Fishes dying due to unknown reasons

[DaveGahan]

Hi Fellow reefers..

Really need ur help on this one. I purchased a purple tang from pasir ris fish farm....the tang was in bluish colored water..so i asked the owner if it's sick..and she said she just done wif the fish's quarantine. So i bought the fish ad put it into my tank. Den a few days later..i discovered tat the fish seems to have white dust on the body. I tot there's nothing wrong. Den I included a yellow tang into my tank. Both tangs seem to be fighting. But after awhile..they seem to be ok. Another few days later..i woke up to find both tangs dead. My black nemo (think it's called the samba clown or something) oso died. 3 fishes died overnite.

I checked my water parameters. Everything's ok. Kh - 9, NO2 - 0, N03 - 25, Ph - 8.3. I still duno what went wrong. But i noticed that after adding the purple tang initially, my black nemo was quite 'sluggish'..he keeps swimming near the sandbed..not very active.

After the death of these 3 fishes...i have a remaining of 1 common clown and 1 fire goby. Den i purchased a blue tang and an angel 2 days ago. Added them to the tank..and just yesterday...my common clown, blue tang and angel all died. The water parameters are still all ok...as above.

The funny thing is that my starfish, cleaner shrimp and hermit crab are all still alive and doing well. I thought the cleaner shrimp will be extremely sensitive to bad water quality? If my fishes die due to the bad water quality....shouldn't the shrimp be the first to go?

What could be the cause of it?

I'm guessing these few...

1) Parasite? That white dusty thing on the purple tang? Is that parasite and did it spread to the rest of the fishes? Also, i noticed that the purple tang has slightly torned fins.

2) Overdose of the Part A and Part B trace elements thing? I normally add 1/3 cap..but i added 1/2 cap accidentally.

3) My tank is crashing?

Thanks for taking the time to read this lengthy prob...hoping you guys can help me out here....

[Alvin Tan]

well...it could not be due to overdose of trace elements though....did u pour the bag of water from the lfs into ur tank??..if so...maybe tts the reason....

hmmz...parasite MAY be the caused and ur tank is infested with it...n tt may be the reason on y ur new additions are dead..

lets go back to the basic inital startup...did u purchase live rocks and wad is the quantity...u wun wan to add fishes in a bare tank w/o LRs....

wad kind of filter are u using and its media??...pls elaborate..

did u use any medication b4 u add the fishes in ur tank??...

ur nitrate is on the high side...check ur PO4 too...it could be due to either ur filter media is clog up or ur sandbed(if u have one)..wad kind of testkits are u using to test ur water parameters??...

ps: the black clown u mention i assume is sabae black clown...

it may lead to tank crashing if u continue to add more fishes IMO...

i suggest u investigate the cause first b4 purchasing the fishes...

[weileong]

I am sorry to hear of the lost of your fishes.

You might like to feed us with more details about your tank, equipments used, how long has it been running? Is it properly cycled?

The "white dust" could be marine velvet which is deadly and only cure is copper at 0.2mg/l for 2 weeks. It could also be ich but the "dots" are bigger.

I suggest to skip the trace elements as regular water change would take care of trace elements.

[nakazoru]

Most of my new fishes sits in QT for at least 1 month and is my only insurance when I buy new fishes. In that case I will never bother with why and what crashes the main tank. I find it the cheapest option.

[shoelevy]

i would think its parasite attack...the info i draw this conclusion from is the clue that your invertebrates (shrimp and crab and starfish) were all unaffected by this incident...seems to be either ich or marine velvet.

i wouldn't attribute it to the overdosing of sol A and B or NO3..your no3 level is still ok

like the previous hobbyist said, you really should share with us your tank setup and cycling method

[cornyfish]

Yes, sounds like ich to me... very similar to what i suffered a year ago.

Do not add any more fishes... let your tank go fishless for 3 months. The invertebrates will be fine, don't worry. They are not affected by ich. Do not add any medication or perform hyposalinity treatment, as these will kill your inverts.

[gunzo]

Can anyone define what is marine velvet ??

My purple tang has this tiny white dots on its body also .. but it seems like minute bubbles (it used to have white spots bigger pieces, but after addition of my cleaner wrasse, no more such spots)

[weileong]

Read this Marine Velvet

[DaveGahan]

Hi All Reefers,

thanks for the quick reply...

My tank has been running for bout 4 months now. I cycled it with live rocks and i only added fish after i tested all the parameters...zero NO2 and bout 12.5 NO3.

Setup wise....

it's a 1 feet Nano cube tank...all i had inside are bout 4 tiny fishes, with 1 hermit crab..1 cleaner shrimp and 1 starfish. In terms of filtration....it's the typical filtration of the Nano cube. There are 3 compartments. The 1st draws the water in....den the water goes thru the filter wool..it is then directed to the 2nd compartment where my filter medium is. I dun know exactly what medium it is..it's this brownish walnut looking chips...bought it from Rainbow aquarium when i first started the tank....and the 3rd compartment consist of 1 bag of high-grade charcoal (bought from Aquamarine) and 5 bioballs...den the water is pumped out back into the tank....

I have no protein skimmer as a lot of the LFS that i went to told me that there's no need for a skimmer for a 1 feet tank....just do a 10-20% water change weekly...and i've been doing that...dun seem to have any probs til the addition of the purple tang..

I'll also add 1 tablet of bacteria every month...can't remember what brand it is..but bought it from Aquamarin....

I have a sandbed bout 1 inch in thickness...sometimes..i'll stir up the very top layer of the sand ...to float the dirt on it..so that i can siphon it out....is this a possible cause of my fish dying? I have bout 3 kg of LR oso...

If it's really ich...i think all the fishes should be affected rite? But my flame goby is still doing very well in the tank..he's still happily swimming and eating..as if nothing has happened ! (maybe he's been plotting to take over the tank..haha)

...den how to solve this ich problem ah?

Oh ya..1 last thing...for those staying in the east...I just went to the basement level of Tampines Mall..there's a shop selling some marine fishy stuff..they do tank setup oso..den i was looking at their 1 feet Nano tank...exactly the same as mine...it's practically algae free..not a single spot...very impressive...den when i asked the guy how he did it..he said he only do 10 or 20% water change every 4 months...can u believe it?...he said the trick is to feed very little....and he's not even changed his filter wool for 3 months liao...LIKE THAT OSO CAN AH? It seems to contrast my weekly 10% water change theory leh...(this was taught to me by a few LFS that i asked)..

thanks so much once again for ur patience...

[hondaker]

hmmm

1 feet cube?

how big were the tangs?

possible reasons for the ich/marine velvet infections could be due to stressed out fishes also

from what i know, tangs need a lot of swimming space, so 1 feet might not be suitable

try to restrict to smaller fishes like gobies

and, what is this bacteria tablet thing?

i thought the bacteria would have already been stablized after cycling? its not very economically wise to keep on adding the bacteria(if it is nitrfying bacteria) and having excess nitrates which leads to algae growth and all that.

just my 2 cents, any senior reefers advise?

[Clownfish]

1 feet is too small for 4 fishes esp. tangs!

firstly, u do not have enuff space

secondly, u do not hav enuff surface area for exchange of gases

thirdly, u do not hav enuff water volume to supply enuff oxygen to the fishes

fourthly, u do not hav enuff bacteria to handle the bio-loads!

normal parasite attack wont wipe out ur livestocks within a night

it is obvious that ur system cannot handle the bioload that's y everythin go haywire...

u tested nitrite but how bout its immediate toxic brother, ammonia?

tink u shld re-assess ur situation n not keep on addin fishes!

if u decide to keep to this nano tank, pls understand its limits n plan wat is to be added

not to discourage u, it is a common mistake for beginners to overstock their tank... therefore, beginners shld not start with a nano tank in the first place

[DaveGahan]

Hi Reefers..

thanks for you input so far...

ok..if it's really parasite...den how do i go about removing the parasite in my tank? I still have 1 remaining goby....

If it's bio-over-load...after my 2 tangs died...i have a remaining of 1 common clown...so i added a dory (blue tang) less than 1 inch in lenght...and an angel...(very small too..)...and both of them died....is this due to overcrowding?

[samchenz]

Hi,

1 feet is way too small...and in my opinion too unstable. it would be difficult to maintain a consistent water quality/parameters etc..

Either invest in a bigger tank or just have a few hardy fish, such as damsels.

: )

[weileong]

1ft is way way too small for angel and tangs, suggest you go for nano fishes like those gobies etc.

Your tank just had some fishes dying so please be patient and stop stocking up. Let the tank stable down first and stock up really slowly. Eg, one small fish at one time and skip those tangs and angels.

[shoelevy]

hi davegahan,

in addition to what has been said, i would say that whatever bacteria you are adding right...its not necessary because a properly cycled tank should have the proper amounts of bacteria to cope with the bioload (when not overloaded)...so i personally don't think those bacteria things work

also...regarding that tampines basement thing ah...brother...they are suppliers...those tanks confirm swee swee one...lol...with tonnes of equipment and livestocks to spare, got fish die they just replace quickly...also, i went there myself before...the damsel fishes...hardiest buggers i've ever kept were gaspinG!...that's a sign of stress!...so seriously, i would take what they say with a hugh pinch of salt ya?

just my 2cents of personal opinions worth

keep us updated!

[Elune]

Ok, my tank's a 1 feet too. So wtih common understanding, i share the following:

1) 1 feet tanks (Pico tank) are too small for tangs and angles (which can grow very big)

2) 4 fishes are WAY too much for pico-tank, considering u still got invertebrates. Should only keep 1 fish, max max 2 fish only.

3) I feel its ICH problem. The problem started when u added the tang right? Tangs almost always comes with ICH. and you even bought the tang despite knowing its from a tank of blueish water. If the fish is not sick, it does not even need to be placed in blueish water. This implies u bought a sick fish that is undergoing threatment.

4) Ur goby will up lorry soon. Its the next target.

5) ICH solution? Go fishless for 2 months. If you decide to treat ur tank water using medication, relocate ur invertebrates first. Fishes that are suffering from ICH attack but is still alive, can be place under HYPOSALINITY treatment.

6) The Tampines Mall basement shop: i agree with wat bro shoelevy said: " take it with a HUGE pinch of salt". I will take it with a bucketful of salt. Go TM basement buy finger food, then stand there and view the nano tanks can already. Most of the fishes inside are hardy damsels and Chromis. Confirm easy lah~

Also, i had a bad experience with their customer-service. I wanted to buy a clip-on lamp from them, but they dun sell. Only sell full set (tank+lamp+filter+food+sand+etc). Then i asked shopkeeper: if I buy full set, then lamp spoilt after some time, can buy lamp from them anot. The reply was "NO". (=_=)* I boycott that place since then. Perhaps they are only interested in 1-time transactions. I really dunno.

[DaveGahan]

Hi All,

thanx so much for ur input....will take note of the points that u guys have posted....til now..my goby is still surviving...i'll keep on monitoring for awhile....

anyways...Elune..post some pic of ur 1 feet tank leh..very interested to see how urs look like...

[cci[RR]us]

Sometimes if the fish is happy (not stressed) then it will have better immunity to diseases and illnesses. So your goby might pull through...

My clowns and tangs died of ich but my fire gobies and a maroon clown survived, likely because they are kept happy while the newcomers are still shocked and stressed and died.

[Elune]

anyways...Elune..post some pic of ur 1 feet tank leh..very interested to see how urs look like...

My Humble little tank.... I m only a beginner, dun laugh... kekekeke

Elune's Pico

[DaveGahan]

HI Elune...

saw ur pic...ur tank's very cute...like the compact feel of it....u know that purple thing that u have? what does it feed on? My friend told me that when it dies (choy choy choy!) it's kinda poisonous u know...

N do you cure ur fish (off ich) by dipping them in tap water?