fish troubles I could use some help with

[fullmonti]

This winter I set up a 54gal corner tank with a 18" cube sump (lots of extra rock) & a 30 breeder for a refugium. The plan was the display tank would be mostly & in a few months to a year be for a large nem, pair of clowns, a dwarf angelfish & maybe a couple smaller fish. After a nice long cycle I got a yellow angelfish, purple dotty back & blue damsel. The blue damsel harassed the dotty back for a few days till I took him out & put him in the sump. The damsel never bothered the angelfish but a couple days later the angel went into the rock work & never came out & died a few days later. Everything else looked good & was doing fine so I just thought all the commotion with the damsel stressed out the angel. A while later I found a really nice pair of clowns & added them to the tank. All was well for a while so when My long time LFS had had a bicolor angel for a couple weeks I added him. All was still well for a few days then that angel went into the rock work & never came out. A few days after the angel died the dotty back started acting funny & died in 2-3 days. Then the female clown started hiding & not eating. In two days both clowns died. Not a mark on any of them ever.

 

In all this time I had been doing one gallon water changes using the water from the corner tank system for my 5gal cylinder tank so it had the same water. Kinda like it was plumbed into the same system but not. The cylinder tank has fish, corals & inverts all doing great. Also the damsel in the sump & inverts in the refugium are all doing fine. I ask around & a couple people said it's a fish disease & had nothing to say about the fact the other fish in the other tanks that share the same water were all doing fine. It seems to me a fish disease is transmitted through the water fish swim in so don't understand how all fish in one tank would die & all fish in other tanks that share the same water are fine.

 

Any one have any ideas as to what could be going on? I don't know what to do at this point, I have this really nice tank & I'm afraid to put any fish in.

 

Thank You

Jim

[Mariaface]

Did you quarantine the fish and observe/medicate before adding them to the tank?

 

Have you been testing the water parameters? Salinity, temperature, ammonia, nitrite, nitrate?

 

Do you run carbon or GFO to keep the water clean?

 

If the tank's that large, aren't you doing 1% water changes? That's not going to affect your pollution levels or trace elements.

 

What were you feeding the fish?

[fullmonti]

Yes all the parameters have been stable & 0

 

I ran a good bit of carbon after it cycled but after about a month I took it out. No GFO but did test phosphate, it was 0.03-4

 

I was taking one gallon out of the corner tank system & using it for water changes in my 5 gallon cylinder tank. I do 25 gallon water changes on the corner tank system.

 

I Know many will not like to hear this. I have dealt with the same two LFS for years & never had a problem so I have not been quarantining fish. I know there is always a first time. Again though all the other fish & inverts are doing great, it's just the fish in the one tank. Could stray voltage be the problem?

 

I feed frozen foods, Mysis, brine shrimp, some bloodworms & frozen angelfish food.

[Tamberav]

First, I would not do w/c on your 5g using your larger tank, you are just asking for cross contamination and trouble.

 

As good as the LFS may seem, they don't QT each fish for disease and their fish come through a supply chain so you are playing with fire, eventually you will get burned.

 

The rate at with the fish are dying is alarming. Velvet or brook have the possibility to kill fish quickly before they show marks (just a few days can wipe a tank out). The fish in your 5g may be more established with better immune systems or the parasite hasn't divided to the numbers to effect them yet, or the parasite wasn't in the free swimming stage.

 

Really hard to say but definitely a possibility.

 

When you say acting funny, what was the dotty doing?

[fullmonti]

The dotty back started swimming a little erratic & hanging out at the very top of the tank by the overflow. One day he was fine the next acting odd the next day he died. I have had the blue damsel longer than any other fish & he is doing just fine in the sump.

[fullmonti]

So guess it will just be a mystery why all died in one tank & none in other tanks?

 

What do you think needs to be done to be sure it is OK to try another fish in the corner tank? The only other time something like this happened to me was back in the 70s, that's why I know nearly nothing of fish diseases.

[Mariaface]

Leave it fallow for 2-3 months minimum. Set up a quarantine tank for any new additions to the aquarium, where you'll be able to observe, feed, etc.

 

If you'll have multiple types of additions (fish, corals, inverts), then you'll want a separate hospital tank setup for medicating fish in (you don't want residual copper in a tank where inverts will be quarantined, for example).

[fullmonti]

Is there some good general preventative treatment to us on new fish?

[Mariaface]

There are plenty, actually. And it's good to keep a couple of different types on hand.

 

Right now I've got Prazi-Pro in case of the relevant parasites, Paraguard, focus, and kanamycin, along with a bottle of garlic extract. Can't remember if I've still got copper medicine for new fish (in case of ich), but I also don't have current plans for new fish.

 

Some people choose not to treat prophylactically, and just make sure that the fish are eating and healthy so that their immune systems handle illness. Others prefer to quarantine and observe until healthy, then medicate when the stress from medication doesn't outweigh the benefits. Then the additions go into the tank.

[jambon]

Hi. I would suspect the copper.

[Clown79]

So many great answers.

 

I agree to leave the tank fishless for 2-3 mnths, it will ensure there are no parasites.

 

That being said-why didn't the damsel in the sump die? Its being exposed to the same things as the dt.

 

There could be stray voltage, do you have a grounding probe?

 

I agree. Don't use your wc water for the other tank, easy cross contamination.