emmerypemmery Posted September 1, 2012 Share Posted September 1, 2012 Nano reef tank, set up about 6-7 months ago. Water changes have been done weekly and tests have always been in normal parameters. Last week a little yellow goby died, then the following day the royal gramma died. we immediatly tested the water and found that the Ph was a little low, took a sample to the lfs who was the Kh was about 7 and he thought we had had a Ph spike which was enough to see them off, he reccomended a water change and told us to monitor the Kh. We did this and the Kh increased again, but this morning our two clowns and pink scooter have also died :-( the Kh was back down to 7 and ph was 8 and the lfs man said that it was probably another spike or a parasite. there is a trace of nitrates and zero on ammonia and nitrite. :-( Shrimp shed last night too but he seems ok. what do you guys think??? Link to comment
akma Posted September 1, 2012 Share Posted September 1, 2012 I'm going to go with a parasite. I keep my ph at a range of 8-8.3. kh at 7 is fine too. Have you added anything new the the tank recently? Corals or fish? Link to comment
randythefishdude Posted September 1, 2012 Share Posted September 1, 2012 I'm going to go with a parasite. I keep my ph at a range of 8-8.3. kh at 7 is fine too. Have you added anything new the the tank recently? Corals or fish? +1... keep it fishless for a while Link to comment
emmerypemmery Posted September 1, 2012 Author Share Posted September 1, 2012 I added a tuxedo urchin to try and keep on top of coraline plate algea which was going crazy!! Link to comment
nor_cal_nano Posted September 1, 2012 Share Posted September 1, 2012 pH spike..uh no. There's not really enough info here to diagnose the issue. Did you make any changes recently? What s your WC schedule? Do you dose? Link to comment
emmerypemmery Posted September 1, 2012 Author Share Posted September 1, 2012 I change about 10-15% weekly. I add a coral buffer weekly too but have done since the beginning, no changes apart from the urchin i added about 2 weeks ago. I also changed brand of frozen food at the same time. :-( i am gutted to say the least Link to comment
joeyhatch11 Posted September 1, 2012 Share Posted September 1, 2012 The urchin could have been carrying something that disturbed the tank. That's odd though. Sorry for your losses. Link to comment
emmerypemmery Posted September 1, 2012 Author Share Posted September 1, 2012 I did think that. what should my next step be? I am reluctant to add any more fish until I have diagnosed the problem!! Link to comment
emmerypemmery Posted September 1, 2012 Author Share Posted September 1, 2012 any ideas? Link to comment
gabe3eb Posted September 1, 2012 Share Posted September 1, 2012 pH spike..uh no. There's not really enough info here to diagnose the issue. Did you make any changes recently? What s your WC schedule? Do you dose? +1 When you say your params are normal, what params are you checking and was pH one of them? Can you ID ich or are you sure it wasn't that? Link to comment
emmerypemmery Posted September 1, 2012 Author Share Posted September 1, 2012 ph 8.1 nitrates traces nitrites zero ammonia zero kh 7 I dont think i could id ich, i saw no spots but i am not 100% that it wasnt all the fish looked horrid after death but not before hand. Link to comment
uaiu Posted September 1, 2012 Share Posted September 1, 2012 Can you describe what they looked like? Discolorations, dots that are white or black, mysterious growths, and the areas they are in if you can ID them, around the gills on the fins etc Link to comment
Deleted User 3 Posted September 1, 2012 Share Posted September 1, 2012 Dead fish pics might help Link to comment
jason777 Posted September 1, 2012 Share Posted September 1, 2012 You didn't mention phosphate. In a seven gallon tank with several fish being fed everyday, phosphate can reach fatal levels. I don't think a slight PH swing can kill fish, but it would be the first verification of it for me, if so. Many African chichlids have been found in the ocean, so fish are very adaptable to PH and salinity. Link to comment
emmerypemmery Posted September 1, 2012 Author Share Posted September 1, 2012 Sorry, none of the fish are available for photographs now :-( when I say horrid I just mean colorless really. Some seem to have been eaten and were quite hollow. There was no obvious signs or marks on them and up until this morning the clowns were happy and looked great! Link to comment
uaiu Posted September 1, 2012 Share Posted September 1, 2012 Like from the inside out? Maybe some type of intestinal parasite? Or eaten as in knawed on from the outside? Link to comment
patback Posted September 1, 2012 Share Posted September 1, 2012 5 fish in a 7 gallon, plus cuc? I it wasn't parasites, either the stress of so many fish or the bioload could not be kept and ammonia killed them. That's IF it's a 7 gallon like Jason said. That urchin will also starve eventually. Link to comment
albertthiel Posted September 1, 2012 Share Posted September 1, 2012 Sorry, none of the fish are available for photographs now :-( when I say horrid I just mean colorless really. Some seem to have been eaten and were quite hollow. There was no obvious signs or marks on them and up until this morning the clowns were happy and looked great! Might you have a Mantis shrimp on the tank that comes out at night and gets your fish but leaves dead bodies or are there Fireworms maybe or something unusual in the tank Looking at night after the lights have been out for an hour or two with a flaslight with a red plastic over the lens so you can see what goes on may help you see what is crawling around or what may be causing this. Not sure it will but it is something to consider doing. Fish don't just die and I doubt it is the pH or the dKH ... that would not kill your fish. Did anyone spray any chemicals in the house that may have gotten in the water ? Those are all things to look at or for Link to comment
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