Help!!! Fish Are Dying !!

[Dieselbreath]

In the past few days I have lost 4 fish. They start by looking a little pail in color or bleached out. Then their eyes get a little cloudy. Water is all proper except for my Alk. I have done 2 LARGE water changes in the last 24hr's. Two fish vanished and I have not been able to find them. My stars still look very good and are very active. The Coral's including my Clam all look very good also.

ANY ideas????

DB

 

[MAGDRL Mom]

add carbon and get some pictures for the more experienced to chime in

 

[Herefishyfishy]

Need more specific symptoms. Erratic swimming? Panting? Scratching on the rocks? Darting? Filmy coating? Do they eat?

Secondly, please list each water parameter such as salinity, Ph, temp, Ammonia, nitrates

 

[Dieselbreath]

Swimming like normal, heavy breathing. Eating like normal or heavier!
Salinity:1.24
Ph: 8.28
Temp 80.0
Ammonia: 0.0
Nitrates: 0.0

 

[Herefishyfishy]

Gills could be infected, showing signs of Marine velvet?

Marine Velvet (Amyloodinium ocellatum)

Symptoms: Respiratory distress (fast breathing - gills opening more than 80 times per minute); White, yellow to light brown, or grey "dusty" appearance on body, Loss of appetite, Rubbing or scratching against decor or substrate.

Marine velvet is one of the most common maladies experienced in the marine aquarium, with the other being Marine Ich. It is found in all the oceans of the world and often infects wild and newly caught marine fish. It is a fast moving disease that can cause mass casualties. Primarily it infects the gills of fish but can attach itself to the body as well, burrowing deep into the skin's subcutaneous layer. Deaths are generally a result of interference to the respiratory system. This disease is highly contagious and fatal.
Chemical treatments for this disease include using copper. Follow the instructions provided by the manufacturer. Natural methods include hyposalinity, a quarantine tank with a low salinity. A danger with with using low salinity is in re-acclimating the fish to a higher salinity. You must be able to accurately measure the salinity and must increase it very slowly.

 

[MAGDRL Mom]

The treatment for brooklynella is formalin baths daily for 3 to 5 days.

The treatment for amyloodinium ocellatum (velvet) is copper.

The treatment for cryptocaryon irritans (ich) is copper or hyposalinity.

Hyposalinity will not treat velvet.

I would treat the qt with copper to cover both the ich and the velvet. I would recommend Seachem Cupramine - follow the directions on the bottle. Monitor water parameters and copper level daily. Must use either the SeaChem or Salifert copper test kit. Make sure the QT does not have live rock or substrate or carbon in it.

I would take the fish out of QT and formalin bath them for one hour daily for 3 to 5 days. This will treat the potential brooklynella.

Make sure to leave the display tank fallow - no fish for this 8 weeks as well. Do not add anything - rock, inverts, corals, etc to this tank during this time period and then make sure everything is quarantined (rock, inverts, fish, corals, algae, etc).

 

[Dieselbreath]

Here is a picture of my late Flame angel. He just passed. I do not see any signs of something wrong.


All the corals appear healthy including my clam.

DB

 

[Herefishyfishy]

Fins look chewed up and possible discoloration at the gills. I would say disease. Velvet spreads and kills very fast. If you have the ability, go for Sherry's advise on using cupramine after a freshwater dip. Wish Steven Pro or Leebca was around tonight...

 

[Steven Pro]

Have you added any new fish recently? And if so, were they quarantined?

 

[Dieselbreath]

Most recent fish added was a Powder Blue Tang, about three weeks ago. He was not quarantined, my small tank has other inhabitants. I will be emptying that tank of other creatures and making it a qt. How long will this diseases stick around in a tank. Or how can I get rid of them? Would a UV sterilizer help this?

DB

 

[Steven Pro]

Oh, that is not good. Acanthurus species tangs like your Powder Blue are off times infected with marine ich and/or marine velvet. Velvet is much worse: harder to diagnose, fast acting, and very deadly. If I were you, I would remove all the remaining fish, place them in a proper quarantine/hospital tank, and treat with copper (preferably Seachem's Cupramine).

 

[lizardarm]

i don't mean to steal the marine velvet thunder here, but what's the temp of your tank been for the past few days? and i'm assuming that your flow hasn't changed any? just want to make sure that we're not overlooking anything here. the first thing that popped into my head was suffocation from low oxygen. but the problems that usually cause low oxygen are usually pretty obvious.

 

[Dieselbreath]

I have a controller running everything...

Temp is never lower than 78 or higher than 81-82 on the hot days.

Flow is coming from a 1200gph return and a closed loop 2700gph.

 

[Dieselbreath]

Is there a way to clean the tank so that the fish in my small tank could go in the large tank while the QT is being treated???

I just checked my ammonia it is up just a bit to 0.5ppm. I will be doing another water change shortly.

DB

 

[Herefishyfishy]

How long will this diseases stick around in a tank. Or how can I get rid of them? Would a UV sterilizer help this?DB

The tank will need to remain fallow (empty of fish to reproduce and live on)for a 6-8 weeks, the longer the better.
A UV sterilizer can't hurt, but it will not speed up the fallow period which is based on the reproductive cycle of the infestation. It might help prevent a different outbreak from a different source. Best of luck and be patient.

 

[purplegorilla]

If your ammonia is up add amquel or an ammonia reducer,the frayed fins could also be ammonia damage.It's important to figure out where that ammonia is coming from as it should not be there.Are there any live things unaccounted for?Did you remove the deceased fish within 12 hrs.,eg.were they dead in the morning and only sitting there overnight? If so that ammonia shouldn't be present.Did you recently do a big mainenance on the tank cleaning every filter?That would explain it if you wiped out your bio filter.I'm not saying that's why the fish died,since you had a new fish added w/o quarrantining.If it was ammonia that killed them there would have been signs like those of disease.Inappetance ,lethargy,ect.,for at least a day or 2.If it were me I'd add an ammonia reducer until you move them into quarrantine and be diligent about checking ammonia once in quarrantine if the tank is not cycled.Good luck

 

[Dieselbreath]

Well the ammonia has gone down to 0.25ppm from 0.5ppm. I will do another water change on thursday evening. I have replacement water brewing at this time. I did have afish go unaccounted for, which was the most recent addition to the tank and also the first to die. (Powderblue Tang)1st, (Orange shoulder Tang)2nd, (Sunrise Dotty back)3rd, and lastly (Flame Angel).

My pair of clowns are still alive, the male is looking very bright, and the female has a bit of white haze to her front half of her body. They both are eating very well. Appetite is above average. Breathing a bit faster then normal.

I do have a new addition in the form of a plant of somesort. I tried to take a photo but cannot get a great shot. It started growing out of a rock. It has flat arms that do branch slightly. Also any idea of what this yellow worm looking growth is?


DB

 

[leebca]

An ammonia level of 0.25 ppm in concentration is lethal to some marine fishes. Keep working on it!

 

[Dieselbreath]

Lost the male clown, which was one of the two remaining.
DB

 

[NaH2O]

Diesel - sorry for your losses How are your ammonia levels now?

The pics you have posted.... the first one is of Neomeris annulata, aka Caterpillar Weed. This algae isn't a problem for most. In my tank it went away on its own after the initial bloom when my tank was new. Some people, when the conditions are right, have a serious bloom. I wouldn't worry about it unless the problem gets severe: Spindle Weed Invasion!!!!.

The second pic is of another type of algae called Halimeda.

Hope these help with your IDs