Gone one day..two fish died..dunno why?

[drummerboy]

Hi everyone,
I'm hoping with this post I can figure out what I did or didn't do that caused the death of two of my fish. I apoligize if this should be in another forum.
Let me preface this by saying that I have been having an algae problem for the last month-and-a-half or so. The last couple of months I've been doing a water change every two weeks(I know it should be more often). My test results have always been good.
Anyway, Friday I did my water change(about 25%), and all seemed well(other than lots of algae floating around of course. Saturday, I went out of town for a gig, and I came home this afternoon(Sunday). As I turned my light on to my aquarium, I noticed a dead Valentini Puffer and Niger Trigger. I have to be honest..this makes me sad. I really liked these fish, the Puffer was my favorite. Anyway, My Blue Damsel, and Scarlett Clown are still seemingly ok.
I did my water tests and here are my results. Keep in mind, my test kit is from the company API, and it tests for PH, Ammonia, Nitrite and Nitrate.
PH:7.8
Ammonia:0
Nitrite:.25
Nitrate:0
My salinity: 1.023-1.024. I took the reading three times and that's what I got.
So, the only thing I can figure is the salinity is slightly too high and killed them? I have no other idea. They seemed to be eating fine before I left. Unless there's some sort of disease in my tank or something that I don't know about that hasn't killed the other two..yet.
In the meantime, I'm going to keep an eye on them, and I guess take some water to my LFS and let them test it as well. Maybe they can help me shed some light too.
A look forward to any help, or suggestions or advice anyone can give me.
Thanks to any and all that read and reply. Take care all
Kennan

 

[kmart189]

your ph is low should be 8.0-8.2 and I usually keep my salinity as close to 1.025 as posssible. 1.023-1.024 should be ok. Any bite marks signs of disease, weird behavior? What have you added to the tank any copper products? What temp is it?

 

[yote]

Sorry to hear that Kennan.
The salinitys not the problem.I keep my salinity at a constant 1.026 which is better for inverts.
I'm guessing with the elevated nitrites that you may have had an ammonia spike for some reason.Which could have caused the deaths.

 

[Bifferwine]

Nitrites, even in small concentrations, are often fatal to fish. The clowns and damsels are the hardiest fish in your tank, and the ones mostly likely to survive a nitrite spike, so that makes sense. Nitrite spikes are preceded by ammonia spikes, which are also dangerous to fish. These spikes are usually caused by something dying in the tank, then rotting. If you're not home to remove the body right away, then it will screw up the water in your tank. My guess is that one died (for some reason), and it dying ended up killing the other one. This also happens if inverts die, so do you have any inverts that are missing that could have caused a spike in the tank?

 

[drummerboy]

your ph is low should be 8.0-8.2 and I usually keep my salinity as close to 1.025 as posssible. 1.023-1.024 should be ok. Any bite marks signs of disease, weird behavior? What have you added to the tank any copper products? What temp is it?

Nope, no bite mars, or signs of disease that I know of. I would say 'no' to seeing weird behavior, as well. I haven't added any copper or anything like that. Just the 'usual' stuff when I do my water changes..salt, and I added some aqua-plus as well, cause it's tap water. And my temp has ranged from 73-83, and is currently 78.6 and my setpoint is 79.

Can you put more than 1 quote per post? I was trying to quote Biff too.
Biff..Without realizing how much a slight increase(or decrease) in nitrites, I would agree that that in all probablility did it. But, looking back on a previous test (Feb 28), my nitrite was also .25 and my nitrate was 10.
As for anything dead or rotting..just algae. Although, I bought some snails to try and take care of the algae a while ago. I suppose if any of them have died that could've affected the water quality. I haven't checked to see, to be honest with you. But I also never bought very many snails, either. Other than the snails..I have nothing else in my tank.
I look forward to more thoughts. Thanks everyone. Take care,
Kennan

 

[wontonflip]

I don't have anything to add about the death of your fish, but I know someone will probably tell you that the algae problem could be due to the tap...even if you are treating it with aqua-plus. ro/di or distilled seems to be the better way to fix the algae problem.

 

[Teixeira29]

It seems like everyone has you covered! I could be a dead snail that contaminated your water. Even if you are treating your tap water, RO or DI water is a good solution for your algae problem. I actually just use Ro water and salt when i do waterchanges. You can buy it from the supermarket, they sell it there. I use this because my tap water isnt good for saltwater fish, or inverts.

 

[mikebern]

What type of RO water is sold at the supermarket. It isn't just regular bottled water right?

 

[yote]

What type of RO water is sold at the supermarket. It isn't just regular bottled water right?

They usually have a machine set up to fill your own jugs for RO.Or you can get the distilled water.I use both kinds.

 

[drummerboy]

Curious..how much will distilled and/or R/O water affect algae growth? Or further algae growth?

 

[yote]

It'll go a long way toward helping your water quality,which will help limit algae growth.

 

[daugherty]

it will get rid of a lot of nitrients that feed the alage

 

[drummerboy]

Will I need to treat the RO/Distilled water with anything(cycle, aqua plus)? I'll pick some up shortly, methinks. Thanks guys!!

 

[Bifferwine]

Nope, don't treat with anything. That's kinda the point of RODI water. It's good to go :)