Fish seizure, then dead.

Haulin Oates

Reef Shark
M.A.S.C Club Member
#1
So about 2 weeks ago I came down in the morning and found my make clown having a seizure, swimming wildly into rock, and then succumb to (something). I was bummed but didn't think much of it. Tonight I get home from work to find my hippo tang doing the same thing... And after about an hour dying. This time im obviously quite upset and want to know what's going on! Has this happened to anyone here?
 
#4
Just a guess but maybe some kind of electrical current is leaking in your tank? Not sure if that's how they would act but could be.
 

MartinsReef

Reef Shark
M.A.S.C Club Member
#6
hoonderific;168953 said:
I would say electricity is very unlikely. I have seen freshwater fish do something similar. maybe some kind of parasite or fluke?
I was thinking the same thing but "all" fish would be acting like that.


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Craigar

Tiger Shark
M.A.S.C Club Member
#7
MartinsReef;168957 said:
I was thinking the same thing but "all" fish would be acting like that.


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+1 do you have a ground probe in the tank?
 

djkms

Reef Shark
M.A.S.C Club Member
#8
Did you quarantine all fish? Any fish? Typically when fish are dying they tend to seizure before doing so. I see it happen as we are QT'ing fish in the shop and I see it happen when I QT fish at home.

IMO all fish should at least be treated with Prazipro for flukes/flatworms/etc and broad spectrum antibiotics for bacterial infections. These are silent killers and the infections can go on for weeks/months before the fish show any signs. This is why it is very important to QT. A 20 long, HOB filter, powerhead and patience can help avoid situations like this (if in fact it was a disease, which it sounds like a bacterial infection to me).
 

Haulin Oates

Reef Shark
M.A.S.C Club Member
#9
I plan on running through a complete set of tests here in a bit. All the other fish are acting completely normal! I need to bring my multimeter home and check for current, and no I don't have a ground probe. Probably should though...
I have 3 theories about what's going on:
1. My anemone (a pink tip haitian Condy) has been moving around like crazy lately. All the fish knew to avoid the area he was in before he moved, but maybe since he's moved the fish have been caught off gaurd and got stung?
2. Some sort of parasite or bacterial infection. The last fish added was the vlamingi from Gonzo. I did not quarantine ( I've lost any fish I've tried to quarantine.) however all fish I had at the time I went from the 55 to the 120 got 2 weeks of meds after all of the rock and coral were out of the tank (this was in October, included all current fish except the vlamingi and damsels).
3. My live rock is spent and leaching out in localized spots. The original live rock i got was from a lady down the street breaking down her tank. She said her tank was running for 9 years. I got about 80lbs from her. Since i was new, i didnt do anything with the rock, just put it in my tank and watched it cycle. This would also explain why corals do awesome on my frag rack and on some of the new rock I have, but on the old rock it seems to fail and die.
Here is the tang 8 hours postmortem:

None of the marks on the body were visible last night, but the "beak" was that color last night while it was having seizures. Any thoughts on my theories?
 

Haulin Oates

Reef Shark
M.A.S.C Club Member
#10
Tests revealed nothing; 0 ammonia and nitrite, 4.5ppm nitrate and 1.0ppm phosphate. Calcium, pH, Alk and temp all normal and stable.
 
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