Help help help!

[NarwhalLover3]

I've had a scopas tang for about 8 months and I just went to check on my tank and he's swimming around spastically. It's weird half circles of like vibrating and spinning. He's host all color in the tips of his fins and one eye is foggy. I don't know what to do, or even if I can't do anything.

 

[NarwhalLover3]

*Bump And lost not host

 

[Sniperhank]

Can you provide some info on the tank? Size, parameters, recent changes to the system. More info given the better we can help you diagnose the problem.

 

[NarwhalLover3]

It's a 90 gallon and the parameters are all fine. My nitrites are just a bit high but not even to the .25 colour and they usually are no matter how many pwcs I do. I haven't made any changes to the system.

 

[Sniperhank]

nitrites? Just making sure you didn't mean nitrates.

 

[NarwhalLover3]

Yeah. I mean nitrites.

 

[Sniperhank]

Well, an established tank should never have a nitrite reading unless you somehow had a mini cycle. Ammonia and nitrite are quite toxic to fish, and I doubt a single fish's death would cause a noticable spike in a 90 gallon. Did anything stir up the tank? Rocks move? Was there a ton of leftover food laying at the bottom of the tank?

 

[NarwhalLover3]

I know. I did stir the sand around. There were bubbles underneath it everywhere. It's about 4 inches deep. Not sure if this helps any.

 

[Sniperhank]

Well that is what did it imo. That released all kinds of nasty stuff, carbon dioxide, dead material...who knows what else. This is probably what lead to your loss. Messing with the sand, especially deeper beds, can kill an entire tank from releasing the gases that are trapped beneath them.

 

[NarwhalLover3]

That's what I feared. I have two other fish and coral and haven't noticed any change in look/behavior though. Hmm...