Fish Dying

[minotaur]

I have a 29 gal FOWLR tank that has been cycled for about 8 weeks. 6 weeks ago I added a Perc Clown, a Yellowtail Damsel, and a Royal Gramma. I monitored water quality daily. SG has always been between 1.0230 and 1.235. Temp is between 79 and 81 Deg F.

There was concern that I added too many fish too fast, so I checked No3 daily for 4 weeks, and every few days since then. No3 has never been higher then 10 and is usually undetectable. (I change 10%-15% weekly)

10 days ago my Gramma went AWOL. He was fine and acting normal, and then one day.."Poof"...gone. I chalked it up to just one of those things...maybe he jumped out (although the top is tight fitting), maybe got trapped in the rock..who knows?

Then, today, my damsel was dead on the bottom. He was fine at 5:00 am and ate well last night. The Clown is doing well, and the Shrimp, Cucumber, and others appear to be doing well. I double checked water quality and everything is the same as it has been for 8 weeks.

Any ideas? I have another Gramma that I am supposed to pick up on Monday.

Thanks

 

[quarryshark]

Its not nitrate that is a concern, its the ammonia and nitrite. Did you check them? Adding that many fish that fast especially with such a new tank could definitely cause a spike and that can be lethal.
What type of filtration are you using?
I wouldn't place a new fish until you find the problem. Its also possible that a disease process is present. Any symptoms before their demise? Where they eating?

 

[minotaur]

Ammonia and Nitrite are 0 and have been for almost 10 weeks.

I have a protein skimmer for a 100 gallon tank, a Millenium 200 Wet/Dry filter, and two 295 Gal/Hr power heads with rotating cover.

No symptoms whatsoever...I mean none, behavior has been the same ever since I got them.

I have been feeding them mostly frozen saltwater multi-pack (Sally's) every other day, and sometimes some Omerag One marine flakes.

 

[minotaur]

Added another Gramma. After 2 days...disappeared again. No other signs of trouble. All other fish are fine, water tests are great.

My other two fish are fine as well the cucumber and shrimp.

Any thoughts?

 

[minotaur]

lfs said they have been having trouble with Gramma's and Wrasses' in the heat (it has been high 90's)

Said they will replace, so I will keep trying

 

[quarryshark]

No sure what to say, I would hold off on adding any more fish for a while. Make sure your current fish keep doing OK.

 

[steve-s]

Have you seen any red streaks, patchy area's or unexplainable white blotch's on any of the fish?

Cheers
Steve

 

[minotaur]

no - no signs of trouble or anything unusual. I have a Perc Clown, that has been in the tank the longest, and it is doing fine.

I have tested and tested and have spent hours looking for signs of trouble, but have not seen anything to indicate that there is a problem.

Guess I will hold off for a little, keep testing, and see what happens.

 

[minotaur]

One of the remaining fish now has a frayed tail and I can see a small red patch near the tail and near a forward fin.

lfs did a complete test of my water and believe my pH may be as high as 8.8. It always looked to me as if was 8.4. Those purple colors on the test tube are hard to differentiate.

pH from the tap is 7.2 and I use Instant Ocean Salt. My stored water for pwc's tests the same as the tank.

The lfs gave me some pH 8.3 buffer to try and see if it would lower the pH. Did another 10% pwc tonight and noticed the trouble on the Cardinal that I bought a week ago.

Clearly not a fluke - so no more fish until I know it's corrected and have time to be sure.

Any ideas?

 

[minotaur]

Pic of Cardinal with red spot near tail.

 

[steve-s]

I would perform several large water changes over the next few days with well aged/aerated SW. It could hopefully be simple water quality issue (DOC/pH) but there is the possibility of Vibrio or Uronema.

Are the feces white/pale/stringy or dark and solid?

Stop using chemical additives to fix tank chemistry issues if just pH related. Use water changes and be sure the tank is getting proper gas exchange. Chemical additives are a bandaid that usually cause more problems than they solve. Hard to maintain pH will more commonly be related to the way the tank is set up/room it's in than chemistry. If the alkalinity is between 2.0-3.0 mEq/l, it won't be a chemical issue for sure. If using pH fix's chemically, you can raise the alk too far and actually crash the pH which can in turn cause acidosis if not corrected quickly enough.

Cheers
Steve

 

[minotaur]

Have not noticed condition iof feces.

I have been doing a 10% (3 gallons) pwc each week. I usually mix the SW a week before and store it in a sealed container. I check it again before doing the change. I have been using tap water and treating it (others I know in the area have done the same for small tanks). The pH of the tap water is 7.2. I am not really setup to maintain an RO unit. I think I might use distilled water for a while and see if that improves things.

I still have a Perc Clown, which was one of my first purchases. He has shown no signs of problems. I also have a scarlet shrimp and sea cucmber and both are doing well.

thanks for the advice