Dead/Dying fish

deboy69

Nurse Shark
M.A.S.C Club Member
#1
I have now had a Powder Blue Tang that I found dead this morning. Now my fire angel fish is now dying or pretty much dead. Its breathing just upside down so its on its way out. Now all my other fish in my tank are doing fine clowns and damsels. I got both of these fish from a (nameless) seller. I have had the fish for about 3 weeks now. All my parameters are good except maybe my alkalinity cant check it. Any ideas. I thought my powerder blue tang may have had ich but now that my angel fish is dying/dead now too im starting to think otherwise.
 

deboy69

Nurse Shark
M.A.S.C Club Member
#2
Just test my parameters this morning.
Salinity 1.022
PH 8.2
Nitrate 0
Amm .25
Nitrite 0
Phospate ~0

And the flame angel just died
 

cdrewferd

Reef Shark
M.A.S.C Club Member
#3
That sucks man. You might have a bacterial infection that isn't going to show up on any tests. Is it possible to pull all the fish out and QT them so you can do some type of treatment?
 

deboy69

Nurse Shark
M.A.S.C Club Member
#4
Kind of i have some rock and sand in a tank that is keeping alive so I can sell it with my 120g. But I wouldnt know what to start treating it for. The only thing is the brown algae/diatoms that is in my tank and I just did a 20-25% water change 2 days ago. Nothing like flushing 80 dollars
 

WatercolorsGuy

Nurse Shark
M.A.S.C Club Member
#5
How long has your tank been setup? I am guessing fairly new set up if you are still having diatoms issue.

Do you have any "Prime" water conditioner? If so I would dose that.

Ammonia isn't terribly high but I like to see that at zero. Almost sounds like ammonia burns to gills or toxicity. Which greatly stresses (and kills) fish and would make them more susceptible to ich or other diseases too.

Damsels are pretty tough... hence the reason some people use them to cycle their tanks. They may be tolerating the ammonia spikes better.

I am sorry for your fish loss. I know that sucks.
 

WatercolorsGuy

Nurse Shark
M.A.S.C Club Member
#7
deboy69;181221 said:
The tank has been up since the beginning of May. I haven't heard of prime water conditioner.
I would definitely get some prime. Red and white bottle. Most LFS carry it as well as Petsmart. It is a great water conditioner, but more importantly it can detoxify and lock up free ammonia and nitrites, which are poisonous to your tank's inhabitants. It can really help save your fish/verts if they are struggling through the end of your tank cycling. As well as other conditions that create a spike in those.
 

deboy69

Nurse Shark
M.A.S.C Club Member
#10
Right now my water movement comes from my sump. Rio 3100 about 900 gph and about 700 or so at head. Protein skimmer for aeration
 

WatercolorsGuy

Nurse Shark
M.A.S.C Club Member
#11
Your water shouldn't have a foul odor.
Live rock? Still curing possibly?

What skimmer are you using and how much skimmate (waste) is it producing?
 

hurrafreak

Orca
M.A.S.C Club Member
#14
I'd also agree that the ammonia is higher than one would like, I won't suggest a product but a conditioner would help. Plus a water change.
 

hurrafreak

Orca
M.A.S.C Club Member
#17
deboy69;181258 said:
Just did a water change 2 days ago
Unless you're doing HUGE water changes, with the ammonia being higher I'd think you'd be ok doing another. It'd give you a chance to syphon out some of the algae, IMO of course :)
 

coloagro

Tang
M.A.S.C Club Member
#19
Do a 40-50% change if you have ammonia in the tank and do it ASAP! Get that level to zero even if it requires daily smaller changes after this 50% change. Ammonia burns the gills of your fish and causes breathing issues. I guarantee those fish died because of stress stemming from ammonia and possibly a disease like Ich which is also caused by stress. That will surely kill your fish and coral if any. Also use Prime Conditioner. If you need some I have some but Petsmart/Petco should have it or any LFS. Your Salinity is also somewhat low at 1.022 but that could just be your meter? What kind of meter do us use? Legit Refractometer or plastic one swing arm hydrometer?

BTW, your measuring your ammonia at .25 but it could be even higher because these tests we use are never EXACT so large 40-50% water change now, Prime Conditioner and work on bumping your Salinity up a couple notches over the next several water changes. You really want to be at 1.025....but do it slowly. If you dont already have one buy a refractometer from Marine Depot for $40 that way you always have a solid read out.

Sorry about your losses....GL with the fix....time is of essence though. Hope it all works out. PM with ?'s if you want or I can come out to help u out if need be.
 

deboy69

Nurse Shark
M.A.S.C Club Member
#20
Everything was fine before the water change. So what is the underlying problem here. If I do a 50% water change than the problem may come back.
 
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