Cloudy water and Chromis not making it

[liquid_wind]

So I set up my 20g tank about three months ago, cycled it and added a Chromis as the first fish, it lived a couple week, but then died. I have since added a Tail Spot Blenny and Clown Goby, both with no issues. On Friday I added a Chromis, which when I woke up this morning, had died. Is there a reason why Chromis would not survive whereas others would?

Also starting a few weeks ago my water has been getting cloudy and not clear like it used to be. Ammonia, nitrites are 0ppm, nitrates looked to be closest to 0 on the color chart. I changed ten gallons of water this Sunday and it seems to be slowly getting cloudier again. What could be the source of this?

Any help appreciated! 

[ReefGoat]

Have you double checked some of those fake corals to make sure they aren't deteriorating or anything? It should be easy to tell.........I'm sure you purchased the reef safe ones though. Those look pretty high quality. But it's something to check for sure. Cloudy water usually signifies a bacterial bloom and there have been A LOT of those lately on this forum for whatever reason. Some folks with a lot of money to spare go and purchase a nice UV filter. Then the others who don't want to spend the money on a UV filter usually run carbon and keep up with their water changes and over all good maintenance and it will sort itself out. 

[Humblefish]

Chromis are very susceptible to a disease called uronema (more info below). Sometimes the parasite will spread internally, out of sight.

 

[blasterman]

Chromis are sensitive to low O2 conditions, and bacteria blooms like this consume oxygen out of the water very quickly. 

 

Note how chromis 'pant' more than other fish. They prefer turbulent shallow reefs with plenty of O2.

 

The cloudy water / bacteria bloom can't be corrected with filtration or water changes. It needs to work itself out via your bacteria beds out competiting it, or you can buy a UV or ozone filter.  Everybody obsesses over the intial tank ammonia cycle, but it's what happens the few months afterwards that cause most problems and fish deaths.

 

Tanks started from dry rock are prone to this problem, or they use live rock that really isn't biologically active. 

[liquid_wind]

I think that's spot on about the Chromis, during his short life in the tank he did spend a good amount of time at the surface. The tank is open though, so the bacteria that are causing the cloudiness would be the culprits of depleting the oxygen?

 

Once I realized I couldn't keep corals in my location I made sure to get the best fake corals I could find, ended up going with Ocean Aquaria. They didn't cause any issues in the first few months, so I agree that is unlikely.

 

I do have some carbon in my HOB filter, it hasn't been changed though, so may be that it's not doing anything anymore. I'll take a look into UV, just can't be too big since space is limited here as it's in an office.

 

Edit: Also forgot to mention when I came into the office one night last weekend I noticed the light was on and it had been on 24 hours/day for a while, turned it down to a nine hour cycle since.

[xthunt]

I never had a bacteria bloom *knock on wood*, but would a uv sterilizer create a cycle of dead bacteria feeding more bacteria? Wouldn't a skimmer remove that bacteria while oxygenating the water?

[Humblefish]

2 hours ago, xthunt said:

I never had a bacteria bloom *knock on wood*, but would a uv sterilizer create a cycle of dead bacteria feeding more bacteria? Wouldn't a skimmer remove that bacteria while oxygenating the water?

Pretty much. If the flow is slow enough, a UV will kill anything which passes through it (including bacteria in the water column.) The job of a protein skimmer is to remove organic compounds, including dead organisms.

[liquid_wind]

Hmmm, I have a little space on the side of the tank, but not much. A UV sterilizer would be much easier to fit on than a protein skimmer wouldn't it?

[Sosa]

Sorry for your chromis.  I just got mine so far 3 days he looks good swims everwhere no panting.  In 15 gal tall . I would cut down the lights to 6hrs see if that helps 

[Oldsalt01]

Adding an airstone and upping your O2 levels will clear the bloom. The bacteria will deplete O2 levels, so up it. Then figure out why it started. Usually too much uneaten food or a dead citizen are the cause. Vacuuming the sand may help.