Tank Disaster!! Why'd all my fish DIE but my invertebrae's Lived???

[dkonni]

For 4-5 months my 55 gal. has run flawlessly. Slowly increasing livestock and watching my tank evolve the water conditions were Great. But 2 weeks ago I added a Redfin algae blenny to my tank from the LFS and here I am today, with all my fish dead including the redfin, but for some reason my Cleaner shrimp, 2 pencil urchin's, and several hermit crabs are getting along just fine, unaffected by this Disaster. Obviously I immediately removed all the dead fish and have performed water changes in an effort to remove any disease or water pollution.

The fish that died include 2 clownfish, 2 small damsels, 1 lemonpeel angelfish, and of course the redfin algae blenny :( . I realize my tank was at capacity for livestock but everyting was going fine until shortly after I put the blenny in. I did notice, that from the day I put the blenny in from the LFS it had not eaten anything in my tank. It buried itself in the sand and looked like it was Blind..Is it possible that it brought in a disease that kills only the fish?

I've done numerous water changes after removing alll dead livestock and my tank seems to be doing just fine now. But is there a way I can prevent a disaster like this in the future?? I know that after things like this occur many people leave the hobby, but I am curious to find out WHY it happened rather than just giving up.

 

[rwynn]

Knowing almost nothing about fish diseases, based on what it killed and the circumstances surrounding this it sounds like your new addition came with a free disease from the LFS.

Did you make sure it was eating at the first store? If it won't eat there chances are it won't eat at home, and/or there is a good reason it isn't eating.

 

[yote]

Its very possible that the blenny carried something in.
Its also possible that you had some stray voltage hit the tank and kill the fish.

 

[SeaBee]

Yea, I like to ask my LFS to quarantine a fish at the store for a week before I buy it. I give a deposit and then he moves it to a special tank, alone for a while to see if he makes it. You really need to be careful of what you buy-that sucks. I woke up this morning and found my two firefish did a double suicide jump out last night. Sardines anyone?

 

[rwynn]

Its very possible that the blenny carried something in.
Its also possible that you had some stray voltage hit the tank and kill the fish.

Wouldn't the voltage kill the inverts as well? I thought it would? I haven't dealt with stray currents yet tho so I don't really know.

 

[rwynn]

Yea, I like to ask my LFS to quarantine a fish at the store for a week before I buy it. I give a deposit and then he moves it to a special tank, alone for a while to see if he makes it. You really need to be careful of what you buy-that sucks. I woke up this morning and found my two firefish did a double suicide jump out last night. Sardines anyone?

That sucks man, didn't you get 3 orginally and the 3rd jumped while acclimating? Or was that another thread?

 

[SeaBee]

No, this is my first jumper. i left the top off last night after cleaning. YOu see it was valentines day so it was late and the wife walked by with.....well next thing it was morning!!!!

 

[rwynn]

No, this is my first jumper. i left the top off last night after cleaning. YOu see it was valentines day so it was late and the wife walked by with.....well next thing it was morning!!!!

Haha totally understand! Cept we spent last night until 2:00am or so in the hospital getting the baby checked out lol.

 

[SeaBee]

Haha totally understand! Cept we spent last night until 2:00am or so in the hospital getting the baby checked out lol.

Baby ok?

 

[rwynn]

Yeah, we did a sonagram and he was licking the inside of my wife's uterus lol. He just wasn't kicking as much as he should(we now know because he is getting really big) and was sleeping a lot that day apparently.

 

[dkonni]

Thanks for the responses. I think it was a LFS disease brought in. Go figure!

 

[Bifferwine]

I think if it was stray voltage, your inverts would have been harmed too. In my experience, inverts are the first to go when something electrical happens.

It really sounds like the new fish had something horrible. Something that managed to spread to every other fish in the tank so quickly? I have no idea what it would be. But that does seem to be the most obvious answer.

 

[rwynn]

Good luck in your restocking! QT FTW IMO!(Although I don't cause I'm lazy)

 

[bjohanson1234]

I would also let the tank be with out any fish for a couple months to let the parasite or what ever killed the fish to die off. Maintain good water quality and keep up the water changes while the tank is empty.

 

[dcantucson]

+1 BJ
Just wait it out and give your tank time to re-establish it's self.

Sorry about all your losses.