Fish Down! Fish Down!

T

tsiklauss

Member
Help! I come home last night and find my coral Beauty stuck to the over flow. I pull it off and it could barley move it self and kept getting stuck to power heads. I tried moving it to the sump, but it got stuck to the inlet of my protein skimmer. I couldn't bare to watch it suffer so I was forced to euthanize it :(. Every one else in the tank was happy and hungry so I figured it was a freak accident like swim bladder. Well today I come home and my Sailfin Tang is laying on the sand bed gasping. Luckily I had water already mixed for a water change tomorrow and did a large change. It seemed to almost instantly help him, but he is not even close to 100%. He is staying in one spot and continues to rest him self against the rocks/sand. I did a water test and every thing comes out normal:
SG: 1.026
Temp: 77.8
Ammonia: 0
Nitrites: 0
Nitrates: .5
Phosphates: .5
PH: 8.4
Tank is a 90g with 30g sump
I didnt test Calcium or Alkalinity because I didn't think it would effect the fish in this way. I also just switched out my carbon in fear that maybe some thing got in the tank. My 2 clowns, diamond goby and chromis all seem as happy and normal as can be. All my inverts are acting normal as well. Any ideas as to what is happening to my fish!?! Sorry for the small novel, but I really don't to lose my tang.
 
Did you QT your fish that could be the problem. Internal parasites could have caused these problems. I'm no expert on these parasites but hopefully some of the more experienced reefers chime in.
 
Have you added any new fish ? What about any new equipment ?
From the sounds of it , it sounds like some sort of disease ...
I would keep up with the water changes every 3 days and watch for any more signs of distress or sickness.
 
I added a Diamond Goby last week, but do not have a QT. Do you think the goby could have carried parasites even though he seems perfectly healthy? I also added a chili coral around the same time. They are not to release any toxin or any thing are they? Can I do another water change before 3 days or should I wait it out so that I don't stress them too bad?
 
Well I woke up this morning to my sailfin dead :( I really want to find out what is killing my fish before my clowns or diamond goby are affected. Should I start looking into setting up a QT for my remaining fish?
 
Wont help if they are already sick. The reason for a QT is to keep parasites out of your main tank and isolated to the new fish. Set up a qt it is cheaper then the fish you already lost. Does not need to be anything fancy. However if you can ID the issue fish are easier to treat in smaller tanks. Also many seemingly healthy fish have issues. QT your fish for 6-8 weeks. I know its hard for all of us to wait that long, but saves time, money, and heartbreak down the road.
 
I will be setting up a QT before adding any additional fish, but I don't want to add any more if they are just going to die. How do I make sure that other fish aren't sick? I don't even know where to start with diagnosing and or medicating them.
 
tsiklauss said:
I will be setting up a QT before adding any additional fish, but I don't want to add any more if they are just going to die. How do I make sure that other fish aren't sick? I don't even know where to start with diagnosing and or medicating them.
Click to expand...

What sized tank are you keeping? How old is it? What are you feeding? What frequency?
 
I have a 92g Corner and it has been set up for about 6 months. I feed every other day either mysis, pellets or angel formula. I also will dose some oyster feast or marine snow after lights off for the chili coral. The tang did seem a little thin even though it ate like a pig.
 
You are not feeding enough or frequently enough. Tangs especially are eating machines. I think you need to rethink your feeding schedule if you want to have more fish. And by the way, your tank is too small for a sailfin tang.
 
what killed your fish did not do it overnight.

Was your system fully cycled?
How long did you have your fishes? If its a new fish, the likely hood of them dieing is high to a new system
 
I know everyone says this but you NEED to set up a QT. Bout a month and a half ago I went down the same road with ick. Whats worse is that I think it came in on the last fish i was going to put in the tank. I learned and look at it this way. Risk it and put directly in main tank or just wait a while with them in the QT. Also with ick I left the tank without fish for 2-3 weeks to kill all parasites. Now I quaratine my fish and when all of them are in the tank, i am going to put a medicine called Herbitana in. It doesnt require and water changes and you cant overdose. But im sure there is something to it. Anyone familiar with this medicine?
 
dafunkyman said:
I know everyone says this but you NEED to set up a QT. Bout a month and a half ago I went down the same road with ick. Whats worse is that I think it came in on the last fish i was going to put in the tank. I learned and look at it this way. Risk it and put directly in main tank or just wait a while with them in the QT. Also with ick I left the tank without fish for 2-3 weeks to kill all parasites. Now I quaratine my fish and when all of them are in the tank, i am going to put a medicine called Herbitana in. It doesnt require and water changes and you cant overdose. But im sure there is something to it. Anyone familiar with this medicine?
Click to expand...

First of all, leaving a tank fallow requires FIVE weeks not 2-3 weeks. Secondly why are you sure there is something good about Herbitana? There are three accepted ways to treat cryptocaryon: tank swap, copper, hyposalinity.
 
I agree the tank was too small for the fish in the long run, but he was only about 2.5" now. How often and how much do you suggest I feed my two remaining clowns and diamond goby? I had the fish for around 3 months and I am sure my tank was cycled.
 
With those fish, once per day should suffice. But other kinds of fish with different metabolisms would require changing that.
 
With the water change helping instantly I'd keep the water changes coming. Any chance a household cleaner contaminated ur water? Mayby airborne air freshener. Good luck hope u can save the tang.
 
This is a discussion on Herbitana: it is not positive. While Microbe-lift is an excellent company, this does not seem to be up to its usual standard. http://web1.reefcentral.com/forums/showthread.php?p=17144858

It is always a good idea to test alkalinity: if it's off, fish are not comfortable; and it is a warning-reading for general water balance. It's not likely this is all that's wrong, but it is worth testing.
 
I dont think the any cleaner got in. I am very careful when cleaning or dusting around the tank. I am going to do another water change this evening and change my feeding regiment to every day now. How large of a water change do you reccomend I do on my tank every week? I am doing 12g a week as off now, but still have an algea problem. I had cut down on my lighting schedual and feeding to try and combat the algea. I will also test my alk tonight and post the results.
 
So my ALK was 150 which isnt the best, but I dont think it would kill 2 fish. Any other ideas as to what would kill them? Do you think they starved?
 
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