Dying fish

[Breakthecycle2]

I've been having a problem lately with dying fish. First here's what I have:

Elos System 120 - set up October 2. (transfer from a 40 gallon).
Reef Octopus NWS - 150
Aqua 24W UV Sterilizer
Phosban reactor with Rowa
Elos Filtra bacteria kit
60 pounds of tropic Eden reef flake sand (not live)
120 pounds of live rock - 50 pounds transferred from old tank, 70 pounds of cured dry rock.

All parameters seem good, salinity is 1.025

Over the last few weeks, every fish I add dies. I do have Ich present in the tank, but fish do not show signs of illness. I added a Rhomboid male wrasse and 4 days later with no signs of anything, it dies. I bought a tiger jawfish that was eating then just died. I got a small chocolate tang on Saturday that was also eating for the first day and then yesterday just stopped and died. No signs of Ich or anything. The only thing I saw on the jawfish was his eyes appeared cloudy. I know it's got to be a parasite but how can I figure it out?

All of my current fish show no signs of anything.

Flame wrasse
Diamondtail flasher wrasse
Eightline Flasher wrasse
Naokoa Wrasse
Royal Flasher Wrasse
Rhomboid female wrasse
Rosey Scale wrasse
Golden Pygmy Angel
Pair of bonded Goldflake Maroon clowns.

 

[Breakthecycle2]

I should add, that about a month ago, I bought a Fijian Arrowhead soapfish that only ate live feeder guppies, maybe it was a coincidence, but since than I've had issues, I lost some fish than, including the soapfish. I know they tend to release toxins when dead or stressed but whatever is going on, seems to only be affecting new fish. Wrasse's tend to be fish (in my experience) that die easily.

 

[Eienna]

Parameters seem good is really not quite what we need. Exactly what are they?

 

[Breakthecycle2]

No ammonia, no nitrite, Nitrates .50.
Phosphate - <.05
Temp: 77
Salinity - 1.025
ALK: 8.2
PH. 8.1

 

[Eienna]

No ammonia, no nitrite, Nitrates .50.
Phosphate - <.05
Temp: 77
Salinity - 1.025
ALK: 8.2
PH. 8.1

Okay, nothing wrong there that I can see.

Was there anything visible about the dead fish that was "off" from what it should look like?

 

[Breakthecycle2]

Well, maybe it was just me, but the tang "looked" like it lost a ton of weight from only the night before, which I don't think is possible. The coloring was ok, she darkened up a bit before she passed, but that was it. The jawfish's eyes def looked cloudy or "whiteish". I thought it was a fluke, so I planned on fresh water dipping him. By the time I got some baking soda to raise the R/O PH, he was beyond being saved. Outside of that, no visible signs of anything. It's very quick whatever is killing them.

 

[Eienna]

Interesting. I'll do some googling later...and I'll help keep this bumped up in case anyone knows.

I'm sorry - I'd do some hunting now but I need to go lie down before I fall asleep sitting up.

 

[rworegon]

Maybe velvet. The soapfish could have been a carrier. Did you QT any of these new fish?

 

[Breakthecycle2]

YEs, the new fish were quarantined for 3 weeks at the place I buy my fish from. They do this for me because I bought a system from them. They all looked completely fine. Is there anyway from feeding the soapfish the feeder guppies, they could have carried something over to saltwater? I didn't really think that was possible. I do not believe it's velvet either (unless there are no physical evidence of it sometimes).

 

[NanaReefer]

Just an idea here but some LFS will run their salinity on the low side in hope of keeping the ICH parasite at bay. Could be your fish are suffering from salinity shock.
I know our LFS keeps their's at 1.021 & I keep mine at 1.025 so I always have to drip acclimate.

 

[Breakthecycle2]

I always drip acclimate for an hour minimum. I believe it's a parasite of some kind besides Ich. I just don't know how to figure it out.

 

[TJ's Reef]

Have you had your water tested elsewhere to validate your kits accuracy ? 30+ years of keeping SW and Reeftanks and have never seen a parasite kill in the manner you are describing here. Even though your existing fish are somewhat immune to the Ich present in your system doubt that the newly introduced fish would die this quickly. Higher than normal levels of Nitrite or Nitrate that your current fish are used to.... maybe...??? Possibly even a unusual bacteria present ??? Will follow along to see what you uncover.

Cheers, Todd

 

[TJ's Reef]

Also check to see what your LFS keeps their salinity at, going from hypo or even 1.017 or less going to 1.025 in a hour would kill many fish. You can drop quickly but not raise much more than 0.04 in any given hour safely.

Cheers, Todd

 

[rworegon]

The cloudy eyes and fast cycle of death made me think velvet. While QT'ing fish at your LFS may seem like a great service they are providing to you, most retail shops have a high throughput of livestock and don't have the facilities to QT properly, by that I mean isolation from any other incoming livestock. My LFS has a med system as well as a QT system but they still recommend, and I follow this advise, to QT fish for a month or more. The life cycle of the velvet parasite is ver simular to the life cycle of the ICH parasite and therefor can be in a 'dormant' stage for a few weeks.

 

[Eienna]

That's why 30 days is really minimum quarantine to do it right. Some things can slip by if it's any shorter.

 

[Breakthecycle2]

The only store I buy from, keeps all their tanks at 1.024-.1.026. They really only keep my fish in QT due to the amount of money I've spent. They are all QT'd in a copper tank. The raise in salinity brings up a good possibility. Something I need to double check when I go there tomorrow. Now, all of my current fish do not have any symptoms of anything. I guess this could mean they're "immune" to whatever it is or it is a salinity issue. Can someone tell me what the symptoms would be of a fish going from a low to higher salinity?

So cloudy eyes could be a symptom of velvet? I was not aware of this. I should multi-quoted things, but to the poster who said it could be bacterial...do you have ANY clue as to what would cause fish to do in such a rapid manner with no visible symptoms?

 

[doolentank95]

Heavy breathing flame

Hi guys,
This saturday I bought a flame angel, and since then he has been hiding behind a rock all the time and not eating. That is not a worry to me as he is a new fish and I understand it takes a couple days for them to get used to the tank. The thing that IS bothering me is that he is breathing pretty hard, and recently (today) I spotted a shiny white (more clear) patch on his side about the size of one scale. It does not look like ich or velvet, I have dealt with both. I know I didn't QT him, but my LFS told me that they had had this fish for about a month now, and was showing no problems, I watched this fish for a while. Yes I understand now this is still no reason not to QT a fish. Any thoughts on what he could be suffering from? I have four other fish, two clowns and two chromis's and they are 100% healthy. Thanks!