multiple fish deaths

[nikunjpatel]

For the past 2-3 months i've lost my entire live stock which included, 4+ year old healthy purple tang and 4-5 yellow tangs. I attributed this either to a really bad dinoflagellet outbreak but now I'm not so sure. The fish that would eventually die would exhibit sudden jerky movements , sometimes looking like they were being electrocuted or having a seizure. most would go belly up and then after a few minutes be okay and and start swimming around. Eventually they would die though. The fish never looked stressed though, all were fat and no lesions on the body that I noticed. I figured it was a toxin from the algae.

past few weeks I took out most of my rock and put it the sump, removed sand and started running ozone. I got a yellow and purple tang from a friend but in days those fish began exhibiting symptoms and soon died. my water parameters are all normal but I dont do water changes often. So I really have no clue whats killing these fish. I have thought about breaking down and starting again but im not sure if thats the best course either.

thanks for any imput.
nik

 

[CedzAquAddictio]

Check your powerheads, heaters, etc... Possible electric leak into the tankwater. A small leak can take a few days to kill...

 

[nikunjpatel]

so you really think it might be stray voltage? I do have a volt meter, i could check it that way? unless its periodic thing. Has anyone seen stray voltage killing fish before?

 

[CedzAquAddictio]

Possibility... I've seen it myself in a friend's tank. Lionfish was the first to go, then the wrasses, and lastly the damsels. In his case, it was a heater leaking voltage...

I've also seen heaters kill fish when they get cracked as well...

 

[EllisJuan]

Use your volt meter. Put one tip in the ground of an electrical socket and the other in the water. Post what you get.

 

[nikunjpatel]

thanks guys will do

 

[CedzAquAddictio]

Keep us posted...

 

[ca1ore]

so you really think it might be stray voltage? I do have a volt meter, i could check it that way? unless its periodic thing. Has anyone seen stray voltage killing fish before?

Nope, big old red herring IMO. If one of your fish climbed out of the tank, kept one fin in the water and put the other to the floor, maybe. Had a major stray voltage problem in one of my tanks years ago and it didn't affect the fish one bit. Used to zap me something fierce, unless I stood on a salt bucket lid while going through the process of identifying the culprit.

 

[snorvich]

I am guessing flukes.

 

[nikunjpatel]

tested with multimeter, highest the voltage read was 0.5, not sure this is the problem then

I have video of one of my fish that had this "seizure" like moment, dont know how to load it but I'd appreciate it if someone could take a look at it. I can email, text it since its off my phone.

 

[EllisJuan]

tested with multimeter, highest the voltage read was 0.5, not sure this is the problem then

I have video of one of my fish that had this "seizure" like moment, dont know how to load it but I'd appreciate it if someone could take a look at it. I can email, text it since its off my phone.

PM'd

 

[EllisJuan]

Here is the video nikunjpatel sent to me...hard to watch. Did this fish die after this video was taken?


<iframe width="420" height="315" src="//www.youtube.com/embed/OVLeB_8GoXY" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>

 

[nikunjpatel]

thanks Ellis, really appreciate the help., it died a few days later.

lost my other tangs in the same matter.

added a hybrid achilles tangs a few days ago, started doing the same thing. the fish was only in the tank for about 4-5 days before it died

 

[Rea17]

Looks like exposure to a toxin.. What exactly, I'm not sure. Run a polyfilter and carbon to try and clean up the water IMO.

 

[nikunjpatel]

that could be it, sure looks like it. my sumps are outside, about 700 gallons total, maybe something is gettig into the water.

 

[Sugar Magnolia]

If they aren't completely sealed it's quite possible something got in.

 

[nikunjpatel]

i've been thinking about simplifying my set up. I spent so much time planning my system outside. I even just started my natural gas heater which works great. but maybe moving everything inside is just way easier to control variables