Majestic Angel is dead too! Im about to give up...

[courtneyclv]

#$%$! I am about to give up and put goldfish in my tank. My tank has been my life for the last 2 1/2 months and I have had it....sorry about taking up so many posts but I am freaking out and crying over fish!

Majestic Angelfish was dead today when I woke up. Yesterday she looked fine and was swimming normally, same with royal gramma. Angel did always have some whiteness, cloudiness on her head. I thought it was just discoloration.

I DID notice that a lot of sand was moved and in some parts of my tank, down to the glass floor. Also, some of my plants on my LR are mysteriously on the sand too, like they fell off. Maybe there was a struggle?

Royal gramma did occasionally have 'sand' on her head but the next day it was gone.

DOES MY TANK HAVE ICH AND WHAT DO I DO NOW??? DID NIGER TRIGGER EAT ANGEL? (but angel was a bit bigger and I never noticed any nipping..maybe he got her while she was sleeping?)

I don't know what to do, please wb or send me a pm.

Thank you to all of you that have answered my millions of posts, I appreciate it!

Courtney

[Hara]

You need to quit blaming the trigger and look for the real cause.

[Fluff]

I agree I don't believe the trigger is your problem. You said the angel had a cloudiness and the gramma had white spots. Without a photo of the fish with the spots, it's hard to say rather it was ich or sand. The angle though sounds like water quality issues. Some water changes may help. Are there any other fish showing signs of illness?

[courtneyclv]

Ok, I am getting more upset now..at my BF

I did a PWC of 10 gallons (my tank is 80) a few days ago. My BF says that if my NO2, NO#, ammon, and ph are perfect..why change it. He says that I am messing around with my water too much. I have read to do a PWC every few weeks and that will help will nutrients, and brown algae. (oh and this was the first time I did 10 gallons. I usually do only 5-7 gallons) My water parameters are always at 0 and my ph is always 8.2. Is he correct?

Every few days I do scrub my algae and if there is a snail dead or turned over I fix it. He says that my angel was stressed and that is why I killed her.

The trigger does nip at the maroon clownfish here and there, but like I said, didnt notice him nipping at gramma or angelfish.

My royal gramma had like specs of 'salt' on her body. Then the next day they were gone.

Angelfish didnt have specs of salt, but rather, parts of her head were just ligher color, cloudiness patches random.

[Hara]

well, it was said before and I will reinforce it. You either do what you know is right to do, or suffer the consequences of listening to your boyfriend. I know that sounds harsh, but there is no other answer. A minimum of 20 gallons per month needs to be changed out. IMO that is the barest of minimums. You mention "if there is a snail dead"...are you finding a good number of dead snails? You shouldnt be. Dead inverts are a good indication something is wrong with the water. Have you ever tested the alkalinity?

You might also want to double check your readings with that of the LFS or get other testkits to verify. What type of test kits do you use?

(incidently, if you do goldfish correctly, it is still work)

[Fluff]

Ich goes through stages. One of those stages is that the parasite will fall off the fish. This is temporary. The ich will come back ten fold. So, to say it didnt' have it is difficult one way or the other. There is an article on the articles section on ich that explains the life cycle.
The angelfish may have had a fungal infection. Not to sound harsh but, you really need to take care of this tank yourself and tell your BF hands off. YOU do the water testing, then you'll know for sure. Past post would lead me to wonder if he is reading the tests right. At this point all you can do is watch closely for signs of illness and hopefully catch it in time with the other fish. If you think the trigger is the problem and he's attacking all your fish, return it. If your fish are already sick and the trigger knows this, he may pick on them. Hey, it's an easy meal, can't really blame him for that. Any fish will do the same. How long has the tank been up btw?

[courtneyclv]

I do all the work in the tank. All of the buying, cleaning, testing etc. I do this daily and test daily. I just tested today..again everything is at 0. Havent tested alkalinity yet.

BF just thinks he knows everything even though he hasn't put any effort in at all..except for putting his trigger in.

[Mrsfuller2572]

Get rid of the boy friend and keep the fish.

[courtneyclv]

LOL..so funny!

But seriously..I don't know what to do. Since the two fish that died DID have weird signs (gramma with salt specs and angelfish with disoloration) maybe it wasn't the aggressive fish that killed them..since I never saw him pick on those two, just the clown.

Oh, and not that many snails have died, maybe a couple a week. I know that my one blue legged small hermit picks on them.

So..Even though I cannot solve this enigma, I need to do something.

Should I...

1. Get rid of trigger and damsels, just keep my clown and inverts and LR and add more fish?

2. Return all of the fish and inverts, remove all the water and start over?

3. IF there is something in my water, ich or a parasite etc..will my LR keep it alive? Will I have to remove my LR too?

Thanks for your advice. I wont give up just yet.

[dianeww]

How long has the tank been up btw?

The water only went into this tank on July 8. Is anyone else thinking that it may never have fully cycled? So many fish (and inverts) have died here already!