New To Reefing

Robtoss

Member
Jan 23, 2016
17
3
Unexplained Deaths
First post so please excuse and rookie errors!
I have come back to reefing after an extended period off and have researched more but have come up with no answers to my problem.My tank is 250 litre with LED lighting live rock and protein skimmer on a sand base.
My problem is the fish in my tank all died. Full explanation:
1)Tank cycled for three months with live rock.
2) During this time (at about 6 weeks) my neighbour passed on some Zoos a staghorn type coral and a few corrilamorphs (Excuse spelling) that he was giving away. These have thrived and grown significantly since.
3) 2.5 weeks ago I populated the tank with 2x clowns and 1x blue tang (all small in size) over the next 2 weeks alll died. I replaced the tang but it also died.
Water parameters are as follows:
Ammonia 0
Nitrite 0
Nitrate 6.01
Salinity 1.026
temp 25.5
alkalinity 7.2
calcium 470
magnesium 1450
phosphate 0.08
All of these measurements have been stable for the last 6 weeks aprox. Even after the deaths.

I am confused as I thought anything that would kill off the fish esp. the hardy clowns would also sow/damage the zoos and coral. Any help would be much appreciated
 

Buddy

Member
Mar 13, 2012
3,142
1,526
How long did the fish take to die? Did you do any acclimatization? Any strange behavior from the fish? Any marks, spots or colours on the fish at all?
I wouldn't recommend trying another blue tang in your tank as it is just too small.
 

hoangii

Member
Feb 2, 2013
158
64
Footscray
Blue tangs are prone to a disease called ich aka white spots. Stress related moving into a new tank and new-ish water can cause this disease to show up. Its water borne so can affect other fish and if its severe enough then can result in death
 

Robtoss

Member
Jan 23, 2016
17
3
Thanks for the reply Buddy.
They died progressively First one was after about a week and then about every second day. No real pattern.
They all seemed happy with and normal behaviours. no marks spots or change of colours but when they did die they went from swimming normally to dead in a few hours.
Each was acclimatized over about a few hours.
Thanks for the recommendation about the tang.. Taken on board.
 
E

ezza

Guest
What's your PH? Fish can experience PH shock going from one tank to another. It can happen quickly or within a week. The behaviour tends to change and leads to the fish swimming aimlessly and gasping for breath. It happened to me a couple of times without realising. Your PH should be around 8.3.

http://www.theaquariumwiki.com/PH_Shock
 
Any chance it is something outside the tank? By this I mean could hairspray, fly spray or anything like that be getting into the tank? Could equipment be leaching something into the water?
 

Robtoss

Member
Jan 23, 2016
17
3
Not sure what the pH is ezza,
I haven't tested it (everything else)
but now you raise the pH shock I will test it and get back.

Any chance it is something outside the tank? By this I mean could hairspray, fly spray or anything like that be getting into the tank? Could equipment be leaching something into the water?
Thought of that but we try and minimise any sprays in the room that the tank is in. As to the equipment- how would I knowif it was?
 

IJG3145

Member
Oct 27, 2015
442
162
South Gippsland
Did you drip acclimatise fish?

Any recent change to water, ie new batch of NSW?

Other than an error there or overheating, I too would be looking at outside things like fly spray, cleaners, etc.
 

Robtoss

Member
Jan 23, 2016
17
3
Did you drip acclimatise fish?

Any recent change to water, ie new batch of NSW?

Other than an error there or overheating, I too would be looking at outside things like fly spray, cleaners, etc.
Actually use ASW. Am contemplating a switch to NSW
No not drip but slow addition to double volume over an hour or so.
I am leaning toward the external issues as well at this point. (Hadn't really considered it previously as I thought we were being careful)
 

MagicJ

Moderator
Jul 11, 2011
9,650
3,761
Hobart, Tasmania
Hi @Robtoss :welcome

There is nothing in your water parameters which stand out as the cause of your problem - what brand of test kits are you using?

What brand of salt are you using? And, what water are you using to make up the ASW? How do you make up the ASW?

If it was whitespot then you would have definitely seen it, especially on the blue tang - where did you get the fish?

Are there any fish in the tank now?

Sorry about all the questions - just trying to sort out what the problem might be ...
 

sugar

Member
Jan 7, 2016
43
13
How long did the fish take to die? Did you do any acclimatization? Any strange behavior from the fish? Any marks, spots or colours on the fish at all?
I wouldn't recommend trying another blue tang in your tank as it is just too small.
So tangs do not do well in small tanks?
 

sugar

Member
Jan 7, 2016
43
13
Min for tangs is 4x2x2 and tangs are ich magnets, particularly the blues.
I have made a list of possible fish

Chromis
Flame hawk
Midas blenny
Orchid dotty back
Cardinal fish
Clown fish
Bicoloured blenny
Long nose hawkfish
Six stripe wrasse

Obviously not all of them but from researching they are a few of the ones i can have in my size tank.
 

Robtoss

Member
Jan 23, 2016
17
3
Hi @Robtoss :welcome
There is nothing in your water parameters which stand out as the cause of your problem - what brand of test kits are you using?
What brand of salt are you using? And, what water are you using to make up the ASW? How do you make up the ASW?
If it was whitespot then you would have definitely seen it, especially on the blue tang - where did you get the fish?
Are there any fish in the tank now?
...
Hi MagicJ and thanks for the welcome.
I am using all red sea gear, test kits and salt and I am using RO water to make up the ASW.
Fish purchased from Reef River Reptile at Hornsby. They have been working with me thru the whole setup and seem very good.

All fish are now gone but due to the generosity of my neighbour I now have a tank full of Various corals and they are thriving!