MASSIVE die off

[aquazen]

I came home after 4 days and found my tang lying on it's side on the sand. I've seen this before and didn't seem like abnormal behavior. The following morning, the poor guy was stuck to the power head, half eaten by the maintenance crew! I immediately took him out, but I didn't have time to water change, etc as I had to leave for work. I was hoping I got it early enough before it could produce a spike and cause widespread damage.

This afternoon, I got back from work, (30 hour shift), and one of my clowns was missing, and the other clown was also stuck to the power head. My blenny and rainford goby were nowhere in sight, and the pajama cardinal had a cloudy blown out eye!

I've never had massive die off like this after one fish death. I'm not too likely to put any new fish in that tank until I figure out what's wrong. The only thing I could think of was that there was a small white spot on the dorsal fin of the tang before I left for vacation. Maybe he infected everyone else in the tank with whatever he had, died, and the rest...well, you already know.

There are corals in my tank, and all is well with them. All the inverts are also fine. Can anyone suggest a cost effective water test kit? I want to get to the bottom of this. At this point, I've already done a 10% water change, and will do this a few more times this week.

Just very frustrated and needed to vent. I was very attached to my clowns and blenny as they have been with me for almost 2 years.

 

[cmor1701d]

Sorry to hear about your losses. I had a problem when I was out of the country for a month and the house got too warm from the MH lights. My tank reached 90 degrees before the person taking care of my tank stopped in.

How about posting all your tank info:
Size
temp
pH, ammonia, NO2 NO3 Ca Mg PO4
filtration


Do you have any fish left in the tank?
Do you have a QT tank you can set up and treat the fish in?

 

[aquazen]

I've got a 40 gallon breeder, about 60 lbs live rock. pH is 8.2, Zero nitrate and nitrite. I don't dose calcium or other supplements, so I don't have a test for Ca, Mg, PO4, though I'm pretty sure my Phosphate is high as I use regular tap. I do use Prime though, so I'm sure chloramine and heavy metals isn't an issue. I have an AquaC remora with a Maxi Jet 1200 as well as an Aquaclear 50 power filter. I use a Maxi Jet 1200 with a mod for extra circulation.

As far as I can tell, water parameters are okay. Heat probably wasn't an issue. The only thing that really jumps out at me was the white spot on the dorsal fin of the tang, but I can't imagine that killing off ALL the livestock in 2-3 days time. All the inverts are fine, and that includes corals, shrimp, lobster, clean up crew.

 

[aquazen]

I do have a small 5 gallon QT, but there are no fish left to treat. I can't even find the blenny or the rainford goby after I came home from work. I'm assuming the worst as they are usually very active.

 

[melosu58]

We really dont know until you post water test results. I am sure that tap water had a little to do with it. I work for the water dept in my county and everyone assumes that when they do their water test results that everything is OK with their tap. They put so much stuff in the tap water that there are alot of things that can not be tested for with your test kit. Flouride, Heavy metals(your Prime is not getting rid of them) and other chems and compounds. ESP. with a delicate fish like a tang that really needs a bigger tank and excellent water (RO/DI water). These are just my observations and experiences.