o2manyfish
o2manyfish
Hi Everyone,
This is going to be one of those frustrating posts, because I can't give much detail about the problem.
I have an 1100g reef system. My display tank is 400g and the rest of the system is outside.
The tank is heavily populated in both fish and corals.
The tank is 14+ years old. My temp is 76 to 78. My Salinity is 34ppt. Alk 7.3dkh. Ammonia 0. Nitrates 20.
My filtration consists of 1300lbs of established live rock. A Bubble King Skimmer. Chaeto balls growing in different chambers - Probably enough chaeto to fill a 5g bucket. I run a fluidized sand filter.
I run a 160w UV sterlizer with 180gpm flow rate. I run ozone 24/7.
I have a Calcium Rx with Dastaco Media and some Dolomite.
I dose Coral Essential trace elements.
I have close to 175 spread throughout the system - 400g display, 180g frag, 300g sump, 150g filter sump.
With so many fish it's not always to keep track if everyone is alive and well. I have tons of little fish and some that are very reclusive. I have Golden Angels and I sometimes spot them once or twice a year.
Due to a family emergency I had to leave the tank unattended from Thanksgiving thru mid December.
On Dec 2nd I lost a large tang. The fish had been in the system for just under 2 years. It was, fat and healthy. The fish was fine in the afternoon and then at 8pm it was dead on the bottom. The fish had no markings or scratches on it. It looked like it just froze in mid swim and sank to the bottom. With all the other fish looking perfect (even the deceased) I wrote it off to Feces Happens. I was then gone for another 2 weeks. When I came home all the fish looked great (corals looked good too).
A few days later I realized I was missing some fish from the display tank. I was missing 1 or 2 Venustus Angels, 4 Starkii Damsels and a couple of Orange tail damsels. All of these fish had been in the tank for over 18 months. (no bodies)
In the last few weeks I have noticed other fish vanishing from the different tanks. I am missing a pair of Elibi, a pair of Golden Angels, 6+ Bangaii Cardinals (Born in the system), 6-8 Dispar Anthias and a juvenile Navarchus that I have had for 4 months.
This morning I went outside and found my Adult Imperator Angel deceased. The fish was healthy and eating out of my hand yesterday afternoon. I have grown the Imperator from a quarter size juvenile for just over 2 years.
In the last 6 weeks I haven't lost any corals.
I haven't seen any fish that look at all sick, spotted or ill. The only fish with spots is my wifes Achilles. Some days it has Ich Spots, and some days it doesn't. But the Achilles is Fat and Healthy and been this way for 18+ months, and the Achilles before that was the same way.
The fish that have died and are missing are really hardy fish. Damsels, Angels and tangs??? I have in the tank fish I would consider more sensitive - Copperband Butterfly.
Water conditions can't be too far off. Just last Thursday I caught my pair of Goldflake Angels getting ready to spawn (video on youtube). And that night at 2am I saw my Trio of Bellus Angels Spawning.
I still have 150+ fish in the system. Not one fish doesn't look in good health.
I have 1000's of corals (literally)
I'm running Ozone and UV.....
Any thoughts on what I might be dealing with, or what I might be able to proactively do to stop what is happening.
You can see the status of the fish and tank on the live webcam
www.o2manyfish.com/webcam
Thanks in advance for sharing your knowledge and experience.
Dave B
This is going to be one of those frustrating posts, because I can't give much detail about the problem.
I have an 1100g reef system. My display tank is 400g and the rest of the system is outside.
The tank is heavily populated in both fish and corals.
The tank is 14+ years old. My temp is 76 to 78. My Salinity is 34ppt. Alk 7.3dkh. Ammonia 0. Nitrates 20.
My filtration consists of 1300lbs of established live rock. A Bubble King Skimmer. Chaeto balls growing in different chambers - Probably enough chaeto to fill a 5g bucket. I run a fluidized sand filter.
I run a 160w UV sterlizer with 180gpm flow rate. I run ozone 24/7.
I have a Calcium Rx with Dastaco Media and some Dolomite.
I dose Coral Essential trace elements.
I have close to 175 spread throughout the system - 400g display, 180g frag, 300g sump, 150g filter sump.
With so many fish it's not always to keep track if everyone is alive and well. I have tons of little fish and some that are very reclusive. I have Golden Angels and I sometimes spot them once or twice a year.
Due to a family emergency I had to leave the tank unattended from Thanksgiving thru mid December.
On Dec 2nd I lost a large tang. The fish had been in the system for just under 2 years. It was, fat and healthy. The fish was fine in the afternoon and then at 8pm it was dead on the bottom. The fish had no markings or scratches on it. It looked like it just froze in mid swim and sank to the bottom. With all the other fish looking perfect (even the deceased) I wrote it off to Feces Happens. I was then gone for another 2 weeks. When I came home all the fish looked great (corals looked good too).
A few days later I realized I was missing some fish from the display tank. I was missing 1 or 2 Venustus Angels, 4 Starkii Damsels and a couple of Orange tail damsels. All of these fish had been in the tank for over 18 months. (no bodies)
In the last few weeks I have noticed other fish vanishing from the different tanks. I am missing a pair of Elibi, a pair of Golden Angels, 6+ Bangaii Cardinals (Born in the system), 6-8 Dispar Anthias and a juvenile Navarchus that I have had for 4 months.
This morning I went outside and found my Adult Imperator Angel deceased. The fish was healthy and eating out of my hand yesterday afternoon. I have grown the Imperator from a quarter size juvenile for just over 2 years.
In the last 6 weeks I haven't lost any corals.
I haven't seen any fish that look at all sick, spotted or ill. The only fish with spots is my wifes Achilles. Some days it has Ich Spots, and some days it doesn't. But the Achilles is Fat and Healthy and been this way for 18+ months, and the Achilles before that was the same way.
The fish that have died and are missing are really hardy fish. Damsels, Angels and tangs??? I have in the tank fish I would consider more sensitive - Copperband Butterfly.
Water conditions can't be too far off. Just last Thursday I caught my pair of Goldflake Angels getting ready to spawn (video on youtube). And that night at 2am I saw my Trio of Bellus Angels Spawning.
I still have 150+ fish in the system. Not one fish doesn't look in good health.
I have 1000's of corals (literally)
I'm running Ozone and UV.....
Any thoughts on what I might be dealing with, or what I might be able to proactively do to stop what is happening.
You can see the status of the fish and tank on the live webcam
www.o2manyfish.com/webcam
Thanks in advance for sharing your knowledge and experience.
Dave B
