Need Help 5 fish dead in hours

[quackiedodle]

Hello everyone. i just picked up 6 new fish last night and placed them all in QT. the qt tank had new water, a heater, some pvc piping and an airstone for the night. i also put a piece of LR in there for them to hide around until treatment was going to be used. all fish were drip acclimated for 2 hours and all looked fine before i went to sleep. i woke up less than 8 hours later and all the fish were dead with the exception of the clown goby. i tested the water for nitrates and the test came back at 5. water temp is 77. what could have caused the mass death?

 

[themoraykeeper]

Hello everyone. i just picked up 6 new fish last night and placed them all in QT. the qt tank had new water, a heater, some pvc piping and an airstone for the night. i also put a piece of LR in there for them to hide around until treatment was going to be used. all fish were drip acclimated for 2 hours and all looked fine before i went to sleep. i woke up less than 8 hours later and all the fish were dead with the exception of the clown goby. i tested the water for nitrates and the test came back at 5. water temp is 77. what could have caused the mass death?

Hi, sounds strange!
Was the tank cycled or at least was the live rock mature?
Also how big was the QT? 6 fish seems like an awful lot to add at once even for a huge tank!

 

[quackiedodle]

the LR was mature and was just one piece. the fish were all smaller fish, a clown goby, algae bleny, yellow corris wrasse. it was a 10g and i planned to move the 2 smaller copper bands to their own separate tank today. ive qt'd fish before in this size tank and had no issues. never had 5 fish die like this over night.

 

[eatbreakfast]

An airstone does not provide all that much aeration, and was likely inadaquate for that number of fish. The smallest fish, the one with the least oxygen demands is the one that survived.

 

[humaguy]

lack of o2....

 

[albano]

Why a 2 hr drip acclimation, especially to a QT?

 

[jjk_reef00]

marine velvet?

 

[ken6217]

Why a 2 hr drip acclimation, especially to a QT?

Nothing wrong with 2 hours even though it is excessive. The acclimation is for the new water. QT or DT, acclimation is acclimation.

Ken

 

[albano]

Nothing wrong with 2 hours even though it is excessive. The acclimation is for the new water. QT or DT, acclimation is acclimation.

Ken

Way too long... Especially since QT can to set to same salinity as transport water!
40 yrs, never a problem with 30-60 minute acclimation.
2 hours of drip can cause ammonia problems

 

[triggreef]

Mail order fish or LFS purchase?

If mail order, high ammonia in bags + drip acclimation = ammonia toxicity death.

 

[ken6217]

Really? Then I should have a sh*tload of dead fish by now. I've done this for 15 years. Not one died.

Have always done 1-2 hours.

Never bought mail order though. Always store bought.
Ken

 

[humaguy]

I haven't drip acclimated in years...but use a cup of water at a time....adds more o2...

 

[snorvich]

What was the SG of the transport water? What was the SG of the quarantine tank? How measured?

 

[SteelMastiff]

Heater short out on you? Seems strange however, especially if you observed them prior to lights out and they were fine...

 

[E Rosewater]

That's a lot of fish in a small tank to add at once. It's possible that there was an ammonia spike.

 

[quackiedodle]

They were store bought. i didnt check the sg of the transported water but the sg of the qt was 1.025, tested with a refractometer. they were transported for 2 hours in the bags though. the heater was a brand new one but was a brand i havnt used before. its a fluval heater. the air stone i used wasnt the small one either it was like a air brick, a 1.5 inch diameter.

 

[Ptyochromis]

Check your ammonia, sounds like a mini cycle.

 

[humaguy]

need to move the water in there...get a powerhead at a min...

 

[Ach1llesTang]

My guess ammonia spike, not enough bacteria to battle the load.

 

[E Rosewater]

Check your ammonia, sounds like a mini cycle.

Testing at this point would likely be useless, with an already established bacterial colony it would have likely been able to process the ammonia by now.