What is killing my fish?

[HumbleFish]

Wow, I've never seen brook look so extreme on non-clownfish. I would give all your surviving fish a formalin bath, and then transfer into a sterile QT. You will probably also need to treat with a broad spectrum antibiotic in QT - I would actually combine Metroplex & Kanaplex. Secondary infections are almost guaranteed due to the amount of damage done to the skin.

 

[Salty150]

So, deathcount so far..
Flame angel
Garibaldi
Sailfin tang
Yellow tang

Foxface is missing so im just going to assume he is dead. Only Chromis and Batfish left, Puffer is hanging in there but no longer eats. I wouldnt be surprised if he is dead by tomorrow

Why aren't you doing anything?!

 

[HumbleFish]

Why aren't you doing anything?!

+1 At the very least start doing FW dips on all the fish. Not as effective as formalin for this situation, but it's better than doing nothing.

 

[elweshomayor]

Why aren't you doing anything?!

I am. The first two fish died before I could do anything. Sailfin and Yellow died in QT tank.

There is literally nothing I can do until I can buy the proper medicine tomorrow other than placing them in a different tank. Which I did, and they died there.

 

[elweshomayor]

+1 At the very least start doing FW dips on all the fish. Not as effective as formalin for this situation, but it's better than doing nothing.

Did you guys not read my other comments? I am doing just that. Yellow tang died soon after the FW dip. I think it was shocked, and stressed from the move in addition to the brook. Mind you guys, he was looking ok yesterday.
The only fish I was worried about was the puffer. Yesterday the Garibaldi died out of no where and then things started happening fast today.

 

[elweshomayor]

I originally thought it was fluke, so I was treating the tank with Prazi pro... then when I saw the fish dying so quickly is when I decided to make the thread because I realized it wasn't fluke but something nastier. I am trying to set up the QT tanks properly so that I can add the fish and do the proper treatment. However the fish are dying faster than I can do this I lost 3 fish within 3 hours and its not from the lack of trying :'(

I was just not prepared for something like this.

 

[Salty150]

Sorry, it just seems like you weren't doing anything, you didn't have a QT, and kept making these quips about everything being dead tomorrow, etc...

You didn't go get any new medication today?

 

[Salty150]

I set up the freshwater dip, matched the PH and the temperature of my Display and placed the fish in there for about 10 minutes, maybe a bit less. Then I set up the QT to 1.015 salinity, matched PH and temp and placed the fish there soon after the dip.

He went sideways almost instantly after touching the fresh water and has yet to perk back up however. Is this normal and he'll come back somewhat after, or did the dip kill him?

Did you use RODI water for the freshwater?

If not, did you use some sort of water conditioner?

Did you use an airstone?

10 minutes is a bit long for a freshwater dip, isn't it?

 

[elweshomayor]

Sorry, it just seems like you weren't doing anything, you didn't have a QT, and kept making these quips about everything being dead tomorrow, etc...

You didn't go get any new medication today?

I didnt have any. I scrambled to find things that could serve as QTs and I found 3 containers which I used.

I was home bound because I was waiting for a delivery. I bought a bed and they gave me a horrible delivery time 2-9pm and I have to be here to get it. They had already stood me up 3 times, and i've called off work 3 times trying to get this bed set up... they came here while i was treating my fish so I couldnt leave and LFS closed.

In addition to the fact that once the fish look like my fish, there is really nothing you can do because the damage already happened. (mind you I thought I was treating Fluke before things got worse)...

 

[elweshomayor]

Did you use RODI water for the freshwater?

If not, did you use some sort of water conditioner?

Did you use an airstone?

10 minutes is a bit long for a freshwater dip, isn't it?

Yes, I used RODI. I also used Prime anyway.
I did use an air pump and a regular power head.
it was somewhere between 6-10 minutes. Yellow tang became instantly shocked and fell on its side as soon as it hit the water. I transferred to the QT tank, and it just never perked back up.
QT is at 1.015 salinity. I was told that this was the way to do it? Unless QT tank should be at regular salinity?

 

[steveviv]

Man how sad. If ur salinity was 1.024 ish sick fish going from dip to 1.015 is harsh. It took me a whole day to lower it to 1.015 and 2-3 days to increase mine. Didn't loose a fish but it was a lot of effort. At this point I agree with Humble treatment and keep your fingers crossed.

 

[Salty150]

Man how sad. If ur salinity was 1.024 ish sick fish going from dip to 1.015 is harsh. It took me a whole day to lower it to 1.015 and 2-3 days to increase mine. Didn't loose a fish but it was a lot of effort. At this point I agree with Humble treatment and keep your fingers crossed.

No... it's not...

It is actually recommended to use hypo (1.009) right after getting a new fish.

 

[ThRoewer]

You must lower the salinity SLOWELY! ...

Lowering can go fast - as fast as dropping the fish straight into the hypo tank or FW bath.
When doing hyposalinity for a longer period the salinity has to be raised slowly until you reach 1.016. From there the fish can go to full salinity with drip acclimatization.

 

[steveviv]

ThRoewer, can't agree with you on the dropping a sick fish into hypo.. That is NOT healthy for a fish.. Probably not as experienced as many of you folks but that according to many pro's I have talked to over the years is not a favorable move.

 

[Salty150]

ThRoewer, can't agree with you on the dropping a sick fish into hypo.. That is NOT healthy for a fish.. Probably not as experienced as many of you folks but that according to many pro's I have talked to over the years is not a favorable move.

Like you said, you aren't as experienced as many on here...

Don't make statements you know nothing about - it is bad for all concerned.

Overall a lower salinity is MUCH more beneficial to a fish (sick or stressed, etc.) than regular salinity...

Marine teleost fish (bony reef fish) readily adjust to a rapid drop in salinity without any apparent ill effects. Place fish directly into a salinity of 12ppt (1.009) -14ppt (1.011). Monitor the pH daily as this parameter has a tendency to fall in dilute saltwater.

Contrary to the commonly held belief that a salinity lower than natural seawater is stressful to marine teleost fish (bony reef fish), reducing the gradient (difference in salinity) between the internal fluids of fish and the surrounding ambient water alleviates water and ion disturbance (Wedemeyer, 1996. Carneiro &Urbinati, 2001). Fish held in water that is close to isotonic (the salinity of the surrounding ambient water is close to matching the internal fluids of the fish) have increased stress resistance (Lim et. al, 2000). These fish also display a significantly lower mortality rate.

 

[steveviv]

Last post.. Not in this to argue but to try to help when I can. Glad your a pro.. So you are saying dropping a healthy or sick fish in hypo is OK and it doesn't cause stress??? WRONG! Be careful what advice you give out!
The professionals recommend you can lower salinity by .004 every 24hrs., but only by .002 every 24 hrs. if raising

 

[Salty150]

Last post.. Not in this to argue but to try to help when I can. Glad your a pro.. So you are saying dropping a healthy or sick fish in hypo is OK and it doesn't cause stress??? WRONG! Be careful what advice you give out!
The professionals recommend you can lower salinity by .004 every 24hrs., but only by .002 every 24 hrs. if raising

What "professionals"?

Ones better than (1) Wedemeyer, (2) Carneiro &Urbinati, and (3) Lim?

3 Researchers, who, you know, have done scientific studies to back up their findings!

 

[ThRoewer]

Last post.. Not in this to argue but to try to help when I can. Glad your a pro.. So you are saying dropping a healthy or sick fish in hypo is OK and it doesn't cause stress??? WRONG! Be careful what advice you give out!
The professionals recommend you can lower salinity by .004 every 24hrs., but only by .002 every 24 hrs. if raising

Whoever told you this is most certainly not an expert in this regard. There is nothing fish need to adjust to when going to a lower salinity. In fact you actually take a major stressor and energy drain away since the fish's kidneys and glands no longer have to pump salt out.
And even the salinity ramp-up doesn't have to be slow if the fish was at low salinity for only a few days. Only if the fish was at therapeutic hyposalinity for a couple of weeks its kidneys need time to gradually readjust to the increased workload.

Sent from my XT1254 using Tapatalk

 

[ThRoewer]

...
Contrary to the commonly held belief that a salinity lower than natural seawater is stressful to marine teleost fish (bony reef fish), reducing the gradient (difference in salinity) between the internal fluids of fish and the surrounding ambient water alleviates water and ion disturbance (Wedemeyer, 1996. Carneiro &Urbinati, 2001). Fish held in water that is close to isotonic (the salinity of the surrounding ambient water is close to matching the internal fluids of the fish) have increased stress resistance (Lim et. al, 2000). These fish also display a significantly lower mortality rate.

Would you by any chance have links to those studies?
It would be great to have some hard facts against the contently uttered nonsense that hyposalinity is stressful to fish.

I've used hyposalinity a good number of times, always successful without losses due to the low salinity (the losses I had were due to aggression that was recognized too late).

 

[elweshomayor]

Would you by any chance have links to those studies?
It would be great to have some hard facts against the contently uttered nonsense that hyposalinity is stressful to fish.

I've used hyposalinity a good number of times, always successful without losses due to the low salinity (the losses I had were due to aggression that was recognized too late).

My yellow tang died soon after the fresh water dip. I believe he would have survived maybe 1 more day if I had not done the dip.
Did I do it wrong?
I felt that if any of the fish had abetter chance of survival it would have been the yellow tang.