Total wipeout- ALMOST

[MartyG]

I have been doing fish-only salt water aquariums for 25 years, but just had a first disaster. The dead fish don't seem to have died from ich. There were no white spots. Some of the fish exhibited ragged and red fins. I have not had time to test the water yet, sorry.

I have lost all but one fish (a lunare wrasse) in my 90 gallon tank. I lost an Emperor Angel, 3 tangs, a Picasso trigger and Cuban Hogfish. these fish just keeled over within 24 hours and died. I have had this tank running pefectly for 6 years in this location and 3 years in my former location. My fish have grown and thrived.

Whatever the cause, ( I have a few theories, including bacterial infection) what irks me is that this lunare Wrasse is doing just fine.

Here are the questions, never having dealt with this before:

Do I let the tank run the way it is for a while, doing nothing?
Do I do massive water changes?
Do I break down the whole thing and scrub it clean and start from scratch?

advice appreciated

- Gilman

[MartyG]

Another possible action;

Do I do a copper or antibiotic treatment/

-Gilman

[Tau2301]

I think that is important to test your water parameters.

Water changes should be done IMO slowly. Too radical a change one way or another can also be also be harmful.

As to what it might be...

[MartyG]

The last fish died today- a total wipeout.

I tested the water (my test kit may have expired date?)

Ammonia-07ppm
Nitrate -157ppm
Nitrite-07ppm
PH 8.6 (a bit high!)
Dissolved Oxygen-7ppm

I'm thinking some kind of contaminant?
High co2 (PH) as a result of equipment failure?
I plan to do 50% change on (no fish) water.

Any other ideas?

-Martyg

[fishnut]

Sorry for your loss.

I know how easy it is to forego regular testing when everything appears to be doing well.

However, I believe your parameters are a bit out of whack - the ammonia and nitrite, for instance - they should read zero, and nitrates are also somewhat high.

That is, if your test kit is accurate. IMO, it is best to keep and use up-to date test kits - in this way, trends and changes can be spotted (and noted in a log book) on a regular basis. The information supplied can be used to remedy problems before they become fatal (hopefully).

Or if an unforseen event does occur (as in this instance), the info about parameters can help to decipher why it happened.

Considering the cost of our livestock (and their replacement value, to say nothing of the emotional loss), test kits are worthwhile investments to protect them. Water is everything to fish, but we have no way of knowing how conducive it is to fish health unless we test it.

That said, the tank may have been a bit crowded, and regular large sized water changes would have been needed to keep up water quality, especially with messy eaters and defecators such as you had.

What kind of filtration do you have, and is maintenance done on a regular basis ? What size and type of skimmer ? Any changes in the last while ?
(Maintenance schedule, amount fed, livestock added ?)

I hope that you will look on these questions as just a way of trying to help you find answers - obviously you had success with this tank, since you had it for some years.

I wish you the best of luck in figuring out what went wrong, and hope that you will be able to learn something from this disaster that will enhance your future fishkeeping endeavors.

[Quinn]

This can't be right, but I thought mg/L convert straight across to ppm. Which means that 157ppm of nitrate equals 157mg/L of nitrate. 157mg/L of nitrate is extremely high, is it not?

Perhaps one of the fish died of natural causes, thereby causing a spike. If you have a large amount of bacteria, in theory I would think a spike could run through to NO3 in less than a day. Did one of the fish die first, then after a period of time, the rest?

[fishnut]

You could also do a search on reefcentral using the key words 'ragged, red fins'.

Perhaps someone on the 'Fish Diseases' section of reefcentral could offer additional information.

[smokinreefer]

geez, i am very sorry for your loss.

is this a regular FO tank, or do you have LR and a sandbed?

personally, if there is nothing in the tank, i would probably start over fresh.

but that really depends on alot of things, like if you are trying to save the LR, sandbed etc. size of tank.

[reefburnaby]

Hi,

Sorry for your loss.

Does the whole fin turn red or are there red veins on its fins? Do you know what your salinity is?

- Victor.

[MartyG]

All fish have died.

I do a 20 gal water change every 2 weeks. Salinity is at .021

Yes, heavy breathing, no scratching on the rocks, or spending a lot of time by the surface or return water.
Fish fed once daily. Two 802 circulation pumps, 1000 gph main filter pump. Skimmer and filter oversized for tank. No live rock and minimum sandbed.

Now, I plan to do more water changes and let the tank sit fish-free for 3 weeks.



Will my filter /tank bacteria be kept alive?

-MG

[MartyG]

Something weird happened when the post came online. The numbers I gave added a 7 to them. The real numbers are:

Ammonia-0ppm
Nitrate -15ppm
Nitrite-0ppm
PH 8.6 (a bit high!)
Dissolved Oxygen-7ppm

That may help.
Anyway, I did another WC today and plan to leave it run for 3 weeks, doing more WCs and slowly restock.

-MG

[smokinreefer]

Yes, heavy breathing, no scratching on the rocks, or spending a lot of time by the surface or return water.

sounds like something may have caused a problem with low oxygen.

maybe try creating more surface agitation?