Pulling my hair out

[Foody]

I am at my wit's end. Two months ago I purchased a purple tang. The first couple of days he showed signs of stress but not too bad. After the first week he seemed completely normal. He was eating, coming to the front of the tank when he saw me (expecting food) and generally acting like a fish. Halfway through the third week I got up in the morning and he was dead. Grrr. Three weeks ago I purchased an Coral Beauty Angel. From the moment I placed him in the tank he acted like a CBA, pecking at rocks, grazing, eating the food that was placed in the tank, both frozen and spectrum pellets. After 2 weeks I found him also dead. Neither fish showed any signs of stress. Both fish never showed any fear of me, were never picked on by any of the other fish (Fire Goby, True Percula, Green Chromis) and never gave a hint that anything was wrong. What is going on here? I'm pulling my hair out.

55Gal Tank
270 GPH Canister Filter w/ Chemi Pure Elite
HOB CPR BakPak
40-ish pounds of live rock
Various snails, hermits, Conch
Coral Banded Shrimp
RT Anemone
Zoas, Hammer Corals, Torch, Mushrooms, Candy Coral, several Leathers, Anthellia, Xenia, couple of smaller Montipora Digitata and Capricornis

Sg 1.025
Ph 8.0
Alk 2.2
NH3/4 0ppm
NO3 0 ppm
NO2 .05ppm
25% water changes using Reef Crystals weekly like clockwork

 

[tmz]

It looks like Bacillariophyceae, aka diatoms, a major class of unicellualr algae also known as a for m phytoplankton. Hard to be sure from the photo. It's common in relatively new tanks on new sand beds. While limited by a lack of inorganic phosphate it is probably picking some up from the sandbed .It needs silicate too. I'd just puff up the sand bed lightly when it shows up so it can get in the water column and be eaten or filtered out. Keep the PO4 low ,say ,.03ppm. Some of the corals you have in there might not like true 0.

The NO2 even at .05 is not a good thing since it likely indicates ammonia preceding it. Alk is on the low side . Water changes are good ; 10% per week should be sufficient.

 

[Foody]

Not sure what picture you saw... No more diatoms as of early December thanks to the chemi pure elite. Still wouldn't explain the deaths.

 

[tmz]

Sorry , that was for another thread. I posted it in wrong one.

 

[tmz]

I don't know what's wrong in your tank. The timeframes are similar to what you might see with ich ,velvet or flukes.


I don't know how I srcewed that first post up so bad. The second sentnce in it is for this thread. Have to stop drinking the vodka instead of dosing it.To get some posts in I'm trying to handle multiple responses at once so I'm doing something useful while waiting.

 

[Flanders]

I've never had any luck with coral beauties. They're so pretty and they can drop dead so fast. I've had better luck with pygmy angels, and flame angels are supposed to be hardier.

 

[Flanders]

Also, I'm not sure what's going on with the other readings but if that 2.2 doesn't jump out at you as a problem, it should.

 

[Flanders]

Also, I'm not sure what's going on with the other readings but if that 2.2 alkalinity doesn't jump out at you as a problem, it should. It's too low.

 

[Gary Majchrzak]

must ALWAYS give units of measure

must ALWAYS give units of measure

2.2 meq/L, dKH, ppm or :headwalls:

Centropyge = pygmy angels

of which the Coral Beauty belongs :spin3:

MUST refer to specific species, Fritz!

foody... I don't know what's going on over there!

 

[tmz]

Akalinity is complicated ;it's relationship to ph more so. Unfortunately tests and terminology in the hobby make it harder to understand by using 3 different measures to describe it: meq/l,dkh or ppm. Fortunately , they can be converted to one another for a common frame of reference easily:

1 meq/l =2.8dkh
1/meq/l =50ppm
From those, a little math can get you any conversion: For example: 2.2meq/l = 6.16 dkh or 110ppm; nsw with a dkh of 7 =2.5 dkh or 125ppm.

So, 2.2 is a l low but I doubt it has anything to do with fish deaths . A little higher would be better,particularly for for the stony corals

Do you still have nitrite?

 

[Gary Majchrzak]

Regarding units of measure, I've learned to assume NOTHING.
If you want accurate informormation you must supply it as well.
Values should never be given without units of measure.

I agree alk isn't to blame for these fish deaths.

It's interesting to note that larger more sensitive additions have died while smaller more tolerant species remain alive.

Stray voltage?
Low oxygen saturation?
Ammonia?
Stress coupled with all or some of the ablove?
Are the fish being purchased at the same retailer... are they new arrivals at the LFS or are the acclimated first?
Are they QT'd?

 

[Foody]

The alkalinity measurement was dead center of normal on the card. FYI

 

[Foody]

Different LFS, both fish were 3-4 weeks at the store. No qt but no spots, etc. I know about qt and I hope the day will come when I can use one. I simply can't right now. None of those fish showed ANY signs of anything wrong. They were acting like fish and then they were dead. I have 2 fish that have lived through everything (Green Chromis and Fire Goby).

 

[Foody]

Oxygen sat has been mentioned to me before. Not sure how to measure. Also not sure how that could be an issue with a bakpak pushing tiny bubbles all the time. I just did another 25% water change and will test again tonight or tomorrow. 25% of .05 still leaves .04. Half life is a b!tch.

 

[tmz]

I'd bet on disease in the tank. No qt will often do that. Sorry for your losses and your hair.

Values should never be given without units of measure.

I agree ,Gary

 

[grcforce327]

The alkalinity measurement was dead center of normal on the card. FYI

Don't know about this card thing,but if you're keeping corals,I would raise the alk up in the 8-9 dKH range.

http://www.saltyzoo.com/SaltyCalcs/AlkConv.php