Friends fish dying---help!

[Tmyboy]

Hello all,

Friend of mine setup a 29bio cube not that long ago. Maybe 2 months ago. He's got about 25lbs of live rock and only had the tank cycle for a week or so because the used car salesman-like lfs we live by told him it was safe to add live stock then. IMO a week isn't nearly long enough to get a good feel for how the tank runs and whatnot.

He can't seem to get the temp down.....consistently around 83.

He added coral (zoas, shrooms, acans,, and a kenya tree) and against my advice, he started adding fish after about 2 weeks. He dropped a flame angel, 2 clowns and a green mandarin. Yes....as f'in crazy as it is to put a green mandarin in a 29g bio cube that's 2 months old....he did.

Well he didn't qt any fish and the flame angel had white spots within a week. Flame angel died on Saturday . Then the mandarin and one of the clowns died Sunday evening. Now his last clown has it...

My question is....
Does ich kill that fast?? I know it's brutal, but I never thought it would spread and kill that fast. Could it have been the 83 degree temp that killed them?

Your input is appreciated.

Regards,

 

[TLTGF]

I don't have much experience with ich, but IMO the temperature, even at the high side of 83 as long as it was consistent and not drastically swinging, I don't think that was the issue.

It seems, as you seem to be aware, that he was adding a huge bioload into a non-cycled tank, and most likely the fish died of ammonia poisoning coupled with stress related illnesses.

Just my $.02

 

[Animal-Chin]

well if you add the high temp, the ich and probably ammonia due to cycling they wouldn't have much of a chance. Thats a lot of stocking in a small tank so fast. I'm thinking his lesson has been learned and now he should let the tank lie empty for about 6 weeks and let the ich run its course before adding more fish. Are the biocubes fans working, thats a high temp to be sitting at. Mine was pretty constant 80 degree's with the lights on.

Side note, my tank got ich and my coral beauty angle, clown and cardinal all got it. none of them died, they fought it off and have never had a problem so no, ich is not an automatic killer, somethings going on in there...

 

[Jlsardina]

Ich may have just been the final straw. Just in fish that tank was severely overstocked. 1 clown needs 30 gallons, 2 needs 45 gallons. Then a flame??? And shrimp? And a lot of corals= bad news. His best bet is ONE small fish after he lets the tank sit empty of fish for 6-8 weeks and let the Ich die. Then- regulate the temp (also a stressor) perform multiple water changes to get his nitrates down (assuming here since he was overstocked) and probably take the coral back to the lfs or let you hold onto it so he can properly cycle his tank. Even though it's a small tank- it is a lot harder to take care of water levels. There are so many possibilities that could be killing his fish. Unfortunately, he has to peg it for a lesson learned and take his time. Sorry for his losses- maybe you could show him the nano section and let him pick out a fish for when he is done and a shrimp and let the rest be corals.

 

[Tmyboy]

Thank you to all who replied.

I totally agree with all of you that he was overstocked and did it way too fast. Period.

I already have a couple of his pieces in my 75g (bc they were locked closed and dying) and maybe I'll suggest that he bring his corals over to my tank until he figures this thing out. Something has to be said about his tank because those corals that I have are now flourishing and he knows this.

He's a good guy, but not very patient unfortunately. He swears that his ammonia and trates are both 0......hard to believe I know. Maybe I'll bring my test kit over to his house and test myself

I just feel bad for those fish....I thought that 40g was the absolute min for a flame angel?

 

[Jlsardina]

LA says 30 gal- but they are also not coral safe. Pretty yes/ but bad for reefs. Maybe explain to him that his corals could also be suffering because of this.