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View Full Version : Fish all look sickly, yet water seems fine...HELP!


newreefer_59
05-16-2013, 01:54 PM
Just started 2 days ago in my SPS/LPS 150 gallon tank. Have 16 fish, and none look good though they have improved marginally over the past 12 hours. Still cannot see 3 of my 4 tangs at all. I do have 4 mini maxi carpet anemones and they appear to be standing up. Is this a possible cause? Are they possibly mating or are they defending themselves? I did spot a bristle worm recently too. Anyway, any thoughts on this?

daplatapus
05-16-2013, 01:57 PM
It would probably be good to give some background on your system. Size, how long's it been running,, actual test readings, any recent changes or additions, what you've done so far (e.g.. water changes, gfo, carbon etc.)
All those things might help pinpoint a cause.

newreefer_59
05-16-2013, 02:01 PM
Has been running about 3 years, and give 20 gallon water changes weekly. Have not been home so another person has been caring for it, but says salt is fine and Nitrate is 0.1. But this morning, she says there is a "bad ocean fish smell".

hfp75
05-16-2013, 02:17 PM
Check your skimmer and empty it
Check arround for leaks

daplatapus
05-16-2013, 02:19 PM
How long has this person been looking after the tank? Is there a possibility she's been topping up with salt water instead of fresh? Obviously diagnosing this will be more difficult if the person on hand hasn't much knowledge on testing, proper water parameters etc. Is there anyone else (a reefer) you know in Okotoks that can pop by and check?

newreefer_59
05-16-2013, 02:25 PM
And things have been good as I have made regular checks to ensure all is well. I wonder if a tang or two has died and is in the live rock somewhere. I am headed out this eve, but wantied to get some thoughts.

hfp75
05-16-2013, 02:28 PM
2 days and a dead fish should be gone if you got a CUC. Sometime I just toss in a silverside for them to munch on....

Mines a 55g Main & 10g sump

daniella3d
05-16-2013, 04:34 PM
maybe one fish died and caused ammonia, and that can burn the remaining fish or create a lack of oxygen. 16 fish in 150 gallons is a lot, unless they are all small fish. It's 5 gallons of water per 1'' of fish, so that's 30'' of fish, devided by 16, all your fish would need to be like 1.8'' and I am guessing they are much larger then this....

Just overstocked I guess. I don't know the size of your sump but that still make it a lot of fish. Even in 200 gallons your fish would need to be 2.5'' each.

newreefer_59
05-16-2013, 04:41 PM
I think that may explain the sickly looking fish.

asylumdown
05-16-2013, 08:46 PM
Well, the first question should be what killed the tang? I'm sure a rotting fish in the water didn't help if it was a decently sized animal, but fish don't just die for no reason. Unless you've had this tank for years and years, chances are good it wasn't old age. If something stressed that guy out mortally there's a good chance others are being subjected to the same pressure.

newreefer_59
05-16-2013, 08:53 PM
but we just saw another one today. looks to be around finger width and 5" long, so was not as large as the firsy one, but is still pretty big. Would that have been a cause and should I try to remove it?

asylumdown
05-16-2013, 09:01 PM
Wait I'm not sure I understand... how many dead fish are we talking about here? 2 dead tangs in quick succession?

Yes if there's a dead fish in there you should absolutely remove it. Also test your water for ammonia, nitrite and nitrates. You don't want to start a chain reaction and crash your whole tank.

The question is why are your fish dying - how long have you had the ones that died? when was the last time you added a new fish? Are you sure they're getting an appropriate diet? Is there aggression issues in your tank that's preventing some fish from being able to eat or stressing them out badly? Are there any symptoms of disease on your other fish - specifically look for small white spots on your tangs, as they're most likely to show visible symptoms of ich if this is an issue.

If you experience multiple fish deaths close together, there's likely a much bigger problem going on. Either disease, water quality, nutrition or the social structure of your tank is out of whack. What kind of tangs are we talking about here? They're not all created equal, and if you've got something like a sohal in with 3 smaller and more docile tangs in a 150 gallon aquarium it's basically a recipe for carnage.

naesco
05-16-2013, 11:27 PM
Well, the first question should be what killed the tang? I'm sure a rotting fish in the water didn't help if it was a decently sized animal, but fish don't just die for no reason. Unless you've had this tank for years and years, chances are good it wasn't old age. If something stressed that guy out mortally there's a good chance others are being subjected to the same pressure.


What asylumdown said but:

Both a powder blue tang and an A.nigricans (looks like a powder brown tang but has no orange on it) will die for no apparent reason most often taking a few of their tankmates with them.

Aquattro
05-17-2013, 12:44 AM
Guys, he's talking about finding a second bristleworm :) And no, the worm didn't cause anything, they're good to have.

newreefer_59
05-17-2013, 03:01 PM
So even though the size of the worm is about 5", he is fine to be left alone?

Ok, so this is what occurred. I had 16 fish. 4 Blue green chromises. several damsels and a percula clown. A Flame angel. A goby. One yellow, Tomini, Sohal and Naso tang that were all about 4" in length. Last night when I arrived back home, I found the Tomini, Naso and Sohal tangs and the Flame Angel all dead and trapped in the live rock and all in the same spot.

It happened Monday as ALL the other fish looked very stressed and sickly. At Wed, they were all looking better, and i found and discarded the dead ones last night. They did not appear attacked though hard to tell, but very decayed. I did another water change, and all 12 remaining fish, crabs and corals look completely fine.

Any thoughts as to what may have happened to the 4 fish that all died in the same spot? under the live rock?

miuYH
05-17-2013, 06:59 PM
Probably one fish died caused a chain of reactions. The other three died and the current pushed them to the same spot?

FishyFishy!
05-17-2013, 07:49 PM
So even though the size of the worm is about 5", he is fine to be left alone?

Ok, so this is what occurred. I had 16 fish. 4 Blue green chromises. several damsels and a percula clown. A Flame angel. A goby. One yellow, Tomini, Sohal and Naso tang that were all about 4" in length. Last night when I arrived back home, I found the Tomini, Naso and Sohal tangs and the Flame Angel all dead and trapped in the live rock and all in the same spot.

It happened Monday as ALL the other fish looked very stressed and sickly. At Wed, they were all looking better, and i found and discarded the dead ones last night. They did not appear attacked though hard to tell, but very decayed. I did another water change, and all 12 remaining fish, crabs and corals look completely fine.

Any thoughts as to what may have happened to the 4 fish that all died in the same spot? under the live rock?


Location of the fish dying probably has nothing to do with it.

But what is your plumbing/connectors and such made out of? Do you have any copper fittings in the tank? Any steel that has rusted such as hose clamps etc?

Can you take and post a full range of perameters? Nitrates, phosphates, temp, PH, etc etc.

What do you feed? How often do you feed? Do you suppliment the tangs with any nori or anything else?

Like Adam said, tangs can be ich magnets, and the fact that there were that many tangs in a 150 could have been an issue (stress). Any sign of ich on any of the other tank mates?

jorjef
05-17-2013, 07:57 PM
Any thoughts as to what may have happened to the 4 fish that all died in the same spot? under the live rock?


They drank the Kool-aid.