Need some input?

M

MKsreef

Reefing newb
Last month I lost my beautiful Purple Tang. Not sure why but one day he was doing fine and the next dat not so well, very motionless, leaning on a rock, ate a bit, then died the next day. No apparent ick or anything visible. I thought perhaps old age since nothing seemed to be wrong with anything else.

I replaced the tang with a Mandarin and a Coral Beauty. Acclimated them, all was fine. About two weeks later my Blue Tang developed ick, took me about two weeks to get her back to looking beautiful by using Galric and Selcon soaked food. I also tried mixing a bit of Seachem Metronidazole in the food a few times but I preferred to stick with the garlic and Selcon and have the fish just eat. No other fish really showed signs of the ick like my Blue Tang.

About two weeks later, my Mandarin died. Not sure why. I understand they are finicky eaters and only eat copepods. Since my tank has been established for about 4 years with about 110 lbs of rock LFS suggested he would be fine. The very next day, I found the empty shell of my Tuxedo Urchin alongside a pile of his needles. I have read somewhere that when the Tuxedos die they release toxins an should be removed immediately. I am not sure if the urchin died first and I didn't see it and that killed the Mandarin or if the Mandarin wasn't getting enough food or what. He was kinda fat so I don't really think he starved. I have no idea what killed the Urchin as he was moving around the tank as usual carrying everything with him that he could. Plenty of coraline algea to feed on. I did a 15 gallon water change right after. Now this morning, I noticed my Coral Beauty laying on its side and lethargic similar to the Purple Tang a month or so prior. I fed her some mysis shrimp soaked in garlkic and selcon and she ate, not sure if she will make it.

To give you an overall view of thank... here is what I have:

92g
175 w MH and 2 36w acintic blue lamp
110 lbs live rock
2 Koralia powerheads for flow
Euro reef Skimmer in sump
Heater with temp around 79f
RO water used only and do at least 10% -15% water changes per week
use PhosBan and run carbon for about 1 week each month

2 clowns
1 firefish
1 diamon goby
1 coral beauty
1 LTA
1 six line wrasse
1 yellow tang
1 mystery wrasse
1 blue tang
several corals

I tested my water right after and this and my test results came back as this...

Ammonia: .20 ppm (perhaps becasue the fish died)
Nitrites: .05 ppm
PH: 8.2
Nitrates: .05ppm
Calcium: 470
Phosphate: 0ppm

I test my water every two weeks and paramteres are always good.
Any thoughts as to what might be going on in my tank?

MLK
 
are there any spots on the fish at all? When was the last time you added a fish before the purple tang died?

You need to carry on with daily water changes until your ammonia and nitrite are zero.
 
I added the Mandarin and Coral Beauty about two weeks after my Purple Tang died. There are no spots on any of the fish. They all look great, even the Coral Beauty who is still just leaning on a rock. They have been in the tank going on three weeks. Other parameters I missed including in my first post:

Spec Gravity- 1.023
Temp. 81.4
Alk - 3.25meq/l

I just returned from the LFS and had my water tested there as well...same results.

I will continue to conduct my water changes to address the amm and nitrite issue.

I can't figure this one out....very frustrating. Do you think stray voltage would cause this? and, If there were stray voltage wouldn't I get a shock myself while doing the cleaning?

Thanks for your thoughts, I really appreciate it.

Maria
 
don't know about the voltage, you could always check. Are the fish breathing rapidly? Do you have enough oxygen in the water?

Sounds a bit like brooklynella to me with the rapid deaths but until you know for sure then you can't really treat. Are you able to set up a treatment tank? Unfortunately, I can see things getting worse before they get better.
 
I'm with Mblack on this one.
But you can have enough voltage in there to effect the fish,but not enough for you to feel it.
 
I went out an bought a voltage tester. I just tested and sure enough, it was beeping. I unplugged one unit after another until there was no beeping. It was one of my Koralia 3 pumps. I plugged it in a couple of times to check and every time I had it plugged in, I got the beeps on the tester and when unplugged, no beeps. I hope that was my only problem. I don't know. Time will tell. I hope my Coral Beauty pulls through. The pump was definately the culprit, of at least my stray voltage.

In the meantime, I will keep you posted as I am concerned about the possibility of brooklynella...I sure hope you guys are wrong.

Biff, thank you for your reply. I was bumming as I read up on brooklynella, thinking how am I going to catch my fish and QT them. I was much more optimistic after I read your post, probably wishful thinking since you were thinking along the same line as me and a lot easier to fix than brooklynella. Thanks again...I will keep you posted.

Maria
 
Wow, I'm glad you were able to (hopefully) fix the problem. There's a good chance your fish can come back from being harmed, though. Coral beauties are usually pretty tough. One thing to keep in mind is that stray voltage that doesn't kill a fish is definitely stressing them out enough to make them sick (and then the disease may kill them). It won't hurt to start soaking your fish food in garlic extract before feeding.
 
how much did the voltage thingie cost & where did you get it & what's it called? Now I'm scared this will happen to my tank! Never even thought of it.
 
I used a small pen like hand held Voltage Sensor where you can pres the clip to make the ground and dip the tip of the sensor in the water. $10 at Lowes.

Any way, my Coral Beaut did not make it. I hope it was just that. I will definately use garlic soaked food to boost the fish that have weathered the electric storm. In the event there still may be a brooklynella issue, any recommendations on what to do at this point since from I can tell the remaining fish appear to be ok?

Maria
 
Sorry about the coral beauty.
Just keep doing what your doing.Keep their immune systems up and the water quality high.
 
in my opinion nothing to do with stray voltage otherwise it would affect the whole tank not just the purple tang more like poor parimeters in my opinion
 
ckckck said:
in my opinion nothing to do with stray voltage otherwise it would affect the whole tank not just the purple tang more like poor parimeters in my opinion
Click to expand...

And poor parameters wouldn't? Different animals respond in different ways to stray voltage. Some seem to be able to handle it better, just like some animals can handle poor water quality better.
 
Poor water quality was not my problem. Water parameters are fine. My tests matched LFS. Stray voltage was definately an issue in the tank. I think I will get the ground probe anyway as an added precaution. My tank temps run about 79 degrees before lights go on and 82 degrees when lights go off. Hydor is replacing my powerhead...thanks for that tip Daugherty
 

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