Fish Dying

[phippsy]

Can anyone help me? I have recently just converted my tank to a marine and both of my clown fish have died within a few days of each other. I have been checking my levels every other day and they are all within limits so I have been scratching my head trying to think what it could be. The only explanation I can come up with is whitespot, but if it is this then it is not as drastic as the cases I have seen pictures of in my books. The fish seem to lose their colours and start to fade towards the top pf them and there fins also seem to fade in colour. Along the back of the fish just under the dorsal fin are very very feint little white dots which make me think its white spot so I was going to treat the tank with methalyne blue as I have just added a regal tang and do not want this to die too. Can anyone offer up any advice on what they think this could be and also if I treat the tank for white spot will it affect my cleaner shrimps , hermit crabs and turbo snails????

Thanks

Chris

 

[darb2]

I have recently just converted my tank to a marine

Don't treat the main tank. Do you have a qt set up?
How long ago did the cycle finish? And could you post all parameters tested?
It could just be an acclimation issue. How did you acclimate them? Drip?

 

[phippsy]

The tank has been set up for 6 weeks and the levels as of this morning are as follows:
Salinity 1.023
PH 8.4
Nitrite 0.25
Nitrate 10
Ammonia is at 0.50

To introduce the fish I leave them in the bag floating for about 1 hr before introducing them to the water

 

[dralarms]

Get the fish (all of them) in a QT. Your tank is not finished cycling. Also if your fish had ich (white spots), then your main has it and any fish you put in there WILL get it. Your main tank needs to go fishless (crabs, snails, ETC are ok) for 6 weeks. Ich can't live without a fish host.

Once in QT then you need to decide if your fish have ich or not and if so you will have to treat them. With a regal tang I would go with hypo-salinity. I found out the hard way that tangs don't like copper. Hope this helps.

BTW Welcome to AA, the best site on the net.

 

[seaham358]

That is no way to acclimate fish either..... Just floating them does nothing but bring the water temp up. You need to read up on acclimation process this is the most important part when introducing fish to a new tank. If not done right they can die in hours or days. You need to read more before you get any new fish... As the others have said your tank is still not ready for fish. What size tank do you have? Any LR? What type of set up.

 

[MarkW19]

Phippsy, you've gone into this way too fast.

Nothing good happens quick in this hobby.

Has you tank even finished cycling??

Your ammonia and nitrite are too high (both should be 0) and you didn't actually acclimate the fish to your tank at all - as seaham said, all you did was alter the temperature in the bag. Marine fish are very sensitive to changes in their water, so the actual tank and bag water has to be mixed together SLOWLY and properly. You should float the bag first, so that when you open it up it's not a massive pH difference/shock to the fish, then START the acclimation...

Also, I would've only added the 2 clowns together, at the most, with your tank being so new, as they're generally a lot hardier than tangs. Practise on the clowns, so to speak The regal particularly is sensitive and gets stressed easily, and is very ich-prone, so not acclimating her properly and also introducing her to a very new (un-cycled?) tank is unfortunately a recipe for disaster.

What size is your tank?

Do you have a QT (quarantine tank)? If not, get one!

 

[phippsy]

I do have a quarantine tank available its only 50 liters but I only have 1 fish now so I will move the Tang into this, that will only leave the 2 crabs 3 snails and cleaner shrimp in the main tank. My tank is a 125 liter by the way Seaham. I was'nt to sure if I was being to quick in adding fish but all the levels seemed to be ok so I thought that the water must be correct. How long do you think I should leave the tank then from now before adding the Tang back inot it???. At first all I had was 2 clowns on their own for 2 weeks then added the Tang yesterday so I don't want the same thing to happen to it

 

[blorkiemom]

Phippsy, it looks like 125 liters is 33 gallons--I know this isn't what you want to hear, but that is way, way too small for the tang. They need at least 75 gallons (285 liters) and many will say more like 100 gallons. It sucks to not be able to keep the fish you want, but you obviously want the best for your fishy friends or you wouldn't be here. So, my advice:

Take the hippo back to the fish store.
Let your tank run fallow (no fish) for a couple of months. That will give the ich or whatever time to die off and the cycle to finish.
Meanwhile, research your fish wish list and decide what you want to have. In a 30 gallon, you'll probably be limited to 3 or 4 fish (depending on adult size). You can have a great-looking tank, but it will take patience and planning.

HTH!

 

[seafan]

Don't sound so critical guys. However to put it lightly you will probably have to cycle your tank again, and may lose all of your fish.

Try to do some research, and read posts and articles on this website to find out more.

I lost all of my fish in a short time when I rushed headlong into this hobby, but if you keep to it it will pay off.
The answer is in my signature.

 

[Edmonton Eskimo]

hey seafan criticism is the best way to learn

 

[blorkiemom]

Gosh, I wasn't trying to sound critical and I hope I didn't. People come here because they want to learn--that's why I'm here, for sure! Didn't mean to scare you off, Phippsy!

 

[austinsdad]

hey seafan criticism is the best way to learn

Yes, but we try to do it in a way that's honest, and helpful, yet sensitve to other's feelings.

 

[austinsdad]

Oh yeah.... Blorkiemom is on target, and sounds pretty honest and helpful IMO.

Phippsy, how ya coming along with your diagnosis and treatment?

 

[MarkW19]

There are some things that can't be avoided in this hobby - fish dying unexpectedly when everything has been done to help them etc. But, stuff like this is easily avoided and simply isn't fair on the fish (and I'm sure you're not feeling too good about it either phippsy, so why put yourself through it ?!?).

However, doing BASIC research will make the world of difference to you and your fish! Take this as an important lesson, and read, read, read. And take time before you rush into your next purchase. Sit back and plan

 

[phippsy]

Yeah I'm starting to realise now that its not as easy as I thought it was going to be. How long does it take then for your tank to complete its cycle??? I had moniored all the levels and everything was going as the books said it would so I just assumed it was safe to start adding fish but it appears I was wrong Don't worry about the way you speak to me on the posts either I have very thick skin I would rather people were straight to the point so I know that im messing up.

Well I'm going to take the tang back and leave it for a while coz after reading a site on the net about "ich" apparently if theres no fish in the tank then it will kill itself within a couple of weeks however it says Invert's are ok in there as they don't get affected by white spot! Is this true or not or is it best to completely empty the tank and wait for it finish its cycle (whenever that maybe!!) and sort out the Ich problem???

 

[MarkW19]

It usually takes between 4 and 6 weeks for the cycle to complete, from start to finish, but it varies for everybody.

Your ammonia and nitrite will rise, and then fall back to 0. Monitor them all the way. When ammonia and nitrite are at 0, and steady for a week or so, you're good to go. Nitrates will also have risen to a certain degree - they're less deadly, but should still be kept in check with regular water changes after the cycle.

Good decision re. the tang, it's the right one

With ich, the tank needs to be left without a fish host for 6 weeks to be sure the parasite has gone. It can't live in inverts so they're fine to be left in there. But, you still shouldn't have any inverts in your tank during the cycle. Do you have inverts?

If you've got inverts, to be honest I'd take those back too, with the tang, let your cycle finish, (and leave the tank empty for 6 weeks), and start again mate

Remember, before you do start again, use the time while the cycle is finishing (and preferably longer) to research all you possibly can.