bank of energy. The energy is better used acclimating to their new enviroment than digesting food.
-Food soaked in Metronidazole and Focus
-Daily 20-25% water changes
Possibly a stressor. I would reduce, unless this is to control NH3.
-QT time for these two fish was 1 month and the other was 2 weeks
-Siphon 1-2 gallons from QT into a 5 gallon bucket and start drip acclimating from DT. Broken stream drip rate for about an hour.
-Net fish from bucket and introduce into display. Dispose of all water in 5 gallon bucket.
-Both fish died in DT within 24 hours

(1) dead fish falls into category 3
-Straight home from the LFS. 15 minute drive.
-Dump entire contents of LFS bag into a 5 gallon bucket and start drip acclimating. Broken stream drip rate for about an hour.
-Net fish from bucket and introduce into QT. Dispose of all water in 5 gallon bucket.
-Fish died in QT with 24 hours

If you're not seeing signs of disease, then I'd be concerned about stress.

 

[Irishdolphin]

Any chance there's some sort of chemical in your 5g bucket that is poisoning the fish?

 

[nitr8]

I use an old salt bucket only used for my fish tank. Any way to test for contaminants? I'll use a different bucket next time just to be safe.

 

[nitr8]

I keep a semi detailed tracker of all additions to my tank. I don't want to persuade opinions of LFS so I'll just number them.

7/19: Green Chromis, LFS #1, Alive
7/19: Green Chromis, LFS #1, Died within a week
7/27: Cleaner Shrimp, LFS #1, Alive
7/28: Blood Shrimp, LFS #2, Alive
7/28: Porcelain Crab, LFS #2, Death by powerhead
8/2: Yasha Goby, LFS #3, Alive
8/2: Peppermint Shrimp, LFS #3, Alive
8/2: Randalls Pistol Shrimp , LFS #4, Alive
8/3: Red Harlequin Serpent SF, LFS #5, Alive
8/6: Porcelain Crab, LFS #2, Alive
8/6: Porcelain Crab, LFS #1, Alive
8/7: Black and White Harlequin Serpent SF, LFS #6, Alive
8/12: Royal Gramma, LFS #7, Dead within 24 hours
8/17: Lawnmower Blenny, LFS #1, Kept for a few weeks, sudden death
8/29: Porcelain Crab, LFS #2, Alive
8/29: Sexy Shrimp, LFS #2, MIA as of 11/21 (just noticed I haven't seen him in a while)
8/29: Bangaii Cardinal, LFS #1, Alive
9/5: Orange Spot Blenny, LFS #5, Kept for a few weeks, sudden death
9/7: Wyoming White Ocellaris, LFS #1, Died within 24 hours
9/7: B & W Ocellaris, LFS #1, Died within 24 hours
9/7: Royal Gramma, LFS #1, Died within 24 hours
9/20: Royal Gramma, LFS #1, Died within 24 hours
9/20: Sunburst Anthias, LFS #1, Died within 24 hours
9/25: Sunburst Anthias, LFS #1, Died within a week
9/28: Yellow Tang, LFS #1, Alive
10/1: Red Tuxedo Urchin, LFS #8, Alive
10/18: Cherry Serpent SF, LFS #9, Alive
10/29: Blue Spot Jawfish, LFS #10, Lived in QT for 3 weeks, died in DT within 24 hours
10/30: Serpent SF, LFS #2, Alive
10/30: Red Mandarin Dragonet, LFS #1, Alive
11/1: Dracula Goby, LiveAquaria DD, Jumper
11/10: Wyoming White Ocellaris, LFS #1, Died with 24 hours in QT
11/10: ORA Black Snowflake Ocellaris, LFS #1, Lived in QT for about a week, died in DT within 24 hours

 

[CReyes350]

How's it going with the tank? Did you do a fallow after all?

 

[JackandJill]

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

Anything over 30 minutes is not beneficial and detrimental. I think there's asticky on this

 

[nitr8]

How's it going with the tank? Did you do a fallow after all?

No I haven't started the fallow yet. That is going to be a last resort effort. I did try another gramma unsuccessfully. I'm on vacation for a few weeks so I'll get back to troubleshooting when I get back.

 

[snorvich]

My first suggestion is to use a calibrated refractometer to measure SG of the transport water as well as the SG of the tank they are going into. Any time you change from one set of water to another it is smart to measure the two SG and record as part of your process.

Are the fish you purchase coming from a source that keeps a non-therpeutic dose of copper in their system?

 

[enjetek]

Very disturbing that some live and some don't. Hmmmm

 

[nitr8]

My first suggestion is to use a calibrated refractometer to measure SG of the transport water as well as the SG of the tank they are going into. Any time you change from one set of water to another it is smart to measure the two SG and record as part of your process.

Are the fish you purchase coming from a source that keeps a non-therpeutic dose of copper in their system?

I usually do measure the SG as indicated. I use a digital refractometer. I've seen as low as 1.019 all the way up to what I keep my tank at, 1.026. I'm not sure if copper is used but I've purchased fish from quite a few different shops.

 

[GRFMotorsports]

I dont know much I will admit up front. I had an ich outbreak a couple years ago. I let my tank go fishless for quite a while, 4-5 months, I have never had a problem since then. Just my observation. Let your tank go fallow for a couple months. Have someone else confirm water parameters with their testing methods. Slow down on water changes if I read it right. When it comes time to introduce a fish back in, get a new one and see how it does before putting your stock back in. Best of luck, dying fish suck when you dont know why. Maybe try a different acclimation process as well.

 

[CReyes350]

Bummer... so what exactly is in the aquarium now? Also, I once had a 10 gal QT tank which was killing off my fish for whatever reason, as soon as I upgraded to a clean 29 gal it has been smooth sailing since...

 

[OrQidz]

strange...I wonder about the bucket too. Maybe it got sprayed by something at some point (cleaning sprays, bug spray, sometime when you didn't know it happened?).

If it's not environmental it sounds like some kind of infection that a few of the fish are resistant to, but kills the others. I once had a case of velvet wipe out a royal gramma but leave a goby in the same tank completely unaffected. Are you near a vet school? Or anywhere you could send a sample of the fish to for testing? Exotic vet that could take a swab to test for infection? It sounds crazy but something is killing your fish so it might be worthwhile to try and check.

It sounds like you have a lot of LFS's. I wonder if they are all using the same supplier? Perhaps an exporter out there somewhere is using bad practices or something. Still seems odd that some fish live and some die, but there is always a variation in hardiness I suppose.

I'm sorry you're going through this, it's heartbreaking to watch these guys die so I hope you can figure this out soon. You need the CSI team in there to sort this mystery out! good luck!

 

[nitr8]

Bummer... so what exactly is in the aquarium now? Also, I once had a 10 gal QT tank which was killing off my fish for whatever reason, as soon as I upgraded to a clean 29 gal it has been smooth sailing since...

7/19: Green Chromis, LFS #1, Alive
7/27: Cleaner Shrimp, LFS #1, Alive
7/28: Blood Shrimp, LFS #2, Alive
8/2: Yasha Goby, LFS #3, Alive
8/2: Peppermint Shrimp, LFS #3, Alive
8/2: Randalls Pistol Shrimp , LFS #4, Alive
8/3: Red Harlequin Serpent SF, LFS #5, Alive
8/6: Porcelain Crab, LFS #2, Alive
8/6: Porcelain Crab, LFS #1, Alive
8/7: Black and White Harlequin Serpent SF, LFS #6, Alive
8/29: Porcelain Crab, LFS #2, Alive
8/29: Bangaii Cardinal, LFS #1, Alive
9/28: Yellow Tang, LFS #1, Alive
10/1: Red Tuxedo Urchin, LFS #8, Alive
10/18: Cherry Serpent SF, LFS #9, Alive
10/30: Serpent SF, LFS #2, Alive
10/30: Red Mandarin Dragonet, LFS #1, Alive

Most of the fish have not be quarantined.

 

[nitr8]

I dont know much I will admit up front. I had an ich outbreak a couple years ago. I let my tank go fishless for quite a while, 4-5 months, I have never had a problem since then. Just my observation. Let your tank go fallow for a couple months. This may be what I have to do, although ich is not the problem. Have someone else confirm water parameters with their testing methods. I've had two different LFS test and got same results. Slow down on water changes if I read it right. I'm not sure what you mean. 15-20% weekly PWC are too frequent? When it comes time to introduce a fish back in, get a new one and see how it does before putting your stock back in. Did you treat your stock? Best of luck, dying fish suck when you dont know why. Maybe try a different acclimation process as well.

 

[nitr8]

strange...I wonder about the bucket too. Maybe it got sprayed by something at some point (cleaning sprays, bug spray, sometime when you didn't know it happened?).

The bucket as already been ruled out as a possibility.

 

[GRFMotorsports]

Let your tank go fallow for a couple months. This may be what I have to do, although ich is not the problem.
True but perhaps leaving it fallow will break the cycle.


Slow down on water changes if I read it right. I'm not sure what you mean. 15-20% weekly PWC are too frequent?
I thought I read in a post daily water changes.

When it comes time to introduce a fish back in, get a new one and see how it does before putting your stock back in. Did you treat your stock?
Admittedly I have not. However I have only added Wrasse from a LFS or others from tanks I know are clean. Not the best policy and when I set up my new tank I will QT most everything no matter the source.