15 Gallon Reef Corals Happy, Fish Suddenly Struggling

[Adla]

Hi everyone,

 

I've been running this nano for 10 months and with the low bioload I was reading near undetectable nitrates and phosphates - corals tended to struggle and die off. Around the 8 month mark, coralline algae started to thrive and so did corals. SPS have great color, full extension.

 

At this point nutrients crept up to the 20-25 range. Corals were generally still very happy and fish were thriving, but I decided to reduce feeding and install the Aquamax media reactor with only chaeto, LED strips on roughly 12 hours/day. While installing the reactor, I broke my lily pipe surface skimmer that normally breaks up the surface tension. I've ordered a replacement that's scheduled to arrive today but the tank's been running with the standard eheim intake for about a week now.

 

Three days ago, I notice my two clowns are gasping, listlessly floating on the tank bottom and more recently always right at the surface. My Royal Gramma who normally hides out in a cave but comes out now and then to eat is nowhere to be seen. None of the fish touch food and they were all aggressive eaters just a week ago. The cleaner shrimp appears to be in perfect health and corals show zero signs of discomfort. My three Astraea snails have suddenly died off, although two others had died over the past few months. 

 

Surface tension appears to be mixed by the MP10, crystal clear water, very little if any film on the surface. I've reduced the LED light period to about 8 hours reverse with the display light now that Nitrates are around 5ppm.

 

Fish gasping tells me its a low oxygen level (high Co2 level?)- possibly bacteria or the chaeto being too efficient? The tank has a wide footprint so I never thought gas exchange was an issue. I'm hoping that I can replace the Lily pipe asap and see if there is a difference. 

 

I'm at a loss, hate to see these guys suffering.

 

Pics and tanks specs below. 

 

TLDR, factors that changed just before the fish showed symptoms:

 

1. Lily Pipe intake broke and replaced with sub-surface eheim intake

2. Added the chaeto reactor

3. Added an Utter Chaos Zoa frag

4. Standard water change

 

Equipment & Routine

 

Aquarium: 15 gallon (24Lx16Wx9"H)

Lights: Radion XR15 G5 set to AB+at 50%

Filtration & Circulation: 1. EHEIM Classic 250 External Canister Filter running only Maxspect Nano-Tech Bio-Spheres, everything else removed, mini glass lily pipes

                                      2. MP10 Powerhead running 75%

                                      3. Tunze nano ATO

                                      4. Added this month: Aquamax media reactor running only chaeto under LED strips 

Water Changes: 30-40% weekly to every other week
Salt: Red Sea Blue Bucket

Coral Food: Fauna Marin Mins 2-3 times / week

Fish Food: Alternate daily between New Life Spectrum Marine Pellets & Omega One Marine Flakes

Dosing: 1. Fauna Marin Rebiotic after water changes
              2. All-For-Reef (Haven't had to dose yet, but have it on-call)

 

Parameters at time of posting

 

Salinity: 35ppt

Phosphate: undetectable- 0.03ppm

Nitrate: 5ppm (dropping daily)

Ph: 8.15

Alkalinity: 8.5dkh

Magnesium: 1350ppm

Calcium: 450ppm

 

Livestock

 

2 Ocellaris Clownfish
1 Royal Gramma (now unaccounted for)

1 Cleaner Shrimp

5 Hermit Crabs

3 Astrea Snails (now dead)
Assorted SPS, LPS, Softie frags

 

 

[Tired]

Chaeto should be adding oxygen, not removing it, at least while the light is on. 

 

Get an airstone in there, stat. Not good long-term, but if you see improvement in a few hours of having it in, you have your answer. Plus, they're best kept on hand as emergency aeration for buckets/etc. 

[Adla]

16 minutes ago, Tired said:

Chaeto should be adding oxygen, not removing it, at least while the light is on. 

 

Get an airstone in there, stat. Not good long-term, but if you see improvement in a few hours of having it in, you have your answer. Plus, they're best kept on hand as emergency aeration for buckets/etc. 

Great point, completely overlooked such a simple test. 

I just hooked up the surface skimmer too, so hopefully I'll have a positive update in a couple of hours. Thanks

[Adla]

I have never come across a swim bladder infection, but after some reading, a lot of the symptoms are there. Just odd this would turn up after months of great health and eating the same food. Also odd that all three fish would be effected simultaneously.

[Adla]

Latest update a day after installing the skimmer: The two clowns are swimming with more vigor (but not they're full strength yet) and this morning they ate for the first time in several days.

 

Royal Gramma is still MIA.

[geekreef_05]

Interesting.

 

Maybe it was 02 oxygenation, maybe it was disease. Maybe both.

[Adla]

Thought I'd update: Unfortunately no lesson to be learned, but the two clownfish completely recovered after nearly a week of no eating and lethargy. The Royal Gramma has disappeared. The system is back to full health. My best guess is exposure to some external chemical or bad portion of food? 

[geekreef_05]

I REEFKEEP ONE LESSON LEARNED AT A TIME

[mcarroll]

On 2/10/2023 at 11:32 AM, Adla said:

1. Lily Pipe intake broke and replaced with sub-surface eheim intake

Can you show a pic of what you're using presently?

 

On 2/10/2023 at 11:32 AM, Adla said:

1. EHEIM Classic 250 External Canister Filter running only Maxspect Nano-Tech Bio-Spheres, everything else removed, mini glass lily pipes

The "lily pipe" was for this?

 

You shouldn't need the media in there if you're running sand and/or live (or dead) rock in your tank.

 

Is there a reason you can't just disable the canister altogether?

 

On 2/10/2023 at 11:32 AM, Adla said:

Water Changes: 30-40% weekly to every other week

Sounds like A LOT.   Especially since you're cutting back on feeding and using a macro reactor now.

 

In fact that all sounds like WAY TOO MUCH filtration – especially for such a new tank.

 

MORE ≠ BETTER

 

On 2/10/2023 at 11:32 AM, Adla said:

Coral Food: Fauna Marin Mins 2-3 times / week

Broadcast feeding is usually very ineffective, leading to a lot of wasted food in the system.   Could be what made you think you needed all that extra filtration?

 

On 2/10/2023 at 11:32 AM, Adla said:

Parameters at time of posting

 

Salinity: 35ppt

Phosphate: undetectable- 0.03ppm

Nitrate: 5ppm (dropping daily)

Ph: 8.15

Alkalinity: 8.5dkh

Magnesium: 1350ppm

Calcium: 450ppm

Phosphates being that low will be a problem for your corals sooner or later.   Cease and desist on all of the excess filtration.  If you want something extra, get a protein skimmer....but even that shouldn't be needed at the moment.

 

The other numbers are mostly fine....although pH seems a bit high for a home tank.  Around 7.8 would be more normal.  Any reason for it to be elevated that you know of?

 

On 2/10/2023 at 11:32 AM, Adla said:

5 Hermit Crabs

3 Astrea Snails (now dead)

You have nothing for the herbivores to eat in the tank....so that is not a mystery.

 

15 hours ago, Adla said:

Thought I'd update: Unfortunately no lesson to be learned, but the two clownfish completely recovered after nearly a week of no eating and lethargy. The Royal Gramma has disappeared. The system is back to full health. My best guess is exposure to some external chemical or bad portion of food? 

I don't see any way that it could have been oxygen or Co2:

• It's an open top tank
• Lots of water circulation
• Probably in a house with a functional HVAC system
• Your pH doesn't indicate CO2 buildup

Possibly it could have been an ammonia spike from the dead (missing) fish.

 

Strange to have a fish disappear in such a stark/empty tank though – there really is no place for it to hide!

 

Do you have a pet that could have grabbed a fish snack from the floor in the event that the Gramma jumped out?  Hermits could have gotten it, but seems like you should have seen this happening – are you away from the tank for long periods of time?

 

FYI, this tank isn't set up very well for fish – they really need hiding places, particularly at night for sleeping.

 

Especially true for a fish like the Gramma.  

 

Jumping would have been likely IMO since he may not have been totally compfortable in there.

[geekreef_05]

I think your 20 gallon looks great. I like the shape of the tank and the sweet aquascape. 

 

I agree that this aquarium has too much filteration for the bioload.

 

I like the chaeto reactor, looks amazing. But i bet your chaeto will have shrunk significantly after 3 months. 

 

Probably the nano skimmer and a filter floss or pad is all thats needed, even with an additional fish. 

 

That said, i disagree about pH. I think your pH is great. Could even be a smidge higher. I believe a pH of 8.3 is ideal bcause thats natural reef parameters and its been observationally shown to improve coral health.

 

Most folks have low pH (7.8). Myself included, because home c02 levels are too high.