sick urchin

[joaquin916]

i have 3 different urchins in my tank a pencil(1month) and a tuxedo(1week) and long spine (3days). the tuxedo im afraid is dead he was very healthy then all the sudden his spines fell off and he stop moving so i froze him R.I.P. juan... but all of the levels were rite and all of them were acclimated the same, both the pencil and longspine where from the same place but the tuxedo was from a different lfs, the pencil is doing really good practically double his original size and the long spine is very active and they have algea to eat and dried seaweed which the snails and them eat... so the only one to die was the tuxedo who was in there the 2nd longest the pencil was in there for almost a month now, any thing i could do?

 

[melosu58]

What size tank? What are your water parameters tests reading?

 

[joaquin916]

sad news my long spine the newest to the bunch started to lose his spines, it was weird i was away for two hours and come back to see him limp and spines around him, my tank is a 30 gallon tank, with fluval 205 canister filter and a aqueon tank mount filter and protein skimmer, my test reading say i have a good pH, my nitrate were 10, my nitrites were basically 0, and my amonia was 0 too, i had a black ich infection but i was using a "invertebrate safe" ich remover, and the feather duster, and the pencil, and snails, and anenome seem to be doing just fine, **** the pencil is 2x as big as when i first got him and the anenome is 3xtimes bigger, my fish are all under 4", a long nose butterfly, niger trigger, yellow tang, algea blenny, cleaning wrasse, baby snowflake eel.... so in the end i notice every thing i tested was decently good so idk my salinity i test with a calibrated refractometer, and it is 1.021 so idk, the long spine was doing good all last nite and today running around and then i did a 25% water change and i made sure the salinity was matching and then 2hrs later he was dead, i put him in the freezer to euthanize him this sucks i hope the pencil does good

 

[catmel]

We really need detailed tank specs to help you out ( ammonia, nitrate, nitrite, ph, salinity, temp, calcium, kh hardness) actual numbers really help rather than ' around 0 ' )

Are you topping off your tank with fresh water?

Sounds like your tank may be a bit overtsocked. Your problems will only increase with having 3 soon to be large fish in a small aquarium.

No ich treatment is 100% reef safe that actually works I've found out. I would also suggest not dumping treatments or chemicals in your main tank, but rather putting them in a hospital tank to treat. I would do a big PWC and perhaps run some carbon to get the medication out.. then transfer sick fish to a hospital tank and treat then.

 

[joaquin916]

k this is a test i just did after your reply

Ammonia=less than .5 like the color was a little lighter than .5 but not quite 0ppm

Ph=8.2

Nitrite= 1.0ppm

Nitrate= 20ppm

that is what my test kit came out to read

the anemone seems to be doing good very active , the duster eats and is active, and the pencil which has been in there for a month the other two were 2weeks and 4days, i'm wondering if they didnt acclimate well, i did all of them the same the whole, float bag in for 15min then add water every 4mins to the bag fills bit by bit so idk i hope the pencil lives

 

[joaquin916]

and when i top off the tank i top it off with freshwater that i used conditioner in to remove the chlorine and junk

 

[SHARPiE]

Nitrite is a KILLER - PWC to get them down ASAP.
Keep doing PWC's daily if not twice a day to get it down to zero.

Some say nitrite is more poisonus than ammonia.

Once you have the nitrites at zero - monitor it very closely to ensure they stay at zero.


May seem a silly question, but have you cycled your tank correctly?

 

[dannyb]

Your tank hasnt cycled? Or unless youve added a big bioload?

Amm and nitrite should be 0. Before any inverts added, I'd say thats why your urchin died.
Also, You'll need to top up with RO/DI water. Not just tap water with conditioner. Conditioner is ok for fresh water tanks, Not salt.

 

[austinsdad]

Real simple to me. You got waaaaay too much in a 30g tank. Butterfly, trigger, tang, and eel need to go back to the store. Your problems and deaths in that tank are just beginning.

 

[CaptainAhab]

You're overstocked (as already stated). Either something died and is decaying, your tank can't filter the load and/or (likely) you killed all or part of your bacteria with your ich treatment. I'd get rid of anything but the blenny and the wrasse regardless of how large they are or aren't. That's alot of $$$ you're going to be flushing soon. IMO

Treat the tank with Prime (or something similar) to detox the toxins until you get a plan in place.

 

[CaptainAhab]

and tap conditioner is fine for SW, btw

 

[austinsdad]

Oh, yeah. I forgot to recommend returning the anenome too. I'ts still alive??

 

[joaquin916]

yeah the anemone is doing great he is twice the size of when i first got him, and eats well, and the pencil still seems to be doing good and what type of water should i top off with??? what is do/di or something like that and all the fish if i take them back they wont give me my money back i also have an empty cycled fluval edge what from my tank can go in it my eel is a baby he is like 6inches not even. but yeah ima test it again rite after this post to see if anything changed and i think the ich treatment is probably gone cuz i left the carbon and a uv sterilizer on but all the fish are good i will post the new test results in a minute thanks for the help guys

 

[austinsdad]

Look up ro/di water. Top off with that or fresh water, not salt water.

 

[dannyb]

Conditioner is fine for SW, But whats the point? Its not going to take out everything else that a RO/DI unit does. its just a waste of money imo for SW.

Anyway, Dude.. Your tank.

You've got it all wrong, Sorry to be so harsh. But think of the fish. For one, The yellow will start having ich break outs.. No matter how you treat it.. it'll just come back, If it doesnt die.
For two, That eel, Regardless of size is way to big for that tank.
For three, Your tank has no where near enough bacteria to support all them fish.
For four, I doubt your nitrate is 10ppm very highly.

Ohh, I feel so sorry for your fish. How would you like to be stuffed in your bedroom and have to live in it with a few other people? Thats what its like for the fish.

Take the fish back, Even if you dont get anything for them. Thats just horrible.
Sorry for being harsh once again.. But wow. Learn from this and start a bigger tank if you want big things.

 

[joaquin916]

idk from what i've seen they all look healthy now and idk understand how its cramped like they all have room to swim around, and from my last check everything is seeming to slowly be going back to normal, the tang has been perfect for the past couple of days ich free and his respriation is back to normal, and my pencil urchin seems fine i meen he has been in the tank the longest out of any of my fish decides the two turbo snail and the anenome that was attached to one, so idk tmrw im thinking about going to my lfs and putting a deposit down on a 175 gallon tank, so i shud take it home in two weeks

 

[dannyb]

They're not healthy. Simple.

The fish's insides will outgrow its outer body. Your stunting there growth.
Even if you dont get a 175g, You need skimmer, Lights, Live Rock.. All sorts of things that will cost you a fortune and i doubt highly you'll have it running in the next month, if you even do get it in 2 weeks.

Just do the fish/eel a favor and take them back.

Study the fish more.. Read this..

Yellow Tang.
Saltwater Aquarium Fish for Marine Aquariums: Yellow Tang - Hawaii

Long Nose.
Saltwater Aquarium Fish for Marine Aquariums: Yellow Longnose Butterflyfish

Niger Trigger.
Saltwater Aquarium Fish for Marine Aquariums: Niger Triggerfish

Snowflake.
Saltwater Aquarium Fish for Marine Aquariums: Snowflake Eel

As said above. Take everything back besides the Blenny and the wrasse. Even that wrasse wont survive long as they feed on parasites that are a requirement in there diet.

Also, What lighting do you have? Unless is MH or T5HO (Set Up Right) then its not growing or healthly. Its slowly dieing.

 

[joaquin916]

i like how u dont think i have money lol, my 30gal has an aquac remora protein skimmer a fluval 205 canister with turbo twist uv. metal hilide lighting, and an aqueon hang on filter, i have over 50lbs of live rock i used live sand for the substrate so yeah i have the money for anything

 

[joaquin916]

and my wrasse eats anything and everything else the others eat

 

[AMDPhenomX4]

Ok, Were trying to give options to let you keep the fish but your too ignorant to listen. Your fish will NOT survive in a 30G tank for more than a few more months. You need to research before starting an aquarium. Im not trying to be harsh, but honest. I was 15 when i started my tank, and i researched months before, and didn't have problems. You need to take it slow, bring all the livestock back and cycle the tank properly. You also need to get less and smaller fish. A 30G tank is good for starting, but for most of the fish you appear to want, you need much larger. For the fishes sake, return them.

On another note, Freezing is NOT a humane way to kill animals. Either hammer or CO2.