What happened to my Green Chromis?

[Jim Barry]

I have heard that Green Chromis have a tendency to die in the tank for no apparant reason and that over time a school will slowly dwindle away to none.

I have had a school of 5 fish for about 4 or 5 months now...

I came home tonight, and for no apparant reason, I found one Chromis dead in my overflow, one dead at the bottom being eaten by crabs, one hiding in the rocks, one I can't find...... and only one healthy one.

It was like a suicide pact..... I don't get it.

All the other fish are fine, water parameters are okay

Any ideas?


Jim :confused:

[Jim Barry]

I found the missing one, swimming near the bottom. It looks like the blue and yellow Damsal is trying to kill it.


?????

[AJ_77]

Suicide pact, hmmm... :confused: you may be onto something, Jim.

My own theory involves the lack of a constantly available food source that closely mimics what they would naturally get. (Whatever THAT is...) Maybe they just don't adapt well to such a different feeding regimen than the constant nibbling they do in the wild, and eventually it takes its toll.

Mind you, if anyone has a chance to be feeding tiny amounts almost continually it would be yourself, wouldn't it? :biggrin:

[Jim Barry]

:rolleyes: :lol: :lol: :mrgreen:

[Jim Barry]

I just lost another chromis ...... that is 3 in 3 hours :eek: :eek:

and my sailfin tang is hiding up beside my powerhead.

water parameters are

ph....8.35
sg.... 1.025
alk 13
calcium 450
temp 80
ammonia 0
nitrites 0
nitrates 0

I am running carbon and did a major water change last week.
I have a grounding probe and am running .026v in the water


I am running out of ideas

:confused: :cry:

[G1GY]

Could something else have died in there? You know how box fish and puffers are?(I know you don't keep these, but maybe something else?) Do you have a dead body of something nuking the place maybe?

Just a thought. :sad:

[Jim Barry]

everything is accounted for..... my peppermint shrimp and cleaner shrimps and crabs are fine. I thought the shrimps would be the first to go if something was wrong in the water. My ammonia is 0.

[G1GY]

everything is accounted for..... my peppermint shrimp and cleaner shrimps and crabs are fine. I thought the shrimps would be the first to go if something was wrong in the water. My ammonia is 0.

I was more thinking along the lines of something that might release a toxin when it's dead(or threatened). (Amonia would show up later.)

Just a guess.

[Jim Barry]

I have been watching and for some reason tonight, one of my damsals is really aggressive !! Maybe that's the problem. I don't understand why it would start suddenly tonight. It also doesn't explain why my Sailfin is hiding deep in the rocks and not moving very much. :confused:

[Jim Barry]

After a year and and half..... my Sailfin just died as well. In a matter of a hour, she started jerking and twitching and swimming upside down. she died within minutes. :cry: :cry: :cry:

I have now lost 4 fish in 5 hours. I did notice her gills were quite red before she died.

[Jim Barry]

After a year and and half..... my Sailfin just died as well. In a matter of a hour, she started jerking and twitching and swimming upside down. she died within minutes. :cry: :cry: :cry:

I have now lost 4 fish in 5 hours. I did notice her gills were quite red before she died.

[TNTCanada]

That just sounds crazy sorry to hear about you loss. You might want to do a big water change and put a pile of carbon in. It might be something that droped in your tank or something that die that is toxic

Don't know what else to say

Good luck
Tyler

[Canadian Man]

did you spray any airfreshener in the room?

:eek:

[muck]

did you spray any airfreshener in the room?

:eek:
I was just thinking that as well... :eek:

[G1GY]

After a year and and half..... my Sailfin just died as well. In a matter of a hour, she started jerking and twitching and swimming upside down. she died within minutes. :cry: :cry: :cry:

I have now lost 4 fish in 5 hours. I did notice her gills were quite red before she died.

Sorry to hear this jim. :sad:

[Jim Barry]

No, we had a scented candle burning last night, but we do that all the time. My acrylic tank is covered on the top, so it is pretty well protected.

Last night I lost another fish..... this time it was one of the 2 blue/yellow Damsels. After seeing the aggressiveness of one of the Damsels last night, I am thinking it was a killing spree. But can a 1" Damsel kill a 4" Sailfin Tang?

This morning, I have still alive and doing well;

1 blue/yellow Damsel
1 Black/white Damsel
1 Atlantic Blue Tang
1 Tomato Clown
1 Green Chromis
1 Lawnmower Blenny

all the corals are doing fine....


???


Jim

[Jim Barry]

No..... correction..

I found the other blue Damsel, but it is hiding in the rocks.

[AJ_77]

Don't know what to say Jim, other than that's quite a little disaster. Sorry about your Sailfin. That's is the 2nd one I've heard of lately... :confused:

[Bob I]

I have a gut feeling it was a Damsel war that caused the problems. As to the Sailfin, Ross just lost his too for no apparent reason. :sad:

[Delphinus]

Very sorry to hear this Jim (and Ross, sorry to hear of your tang) :frown:

Your observation about the gills concerns me .. That doesn't sound like something a damsel could cause?? :confused: This sounds eerlily reminiscent of when I lost nearly all my fish in my ritteri tank a few months ago. One by one, they suffocated over the course of a few hours.

Anyhow, I know how discouraged you must be feeling right now. Hang in there.

[Willow]

you don't have a slug in there that might have died?

[Jim Barry]

No slugs in the tank........The only thing I can't find in the tank is a chocolate chip starfish

Things seem to have settled down a bit today. I put in a ton of carbon and I think things have stabilized. Everyone is eating (and getting along), except my Atlantic Blue Tang who is still hiding and not eating.

I guess we'll wait and see.


Thanks for the comments

Jim

[EmilyB]

Jim, I really think it is toxic tank as well. :confused:

You had the bounce sheet thing, you mentioned something to me about painting in the house, and really just because you have burned scented candles in the past without effect, doesn't mean all of this didn't build up to the point where the fish just couldn't handle it any more.

BTW, there was a thread on the newsgroup years back about scented candles and their detriment over time.

Hopefully things will improve with water changes and carbon.

[trilinearmipmap]

I would suggest opening up your windows in your house and turning on some ventilation fans. Just in case it is something in the air that is affecting your fish. Then again if it is 40 below zero in Calgary maybe you shouldn't.

[Reefhawk1]

I have had the same problem with chromis myself. I purchased seven and now only three remain. It seems the shy chromis become overwhelmed by the more aggressive ones and they kick the bucket.

The problem you are having in your tank sounds like a toxin may have entered the water. Have you used any airbourn chemicals lately or intoduced any cleaning sponges that may not be aquarium safe or have hidden chemicals in them? This has happed to me in the past with a "3M" sponge that didn't have any warnings about it not being aquarium safe. It wiped out my whole tank in hours.

You should do a large water change and if you have a separate tank that may have not been affected, transfer your fish ASAP. Do you have sufficient water movement and protein skimming? If you have any live rock, it will absorb the toxin, as well as your live sand.

Hope this helps out. Good luck.

Stan

[Jim Barry]

I don't think a toxin has entered the water as the corals were not affected in any way.

After rethinking it again, here is my latest theory..

I raised my alk level the other day by increasing the CO2 from my calcium reactor. When I checked it the next day, I realized I had made too much of an adjustment and the alk level had risen to 16 DKH. I think there was so much CO2 in the water the fish suffocated from lack of oxygen. This might explain why the Sailfin was "twitching" in the water before she died and why the fish died over a short period of time. Although my tank gets good O2 as a result of my overflow, sump and surface water movement, it is an acrylic tank and is covered by acrylic panels on the top. This may have reduced the amount of O2 getting into the water and impacted the ability to burn off the excess CO2.

My Atlantic Blue Tang is still hiding in the rocks and will not eat, she continually goes to the cleaner shrimp to have her mouth area cleaned.

Could too much CO2 in the water have caused permanent damage to the Tangs gills?

I have turned my reactor down and my reading is now 11.5 DKH. All the other fish are eating and appear to have survived without ill effect.

I am doing a water change this morning and have taken off the acrylic panels. I will also add a venturi to a powerhead to oxygenate the water.

Damn rookie mistakes :mad:

[SeaHorse_Fanatic]

I was also going to suggest O2 deprivation, so instead I will second your last theory. Chromis seem to be very susceptible to O2 deprivation & be among the first to die. Tangs also have high O2 requirements. If CO2 levels are too high, this for sure will drop O2 levels since water, especially saltwater, can only hold so much dissolved gases.

Sorry for your losses.

Anthony

[Aquattro]

I don't think CO2 levels were the cause. More likely a too rapid shift in chemistry, CO2 easily gasses out of solution if you have decent agitation of the surface, and the lids aren't going to reduce this reaction. If you took the total area of gaps between the lid and tank, you'd likely have enough square footage to put your hand thru, thus more than enough air would be available to the surface of the water.
Also, that much CO2 (required to suffocate fish) would have given a huge drop in pH, which in turn would have shown as a much more serious problem. And the first sign of 02 deprivation is all your fish gulping air from the surface. (which isn't the case, right?)

[Bob I]

I am going to agree with Brad. I know that tank very well, as I have fed the fish while Jim was away. There is plenty of space between the lid and the water along with large openings. There was also plenty of surface agitation last time I was there. :cool: