Emergency Fish Dying one by one

[karamreef117]

Hello All
I have been in the hobby for a very long time and I have never seen something this crazy this entire time. so buckle up and get ready
2 weeks ago, I had my blue hippo tang about 5in jump from my 125 because some left over of nori at night was left in the overflow. it managed to jump and land perfectly in my overflow box. now when I say perfect I mean the face only was covered with water. you know how when scientists catch sharks and they let water flow through its mouth out of the gills that are exactly what happened. water from the tank was flowing into the gills of the blue hippo. no time on how long it was out for but in the morning when I couldn't find it I finally looked into the overflow and somehow had no clue how in the world it happened the fish was still alive while the whole body was dried up except the face and the fish was still alive. now took the fish out and I put it into my refugium since the refugium I made was pretty big and I wanted to see how it would do! after 4 hours the fish seemed to do amazing. I did see the body start to remove the oxygen out of the body and replace it with water so bubbles all over the body were created. ate perfectly fine and was doing great for a few days. after a few days, hell rose. it went from coming out to only coming out for food to never coming out and shortly dying after. but here's the story. my clarkiis the male passed away about a week after introducing the blue hippo into the tank, then the blue hippo, then my flame angel, and then my wrasse, and now it's my naso tang. these fish are large. they are dying one by one. the symptoms I am seeing are the fish are out of the blue not eating, start to shake and act weird, hide more, and most importantly they are developing either white spots, a white slim coat, or cloudy eyes might even be both. Tested my water since the fish do breathe heavily before dying as well. I wanted to make sure my water was okay as well. everything was fine nitrates at 15, ammonia undetectable 0 nitrates 0 pH 8.3 phosphates at 0.05 I mean I am so confused. So I started a theory. Did the blue hippo introduce anything when I added it back into the tank because that's when I started losing fish? the fish takes about 4 days to a week then they drop dead. My naso I see hanging out near the wave maker which indicates it needs more oxygen the tank is well-oxygenated but I put up more flow for the fish. The naso I seemed to be able to feed today which I was happy about but the naso has white spots on the fins and a cloudy eye almost like it's about to pop. Could it be an internal disease? could it be bacteria related to gram point of sale and gram neg I don't have stains or a microscope but I could test if really needed. I think since the blue hippo was out for such a long time maybe the fish introduced something. all fish were quarantined and had for a long time and nothing new was introduced either so no way for parasites to come in other than the blue hippo jumping into the overflow. it did not touch the ground or anything. Just super confused. I need help and I need ideas of thoughts as I am confused. what do you think? the blue hippo when passed away the body towards the belly turned white and I hope it's not urenima but the other fish no white or such observations. Please help. I have a naso tang left and two cardinals. corals and anemone are doing fine.

 

[Jekyl]

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[SaJon]

Hello All
I have been in the hobby for a very long time and I have never seen something this crazy this entire time. so buckle up and get ready
2 weeks ago, I had my blue hippo tang about 5in jump from my 125 because some left over of nori at night was left in the overflow. it managed to jump and land perfectly in my overflow box. now when I say perfect I mean the face only was covered with water. you know how when scientists catch sharks and they let water flow through its mouth out of the gills that are exactly what happened. water from the tank was flowing into the gills of the blue hippo. no time on how long it was out for but in the morning when I couldn't find it I finally looked into the overflow and somehow had no clue how in the world it happened the fish was still alive while the whole body was dried up except the face and the fish was still alive. now took the fish out and I put it into my refugium since the refugium I made was pretty big and I wanted to see how it would do! after 4 hours the fish seemed to do amazing. I did see the body start to remove the oxygen out of the body and replace it with water so bubbles all over the body were created. ate perfectly fine and was doing great for a few days. after a few days, hell rose. it went from coming out to only coming out for food to never coming out and shortly dying after. but here's the story. my clarkiis the male passed away about a week after introducing the blue hippo into the tank, then the blue hippo, then my flame angel, and then my wrasse, and now it's my naso tang. these fish are large. they are dying one by one. the symptoms I am seeing are the fish are out of the blue not eating, start to shake and act weird, hide more, and most importantly they are developing either white spots, a white slim coat, or cloudy eyes might even be both. Tested my water since the fish do breathe heavily before dying as well. I wanted to make sure my water was okay as well. everything was fine nitrates at 15, ammonia undetectable 0 nitrates 0 pH 8.3 phosphates at 0.05 I mean I am so confused. So I started a theory. Did the blue hippo introduce anything when I added it back into the tank because that's when I started losing fish? the fish takes about 4 days to a week then they drop dead. My naso I see hanging out near the wave maker which indicates it needs more oxygen the tank is well-oxygenated but I put up more flow for the fish. The naso I seemed to be able to feed today which I was happy about but the naso has white spots on the fins and a cloudy eye almost like it's about to pop. Could it be an internal disease? could it be bacteria related to gram point of sale and gram neg I don't have stains or a microscope but I could test if really needed. I think since the blue hippo was out for such a long time maybe the fish introduced something. all fish were quarantined and had for a long time and nothing new was introduced either so no way for parasites to come in other than the blue hippo jumping into the overflow. it did not touch the ground or anything. Just super confused. I need help and I need ideas of thoughts as I am confused. what do you think? the blue hippo when passed away the body towards the belly turned white and I hope it's not urenima but the other fish no white or such observations. Please help. I have a naso tang left and two cardinals. corals and anemone are doing fine.

Oh wow, I would be totally confused too. Hate to hear about your losses. I'm really interested to see what the experts have to say about this one. I've never experienced anything like that either. I'll be following.

 

[bakbay]

Hello All
I have been in the hobby for a very long time and I have never seen something this crazy this entire time. so buckle up and get ready
2 weeks ago, I had my blue hippo tang about 5in jump from my 125 because some left over of nori at night was left in the overflow. it managed to jump and land perfectly in my overflow box. now when I say perfect I mean the face only was covered with water. you know how when scientists catch sharks and they let water flow through its mouth out of the gills that are exactly what happened. water from the tank was flowing into the gills of the blue hippo. no time on how long it was out for but in the morning when I couldn't find it I finally looked into the overflow and somehow had no clue how in the world it happened the fish was still alive while the whole body was dried up except the face and the fish was still alive. now took the fish out and I put it into my refugium since the refugium I made was pretty big and I wanted to see how it would do! after 4 hours the fish seemed to do amazing. I did see the body start to remove the oxygen out of the body and replace it with water so bubbles all over the body were created. ate perfectly fine and was doing great for a few days. after a few days, hell rose. it went from coming out to only coming out for food to never coming out and shortly dying after. but here's the story. my clarkiis the male passed away about a week after introducing the blue hippo into the tank, then the blue hippo, then my flame angel, and then my wrasse, and now it's my naso tang. these fish are large. they are dying one by one. the symptoms I am seeing are the fish are out of the blue not eating, start to shake and act weird, hide more, and most importantly they are developing either white spots, a white slim coat, or cloudy eyes might even be both. Tested my water since the fish do breathe heavily before dying as well. I wanted to make sure my water was okay as well. everything was fine nitrates at 15, ammonia undetectable 0 nitrates 0 pH 8.3 phosphates at 0.05 I mean I am so confused. So I started a theory. Did the blue hippo introduce anything when I added it back into the tank because that's when I started losing fish? the fish takes about 4 days to a week then they drop dead. My naso I see hanging out near the wave maker which indicates it needs more oxygen the tank is well-oxygenated but I put up more flow for the fish. The naso I seemed to be able to feed today which I was happy about but the naso has white spots on the fins and a cloudy eye almost like it's about to pop. Could it be an internal disease? could it be bacteria related to gram point of sale and gram neg I don't have stains or a microscope but I could test if really needed. I think since the blue hippo was out for such a long time maybe the fish introduced something. all fish were quarantined and had for a long time and nothing new was introduced either so no way for parasites to come in other than the blue hippo jumping into the overflow. it did not touch the ground or anything. Just super confused. I need help and I need ideas of thoughts as I am confused. what do you think? the blue hippo when passed away the body towards the belly turned white and I hope it's not urenima but the other fish no white or such observations. Please help. I have a naso tang left and two cardinals. corals and anemone are doing fine.

Sorry about your loss — understand that it can be very traumatic and frustrating to see unexplained behaviors and tank inhabitants started to die for no reasons.

I’m no experts but if this happened to me, I would look for stray voltage given the erratic & unusual behaviors. Also as a precautionary measure, I would put a fresh bag of carbon to detox whatever it’s in the water column. I don’t run a UV anymore but that also helped me in the past. Finally, if I have a quarantine / hospital tank, I would use it to limit my loss.

Good luck and do let us know..

 

[monkeyCmonkeyDo]

+1 in the carbon or activated charcoal.
Usually when fish die one by one its a trickle effect with ammonia spikes.

How old and established is the tank? You run a protein skimmer?

I wouldn't rule out sickness or bacterial infections though. Best not to add any fish for a fallow period. Say 30-90days.
Up to you.
I'm sure some more expert fish ppl will chime in. Stay in there and be strong. Don't be disappointed and keep your head up. You got this or will figure it out.
D

 

[karamreef117]

Oh wow, I would be totally confused too. Hate to hear about your losses. I'm really interested to see what the experts have to say about this one. I've never experienced anything like that either. I'll be following.

Thank you I will for sure keep you updated this is crazy

 

[karamreef117]

Sorry about your loss — understand that it can be very traumatic and frustrating to see unexplained behaviors and tank inhabitants started to die for no reasons.

I’m no experts but if this happened to me, I would look for stray voltage given the erratic & unusual behaviors. Also as a precautionary measure, I would put a fresh bag of carbon to detox whatever it’s in the water column. I don’t run a UV anymore but that also helped me in the past. Finally, if I have a quarantine / hospital tank, I would use it to limit my loss.

Good luck and do let us know..

Thank you so much for chiming in on this post. I have a carbon reactor with fresh carbon not even two weeks old. Stray is a very good proposal. I attached pictures of the I am sorry if they are too much definitely sad. I have a UV light running now 24/7, skimmer running, fuge running, and heater set to 78. QT for sure next time this is a huge bullet so for sure QT in the future 100%.

 

[Slocke]

#fishmedic

 

[karamreef117]

+1 in the carbon or activated charcoal.
Usually when fish die one by one its a trickle effect with ammonia spikes.

How old and established is the tank? You run a protein skimmer?

I wouldn't rule out sickness or bacterial infections though. Best not to add any fish for a fallow period. Say 30-90days.
Up to you.
I'm sure some more expert fish ppl will chime in. Stay in there and be strong. Don't be disappointed and keep your head up. You got this or will figure it out.
D

Hey! Thank you for joining. Ammonia is a high suspect but wouldn't that of gotten my corals, anemones, and all fish at once?
The tank has been up and running for about 5 months, so still very new. Protein skimmer is running like crazy producing a lot of waste nonstop. I tested my water and took my water to a fish store as well to test for backup. both ways ammonia has been undetectable nitrates a bit high same as phosphates. but like I said corals are doing great and anemoens.
Moving forward 100% flawless of fish no fish for at least 3 months is my goal. I do have two bangaii cardinals that are doing amazing but like I said its going one fish at a time so they might be next.

Thank you for the kind words, moving forward for sure QT setup to be safe as these fish are not worth dying man.

i attached pictures to this please see what you think. It may be a case of urenima and marine velvet but how are fish dying one by one no clue. usually both kill right away. I am leaning towards more of marine velet as it takes about 4 days to kill and the symptoms are so similar. but blood on both fish are visible.

Note: Blue hippo was the one that jumped for more than 12 hours and made a complete recovery. my clownfish male died first but blue hjippo showed first signs of hundreds of white little dots when reintroduced.

 

[karamreef117]

#fishmedic

Thank you

 

[Jay Hemdal Verified Community Expert]

I think the tang jumping out is coincidental to the fish dying. If your corals and invertebrates are all ok, you can usually rule out water quality issues. The fish dying over a period of time tends to rule out velvet.
What fish remain?
When did you lose the last fish?
Can you post videos under white light of the remaining fish?

Jay

 

[karamreef117]

I think the tang jumping out is coincidental to the fish dying. If your corals and invertebrates are all ok, you can usually rule out water quality issues. The fish dying over a period of time tends to rule out velvet.
What fish remain?
When did you lose the last fish?
Can you post videos under white light of the remaining fish?

Jay

Could be a possibility that the blue hippo jumping due to sickness but before the lights going off that day everything in the tank was perfectly fine. nothing new on fish everyone was eating like pigs. Only difference was that before the tank light going out the day the blue hippi jumped I was feeding nori and some left overs went into the overflow and got stuck so now we have two options.

In regards to the video, the naso is breathing very heavy my tank lights went out a bit ago but I got a video of the naso. I moved it over to the fuge with a freshwater dip I will attach both videos to here and let me know what you think.

Moving forward I am going to set up a Qt tank. Now here's the question, I have two cardinals bangy waiting for either their death or having the whole tank to themselves not sure but the risks are high. THey are eating very well but just like the naso it only took time before the nasos time came to an end. Should I take the risk and setup a QT tank without a cycle and run medications either Copper or some sort of medication? I can have the setup ready by tomorrow but the risk of ammonia is high and prime could be added but if I recall it might not work with copper. Not sure 100% please chim in what you think.

Sorry for the grammar just still letting this sit in so I am typing too quick. I really appreciate the help.

Let me know if you cant access the video. THe naso is breathing very heavy and it has patterns all over the lower body white color.

 

[monkeyCmonkeyDo]

Jay is the r2r local fish expert so please try and answer any questions he might have thoroughly =)
D

 

[karamreef117]

Could be a possibility that the blue hippo jumping due to sickness but before the lights going off that day everything in the tank was perfectly fine. nothing new on fish everyone was eating like pigs. Only difference was that before the tank light going out the day the blue hippi jumped I was feeding nori and some left overs went into the overflow and got stuck so now we have two options.

In regards to the video, the naso is breathing very heavy my tank lights went out a bit ago but I got a video of the naso. I moved it over to the fuge with a freshwater dip I will attach both videos to here and let me know what you think.

Moving forward I am going to set up a Qt tank. Now here's the question, I have two cardinals bangy waiting for either their death or having the whole tank to themselves not sure but the risks are high. THey are eating very well but just like the naso it only took time before the nasos time came to an end. Should I take the risk and setup a QT tank without a cycle and run medications either Copper or some sort of medication? I can have the setup ready by tomorrow but the risk of ammonia is high and prime could be added but if I recall it might not work with copper. Not sure 100% please chim in what you think.

Sorry for the grammar just still letting this sit in so I am typing too quick. I really appreciate the help.

Let me know if you cant access the video. THe naso is breathing very heavy and it has patterns all over the lower body white color.

Jay is the r2r local fish expert so please try and answer any questions he might have thoroughly =)
D

Thank you very much for all the help. I will try my best as I have all these resources.

 

[Tang22]

FWIW when I've seen tangs swim in front of a pump and breathing heavy, afraid to show itself when lights were on it was suspected as Marine Velvet. And while it is lethal, some fish can hang on a bit longer than others before deteriorating which might be what you are experiencing. Good luck. H2O2 and U/V rid it for me with zero loss in fish.

 

[karamreef117]

Thank you!

FWIW when I've seen tangs swim in front of a pump and breathing heavy, afraid to show itself when lights were on it was suspected as Marine Velvet. And while it is lethal, some fish can hang on a bit longer than others before deteriorating which might be what you are experiencing. Good luck. H2O2 and U/V rid it for me with zero loss in fish.

How much proxide?

 

[karamreef117]

FWIW when I've seen tangs swim in front of a pump and breathing heavy, afraid to show itself when lights were on it was suspected as Marine Velvet. And while it is lethal, some fish can hang on a bit longer than others before deteriorating which might be what you are experiencing. Good luck. H2O2 and U/V rid it for me with zero loss in fish.

 

[Jay Hemdal Verified Community Expert]

Could be a possibility that the blue hippo jumping due to sickness but before the lights going off that day everything in the tank was perfectly fine. nothing new on fish everyone was eating like pigs. Only difference was that before the tank light going out the day the blue hippi jumped I was feeding nori and some left overs went into the overflow and got stuck so now we have two options.

In regards to the video, the naso is breathing very heavy my tank lights went out a bit ago but I got a video of the naso. I moved it over to the fuge with a freshwater dip I will attach both videos to here and let me know what you think.

Moving forward I am going to set up a Qt tank. Now here's the question, I have two cardinals bangy waiting for either their death or having the whole tank to themselves not sure but the risks are high. THey are eating very well but just like the naso it only took time before the nasos time came to an end. Should I take the risk and setup a QT tank without a cycle and run medications either Copper or some sort of medication? I can have the setup ready by tomorrow but the risk of ammonia is high and prime could be added but if I recall it might not work with copper. Not sure 100% please chim in what you think.

Sorry for the grammar just still letting this sit in so I am typing too quick. I really appreciate the help.

Let me know if you cant access the video. THe naso is breathing very heavy and it has patterns all over the lower body white color.

I'm afraid the naso looks too far gone to save. Are there just the two Banggai cardinalfish left? If so, your best option would be move them and some filter material to the quarantine tank and treat with coppersafe. Leave the tank fishless for 6 weeks and then quarantine all new fish going in.

I just got a quick glimpse of the tank itself in the video - what is the algae issue, how long has it been like that? Is that dinoflagellates?

Jay

 

[karamreef117]

I'm afraid the naso looks too far gone to save. Are there just the two Banggai cardinalfish left? If so, your best option would be move them and some filter material to the quarantine tank and treat with coppersafe. Leave the tank fishless for 6 weeks and then quarantine all new fish going in.

I just got a quick glimpse of the tank itself in the video - what is the algae issue, how long has it been like that? Is that dinoflagellates?

Jay

Thank you! That is the plan then. I will set up the QT tank I have filter media ready to go and with copper safe. The two banggi cardinals are the only ones left and I wish I caught this earlier but I am away and my family has been doing all the taking care while I am remote.

The tank is fairly still new so the algae are still taking over. I would say hair algae and just algea, in general, has been taking over the tank since I started the tank with dry rock. My water was all over the place when I started out but it has come down to ideal ranges the last month so I am just waiting for the algae to do its thing.

Moving on, I agree with the fish tank not having anything fish-wise for at least 6 weeks. and QT everything from now on. I was planning on already doing a long period of time as I am not in a rush. plus fish cost alone of money hahaha so I have to be smart next time.


Question: so the Naso did not make it? I woke up and this morning it has already passed away. Here's how it looked. what do you think could be a cause of this? Could it be two things I am dealing with? marine velvet and urnima? maybe some type of bacteria? have you seen something like this before? the fish looks beat to death I have never seen something like this in the hobby.

 

[karamreef117]

I'm afraid the naso looks too far gone to save. Are there just the two Banggai cardinalfish left? If so, your best option would be move them and some filter material to the quarantine tank and treat with coppersafe. Leave the tank fishless for 6 weeks and then quarantine all new fish going in.

I just got a quick glimpse of the tank itself in the video - what is the algae issue, how long has it been like that? Is that dinoflagellates?

Jay

Also, Thank you for all the help. it has been a lot to deal with. truly appreciate it in general for being active and supportive.