Fish disaster in my tank

[SteveJakubiec]

Um...one clownfish looks like she'll be going down and out, and the Leopard Wrasse, Goby, and Other Clown are fine it seems.

 

[catfisher]

Could your low KH be contributing to a big pH swing? Just my guess...

 

[GoSUV]

A big pH swing should have caused something to the invertebrates in the tank. But the OP said the inverts are doing fine, so the chance is less likely about water parameters, but something contagious that only affects fish.

 

[SteveJakubiec]

Female clown made it, she's doing fine, and eating.

 

[mrpenguin]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=12916358#post12916358 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by GoSUV
A big pH swing should have caused something to the invertebrates in the tank. But the OP said the inverts are doing fine, so the chance is less likely about water parameters, but something contagious that only affects fish.

Exactly .... Cleaner shrimp, porcelain crab, blue leg hermit crabs, snails, corals and all other things are doing great, just the fish dead.

 

[jnc914]

Brook kills very quickly and is contagious, although that doesn't explain how your other fish survived. Velvet can act quickly if localized in the gills, but you would see symptoms of that by heavy or overactive breathing, scratching, etc. It took about two weeks to wipe out my tank; and this was after I had treated with formalin-3. I was able to see a powdery yellow film over the fishes body. I was trying to opt out of using copper before I was able to raise my salinity out of hypo. Guess that back fired on me. My Chrysurus and one clown has survived thus far. I added Cupramine last night after I did two big water changes. My achilles that I purchased prior to my tank crash has been living happily in my QT for the last month. It was supposed to be my last fish added. Guess I get to fish shop again once the velvet is gone. The most heart breaking loss was my juvi gold flake. He had grown quite a bit and was the most active and had so much personality. I will miss him the most. I will always QT from this point on.

 

[mrpenguin]

I added a yellow tailed blue damselfish to my tank yesterday, paid $5 for it and I need to see if the fish will be ok in my tank before I add anything more expensife .... day 2 and the fish seems ok, swimming and feeding.

 

[jnc914]

I have been doing large water changes and added cupramine. Everything is removed from the DT except for the two fish that survived, the Chrysurus Angel and a false perc. Don't know how much more effective Cupramine is than regular copper, I hope it cleans out the system of the velvet though.

 

[IridescentLily]

not an expert, but it almost sound slike they're being attacked by something, something that only comes out at night maybe? Something similar to a bristleworm perhaps? Have you ever looked at your tank at night to see if any other creatures come out. They usually come out at night. Certainly could be the aforementioned ideas, moreso than my idea, still I had to ask.
Im sorry for your losses.

 

[mrpenguin]

I spend hours looking at my tank at night to see if I could see anything .... I also redid my landscaping and removed 90% of my rock into buckets and did not see anything.
If there was something big enough to kill a Powder blue tang then I am sure I would have seen it.

 

[Moonstream]

LR is very porous and most preditors are good hiders. if it is a preditor, I dont think that you would find it just by removing the rock.

 

[Macimage]

Something similar to a bristleworm perhaps?

Bristleworms do not kill fish. They are sold by many vendors as part of a good clean up crew and if you do find one eating one of your fish, the fish was already dead.

It sounds as though you are not quarantining your fish. This is an important step in maintaining a successful healthy tank, as you can introduce all types of diseases into your display by adding new fish directly.

Joyce

 

[jmaneyapanda]

I also vote brook. A swift and deadly killer.

Here's how you prevent it- quarantine and treatment as necessary. I would keep you tank fishless for a long duration, and any fish that go in, QT and treat as necessary.