Oh Noes! Mah Fishie Is Sick!

Samhain

Satin, Lace, and Sequins
Ok so here's the "what had happened wuz". I added Scarlet, a flame angel, on Saturday. Sunday morning was the great sandstorm (see my tank thread for further deets). The water has clarified and the sand has settled back down. All through this Scarlet has seemed fine. Color good, picking at rocks, swimming nicely, etc. Today I get home and she's paled out , tachypneic, intermittently laying on the sandbed, a fewflame white spots, and not eating. I haven't actually seen her eat since I got her, but she was picking at rocks, so I figured she was doing ok.

Params as follows:
pH: 8.0
Ammo: 0
Nitrite: 0
Nitrate: <5
Temp: 78

I have a QT tank set up and warming up now. Suggestions? Help us please! I don't want to lose another fish!
 
Never mind. I just checked on her, and she didn't make it. So my next question is what am I doing wrong? Why do I keep losing fish? I just don't understand. All inverts appear fine, and params have continued to check out ok. So why do my fish keep dropping like flies? They're all appropriate size fish for the tank and compatible as tankmates. So what gives?!
 
I'm sorry about Scarlet, I am a newbie and can't offer and advice sadly but I hope someone can. I would be interested in hearing what people think as it must be worrying and frustrating when, like you say, everything seems to check out fine.

Best of luck and I will follow your thread with interest x
 
Thanks, Julia. I had hoped to have one of the experts chime in and help. They have a ton of experience and usually offer really good advice.
 
well like all new tanks the first year is rough. Some folks have a harder time than others. It could be something in your rocks that do a death spike of some parameter over night and fades out over the course of the day. my tank's all went through mini week long cycles that spike my ammonia to deadly levels or spiked my no2 or even no3. it could again be many things that make this happen. I don't know for sure what made mine do this.

But I as well felt lost of fish friends. Once I got closer to a year things got a bit more stable even with the summer tank cook. As bad as that was and how much I felt I failed. I think it helped more than any thing because there is so much more life on my rocks than I had before. Hell it could be as simple as your waters is to clean even. also could be an outside contaminant such as air carried household cleaners landing in your tank. There are many reasons this could happen. if you ever want to hash through this one on one drop me a line I'd be more than happy to work through this with you. besides what are friends for if not to help one another
 
Did you check your level as soon as you noticed the sand storm? Stirring up the sand like could have caused a serious ammonia spike and that could have caused the fish deaths
 
I tested as soon as I noticed, and then every 12 hours after on Sunday and Monday, with no noticeable spike in any of the params. It isn't a super deep sand bed (roughly 1.5 inches) and I have ceriths and nassarius that keep it pretty stirred up. I also tested as soon as I saw that Scarlet wasn't doing well last night. Coral, Nemo, Onyx, and the invert crew are still truckin' along doing great.

That's what has me so confused! I thought inverts were more sensitive than fish to ammo, trites, and trates, but the invert crew is quite happily going about its business with no attrition whatsoever! Either way, I'm not adding any more fish for a couple months at least. I want everything to settle down and stabilize after all these losses. I also need an emotional break, as i'm really feeling like a failure right now, and i'm mourning my fishie friends that i've lost.
 
Well, fish can die from stressful situations where the inverts wont feel stress in the same way. It might have been such a stressful even for them that they couldnt handle it
 
That's entirely possible. I'm so sad about the whole thing. I was so excited about Scarlet, and to lose her so soon after getting her just tears me up. I'm not giving up, but i'm holding off on anything new for a while.
 
It is stressful, samhain, sorry to hear :( Were all of your fish bought from the same place? If so, maybe it's the place you're getting them from?
 
It is stressful, samhain, sorry to hear :( Were all of your fish bought from the same place? If so, maybe it's the place you're getting them from?

No. Saffron the Royal Gramma came from LA, and he disappeared a while ago. Then I lost Cyan the Sixline Wrasse (also from LA) to a swim-by finning. Or at least, I thought it was a finning from my coral croucher, but now I'm questioning even that. Floyd the coral croucher came from LA, and was a confirmed victim of the sandstorm, as I found his little body on Monday. Rose (Floyd's other half, also from LA) is still MIA, and I fear she has suffered the same fate as Floyd. Last but not least in the long list is Scarlet, and she came from the LFS. I wanted to be able to return her if she was picking on my corals, so LA was right out.

As for the survivors of my tank of DOOM, I have Onyx the Red Jewel Nano Blenny from LA, and the clowns Coral and Nemo from the LFS. As for inverts, I have a CUC from ReefCleaners, hermits and peppermint shrimp from the LFS, and a Porcelain Crab and Pincushion Urchin from LA. Corals come from LFS, LA, and SaltCritters.
 
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