Dead firefish

[Brew12]

On Wednesday I picked up 7 firefish to put into my 10 gallon QT. It uses an HOB, heater, and pvc fittings for cover.
They looked fine last night and were eating so I dosed 1/2 teaspoon of Prazipro. I noticed the water looked a little cloudy this morning but didn't have time to do anything with it. Came home from work and the water was cloudier and the fish were all dead. No visible markings on the fish.
No indication on the ammonia alert badge. Tested for Nitrite (zero) and Nitrate (less than 5ppm). So I have no idea what happened. Salinity 1.025, temp 78.

I'm at a loss as to what I did wrong. Any ideas?

 

[Chrisfish]

I'm so sorry @Brew12
#reefsquad

 

[Brew12]

I'm so sorry @Brew12
#reefsquad

Thanks Chrisfish.... right now I'm more frustrated than anything. I didn't have them long enough to get attached.

 

[melypr1985]

It sounds like a bacterial bloom happened and sucked all the oxygen was sucked out of the water. I'm sorry for the loss. Bacterial blooms are a potential problem when using meds. Did you have any other meds in the tank at that time? Had you used this QT before with other meds without sterilizing it?

 

[kschweer]

Sorry to hear about the firefish. How were they acclimated?

 

[mcarroll]

Was the HOB cycled on an active tank?

If not, then it was ammonia in spite of the badge indication. I'm not familiar with the drug used, but any stress from it would have been cumulative, of course. Maybe multiplicative.

Seems like a lot of fish in a tiny tank too...maybe too many fish + too much food + not ripe enough filtration?

Under those circumstances, if one fish dies for no reason at all, you get a cascade because water quality collapses on the survivors.

 

[mcarroll]

I like the bacterial bloom idea too....saved the ammonia meter from going off....didn't save the fish.

 

[melypr1985]

Was the HOB cycled on an active tank?

If not, then it was ammonia in spite of the badge indication. I'm not familiar with the drug used, but any stress from it would have been cumulative, of course. Maybe multiplicative.

Seems like a lot of fish in a tiny tank too...maybe too many fish + too much food + not ripe enough filtration?

Under those circumstances, if one fish dies for no reason at all, you get a cascade because water quality collapses on the survivors.

^^ Also possible. Sadly

 

[Brew12]

It sounds like a bacterial bloom happened and sucked all the oxygen was sucked out of the water. I'm sorry for the loss. Bacterial blooms are a potential problem when using meds. Did you have any other meds in the tank at that time? Had you used this QT before with other meds without sterilizing it?

I didn't clean the HOB but otherwise it was a fresh setup. I did add the water the fish came in from the LFS after drip acclimating them for 30 minutes. That was probably a mistake.

I didn't think about it earlier but just tested pH. Not sure what it was but it was out of range on the acidic side.

I think I need to get an air stone for my setup before adding fish. I may have gotten lucky with the first batch since it was 3 small fish.

 

[Brew12]

Was the HOB cycled on an active tank?

If not, then it was ammonia in spite of the badge indication. I'm not familiar with the drug used, but any stress from it would have been cumulative, of course. Maybe multiplicative.

Seems like a lot of fish in a tiny tank too...maybe too many fish + too much food + not ripe enough filtration?

Under those circumstances, if one fish dies for no reason at all, you get a cascade because water quality collapses on the survivors.

HOB was established using Biospira 3 days before adding fish. I'm thinking lack of oxygen would be the most likely cause which would explain the low pH.

 

[mcarroll]

Yeah...it's still a guess, but I think ammonia overran your filter. When it couldn't keep up, then ammonia started building up in the water column and that triggered a bacterial bloom in the water column which ate all the O2 in the tank.

Interestingly, some phytoplankton also go toxic when they bloom in a low-PO4 environment like a QT tank....could be another factor, though maybe less likely.

 

[Brew12]

Yeah...it's still a guess, but I think ammonia overran your filter. When it couldn't keep up, then ammonia started building up in the water column and that triggered a bacterial bloom in the water column which ate all the O2 in the tank.

Interestingly, some phytoplankton also go toxic when they bloom in a low-PO4 environment like a QT tank....could be another factor, though maybe less likely.

Since Prazipro shouldn't block ammonia testing I ran that and it showed no ammonia on an API test.

The one thing I did different was use LRS fish frenzy last night before I added the Prazipro. I think it may contain some phytoplankton..... wonder if that contributed.

 

[cpschult]

If they had flukes the mass ejection of flukes could have killed them. If water was cloudy you had bacteria going. Sorry to hear. I've lost wrasse to prazi before, never fire fish though.

I wouldn't recommend 7 though, I tried that in a 125 and ended up with two.

 

[Brew12]

If they had flukes the mass ejection of flukes could have killed them. If water was cloudy you had bacteria going. Sorry to hear. I've lost wrasse to prazi before, never fire fish though.

I wouldn't recommend 7 though, I tried that in a 125 and ended up with two.

I thought about doing a fresh water dip to check but was short on time.

I went back and forth on adding 7. The display at the LFS had a school of 7 they said had been there for over a year. He said that if you add 3 to 5 you will almost always end up with 2. If you add 6+ you have a good chance at ending up with a school. Guess I won't find out.

I agree with the bacteria bloom. I think I screwed up when I didn't net the fish out when I acclimated and dumped the LFS water into my QT tank. Not smart on my part.