fish keep dying..

[FishOnTheBrainC]

Ok. So I have been reefing for years now with no major problems that I can figure out. One of my tanks fairly new.. 1 1/2 years old I can't seem to add new fish without them dying. PH 8.2 sg 1.025 zero ammonia nitrite nitrate and phosphate . I know I must have a bit of nitrate and or phosphate because I have a bit of hair algae I fighting but nothing I haven't felt with with any other young tank. I have 3 blue chromis I have had since nearly the start. However I add any new fish and they get weak and die not long after going in.

Recently my two striped rabbit that was picking at the rocks from the moment he went in tank stopped eating about day 2 and is now having a hard time getting around and about to die. No signs of infection ich or anything. Just got skinny and weak real fast.

Also added same time was a lawnmower blenny. Looks OK but not active and very little eating.

All coral are happy and growing.. blue chromis couldn't be happier. I checked my voltage in tank as suggested by LFS and it at .3..

This happened about 6 MO ago when I tried to add a dwarf angle. I lost for ideas. All rock I have had for years in various tanks with no I'll effects. Any ideas?

The current tank is a 54 corner.

 

[Blue Lip]

Are the new fish being bullied?

 

[dailydriven911]

You could have something leaching into your tank. Maybe a bad pump or possibly stray voltage?

 

[FishOnTheBrainC]

not bullied in any way. Chromis are obvious to anyone else being in there..


what is a normal reef tank at voltage wise? I'm at .3 volts

 

[Blue Lip]

.3 voltage is most likely just an inaccurate reading from your tester. Unplug everything that has contact with your water & test the voltage. Im guessing you will get the same voltage reading. If not, plug in each device & test the voltage. Replace any device that will have stray voltage.

 

[ngreenaway]

just out of curiosity, how are you testing/ how reliable is your meter? sometimes the test setup/equipment speak volumes regarding your results. you found 300 mV of what, DC or AC? both can exist simultaneously at different levels(DC float or offset) is it a decent meter, or a $10 walmart special?
also, remember- voltage in itself does little harm, its the current thatll get ya. check for that

to put electricity's oldest analogy into aquarium terms, think about when you are siphoning your tank:
voltage is the pressure differential between the top opening (tank) and the lower opening (down in the bucket)
in terms on conventional flow, think of the tank as being positive, the bucket is negative (in electron flow the polarities are reversed)
current is the total flow of water coming through that hose

voltage is a difference in charge
current is the overall quantity of electrons flowing (in coulombs per second, or 6.25x10^18 electrons)

(another part of electrical trivia, in AC , current is generally greatest when voltage is zero and least when voltage is at its peak. thank georg ohm for that tidbit :clap2: )

 

[NanaReefer]

Are all the fish that are dying coming from the same place?

 

[Aquanaut]

I'd set up a QT to rule out poor livestock health. LFS sometimes rent setups. Dose CryptoPro instead of copper or hypo. This med works well for unknown deaths.

 

[NanaReefer]

This med works well for unknown deaths.

What exactly does this mean?

 

[Aquanaut]

Sometimes it is difficult to find a cause for fish dying from unknown parasites etc. There are strains that kill quickly without visual symptoms. Using this product has allowed me to nearly elliminate mortality of qt fish. And is my prefered choice over copper and hypo treatments. Check out National fishpharm marine diseases ick kills 24-48hrs article.

 

[FishOnTheBrainC]

It's a cheap 10$ special.. and I was checking DC. Black in ground of outlet red in tank.

How would I check AC?

 

[FishOnTheBrainC]

The fish are from same LFS. However they seem to do just fine in my other tanks.

 

[FishOnTheBrainC]

I have a hard time doing QT.. I have mixed emotions on it. Stress of being in QT, plus having to keep up a QT Is difficult with my schedule. Home a month gone a month.

 

[Blue Lip]

You need a meter that will test AC.

 

[ngreenaway]

i dont know of any meters, even the cheap $10 harbor freight specials, that wont measure in ac / dc/ current/ resistance. your meter most likely does already, i just highly suspect the accuracy of cheap meters. i use a fluke 78 and a tektronix 720 around the house, and a fluke 87 at work.
(fluke is a local company, & you can find their meters all day long on craigslist) yes, theyre a bit pricier than the walmart/harbor freight/autozone jobbies, but for good reason

that being said,im skeptical of voltage as a cause as i explained in my previous post. you measured only a few milivolts, and without a current path theyre harmless-

before chasing voltage - often suggested by people without a clear concept of just what electricity *is* -give this a good read before testing your tank or fretting over a few mV http://angel-strike.com/aquarium/GroundingProbes.html

im sure your problems are something other than stray electrons

 

[ngreenaway]

FWIW, i do use a grounding probe - for *my* safety, not the fishes. but its in the sump. the only electrical devices in the tank are near the outlets returning water to the tank, so if there is any current, the path is only a few inches from the powerheads to the outlet (and then down the plumbing into the sump....but since there shouldnt be any fish in the plumbing, the fish would only be exposed to current when swimming in those few inches between the powerhead and the outlet...which is to say, pretty rarely)

also, if youre not using a gfci outlet, i suggest you use a gfci pigtail, or retrofit a gfci plug onto your power strip (it aint rocket surgery cut off the old plug, wire on the new one and make sure you can keep white, black, green.....and water all separate!) this isnt for your problem specifically, just a good practice
heres what im talking about:
http://www.grainger.com/category/portable-gfci/ground-fault-protection/electrical/ecatalog/N-8d5

a not on GFCI's (real quick, cuz im wandering way off topic, but since we're talking about electricity i thought id throw this one out there)
identify items which you may *not* want on a GFCI, such as your return pump and skimmer
heres why: once tripped, a gfci wont come back on till you reset it. say you have everything tied into it and you have a slight power bump while away at work- something that doesnt bother anything else in your house but trips the gfci, youve potentially left your tank without any aeration for the entire work day. i had something *similar* happen to me once, i had an entire tank load of discus suffocate as a result. i wouldnt wish any experience like that on anyone
even while doing electrical work around the house i end up having to go around resetting all the tanks. GFCIs are sensitive!