Fish disease ID

[aandfsoccr04]

I've had a lot of fish die over the course of the past few days and can't figure out why. I setup a new tank during Thanksgiving and transferred all my fish over to the upgraded tank. Can someone tell me what is going on with my fish? My tang now is breathing really heavily and looks discolored:

 

[Fishfirst]

What is your water quality looking like?

 

[aandfsoccr04]

Temp - 78
Ph - 8.0
Ammonia - .25
Nitrite - 0
Nitrate - greater than 50

Gah I'm an idiot.

 

[Newsmyrna80]

Are you using Prime or some sort of ammonia lock? If not then add some. .25 ammonia is stressful.

 

[Deinonych]

+1 on the ammonia. Did you cycle the tank thoroughly before adding fish? Even if it were cycled, adding a bunch of fish at once would have overwhelmed the biofilter.

 

[aandfsoccr04]

Dead:

 

[Newsmyrna80]

Red gills...looks like ammonia toxicity. Add something like Prime.

 

[aandfsoccr04]

I'm so mad at myself knowing there is something I could have done to save the fish. :furious: He's been with me since I first bought a used complete setup and took the plunge into the hobby.

 

[MrTuskfish]

Not trying to pile on, but who knows how high the ammonia was before what bio-filter you do have brought it down. When fish are showing odd symptoms/behavior; ammonia is one of the first things to test and you don't seem concerned with the ammonia in your post #3. This is fishkeeping 101. I'm just guessing that much of your knowledge has come from this forum; given your post count. I'd read a few good books on our hobby from cover to cover. You can't master the hobby one question/post at a time.

 

[aandfsoccr04]

I wasn't expecting a cycle from setting up a new tank. If it was within the first few weeks, it would have crossed my mind. This didn't start happening until nearly 2 months since the tank has been set up. Obviously, I don't know as much as someone like yourself who has been in the hobby much longer. I've torn down tanks and set them back up numerous times and never had a problem until this move.

 

[Deinonych]

I wasn't expecting a cycle from setting up a new tank. If it was within the first few weeks, it would have crossed my mind. This didn't start happening until nearly 2 months since the tank has been set up.

It's possible your biofilter was just able to sustain your fish load for that initial period. When the first fish died (whatever the cause), it may have set off an ammonia spike that the biofilter couldn't process, and this set off a chain reaction with additional fish perishing. Hard to say how the series of events unfolded, but any amount of ammonia is cause for concern.

Sorry for your losses.

 

[MrTuskfish]

I wasn't expecting a cycle from setting up a new tank. If it was within the first few weeks, it would have crossed my mind. This didn't start happening until nearly 2 months since the tank has been set up. Obviously, I don't know as much as someone like yourself who has been in the hobby much longer. I've torn down tanks and set them back up numerous times and never had a problem until this move.

I didn't mean to come across as a crabby old f***; I'm really just a warm little fuzzball. For quite a while I've had a "thing" about what I see as a big problem with newer hobbyists. As good as RC is, (IMO & IME) it simply isn't the place to learn all the basics of our hobby. (Its sure better than 99% of LFSs though). A cover to cover reading of some books, like "The Conscience Marine Aquarist" (by Fenner, a very good aquarist, but not better than several we have at RC---again IMO.) would fill in a lot of knowledge gaps that can only be learned in book form. Old fashioned? Maybe, but vital. The ammonia issue is typical of what I'm trying to say. A 1st day hobbyist, reading a good book on the hobby, would suspect ammonia as soon as the symptoms your fish showed appeaared. A tank that has been running great for years, just takes a hidden dead fish to start an ammonia crisis in motion. My rant isn't intended as personal, it just reflects on what I suspect is a problem. FWIW: I have seen several very good posts by you on the Forum....and I am no expert.

 

[Newsmyrna80]

IMO&E whenever you notice a fish's coloration is off or they are acting abnormally the first thing I check is the ammonia. Of course, this is barring any new additions bringing in disease. My tank is 9 years old so it's established but a couple of months ago some Xenia started dying in my tank. I had a small ammonia spike. You would think after 9 years ammonia shouldn't even be an issue but it was. Live and learn

 

[RJT]

Sorry for your loss. Was he a purple tang

 

[aqua_dog]

do you use a skimmer?