HELP!!! Fish Dying

[josh26757]

OK, not sure if anyone can help but this is very odd. This morning I woke up and got some coffee then went to check the tank. My powder brown tang (1 week old) was swimming sideways and I noticed what looked like fin rot ( the entire fin was shredded and gone). I noticed some shredding a couple days ago, but there was nothing before that. Now my Foxface is swimming on his side on the bottom. Both had started to breath very rapidly and were bought at the same time from the same tank. My tank is 14 months old and I am just starting to stock it after waiting a year. Here is the tank information, but I cannot figure out what would cause this fast demise :headwalls:

Perams
PH: 8.3
Salinity: 1.025
Ammonia: 0
Nitrite: 0
Nitrate: 5
KH: 8
Calcium: 420
Temp: 76

Tanks
75g Display
2x 850 hydor + Return
Stock
Fish: Coral Beauty, Convict Blenny, Lawnmower Blenny, Sixline Wrasse, clown
Coral: Hammer, mushrooms, bubble, Kenya tree, acans

75g Sump
BRS BioPellet Reactor
BRS Carbon Reactor
BRS BioPellets
BRS Rox 0.8 Carbon
Reef Octo 125 Skimmer
2000gph return pump
macro
reef mud
live rock
(split design)

10g wc every week
Carbon changed every week
skimmer cup cleaned every week
skimmer cleaned once a month
RO/DI water used and stored in sealed brute cans

Already checked RO/DI water with TDS of 0, but still ran water tests everything 0.


The clown has been in the tank for months. The coral beauty and convict were added a couple weeks ago and the lawnmower, tang, and foxface last week. The sixline a few days ago. All other fish have no sign of stress or fin problems. Really stumped here and will take any advice. What really stumps me is the tang looked perfect a few days ago and this came on suddenly. The foxface was shy and breathing fast intermittently. The fin rot on the tang started no longer than a few days ago and progressed extremely fast.
I am feeding 1/4 cube mysis once a day (drained) and was giving the tang/foxface sheet algae once every few days.

Did I do something wrong here or is it just my luck both fish had the same disease? When I purchased the fish the foxface looked perfect, but the tank looked like it had some fungus on its fins; however, this has been common with tangs and in my experience simple disappears after a couple days in an established tank. After a couple days that is just what happened and the tang looked perfect with all spots gone. Then this happens :sad2:

 

[MrTuskfish]

Spots from various parasites come and go; for a while. Pics would really help; but it sure sounds like your new fish brought in a contagious parasite. If you don't use a QT, this is inevitable. I can't imagine buying a fish that looked like it had fungus and I can't imagine a LFS that would knowingly sell one. I'd bet the fungus was ich.

 

[josh26757]

Actually, as both fish came from the same place at the same time I am also under the same assumption, but it is just odd that it cleared up and then the fish died. Even the foxface showed some fin problems, but clean and no spots. If this is ich then it must be internal only. If the fish was covered in spots I would not have even posted, but this was not the case and I thought it may be something I was not aware of. Unfortunately for me, I do not run a QT tank and was really trying to add what I wanted at one time with no other additions but coral. I guess this is an epic fail, but I understand I must assume a certain level of risk with this approach.

 

[MrTuskfish]

I guess this is an epic fail, but I understand I must assume a certain level of risk with this approach.

The fish assume a lot of risk as well. A QT system is cheap on Craig's list. (Possibly due to all the folks leaving the hobby because they don't use a QT). I wouldn't buy any new fish until you're ready to properly quarantine them.

 

[triggreef]

People make qt so much harder than it has to be. It is really simple & much less aggravating in the long run. Not to mention cheaper than dead fish. You really should seldom lose a fish after a couple weeks of having it. That said, if you buy guaranteed fish, you'll never really lose money on them because if you qt them, they generally either die in those first couple weeks if you can't save them (in which case you get credit) or go on to live a long time in your display.