Fish are slowly dying

[Swayne06]

Sorry this is a bit long, but I could really use some help.

I have an established 55 Gallon reef tank and a 25 Gallon show sump (25 g. is divided with filtration in the back and live rock, macro algae and invertebrates in the front). Temp is about 76. I am unsure of what the levels are currently in my tank (I recently ran out of my test kit and need to pick up a new one).

55 g. -
1 small fox face
2 mandarin gobys
2 small Banggai Cardinalfish
2 peppermint shrimp
1 yellow watchman goby
1 tiger pistol shrimp
1 Yellowtail damsel
1 sea hare *
1 small Atlantic blue tang *
1 algae blenny *
1 small clown *
1 purple fire fish **
1 cleaner shrimp **
1 baby flame angel (about the size of a nickel) **

25 g. -
2 oysters
1 Porcelain Anemone Crab **
1 decorator crab **
1 nudibranch **
1 medusa worm **

* added last week
** added 48 hours ago
Both tanks also have hermits and snails.

Yesterday morning everything looked normal in the tank, but around noon when I fed the tank I noticed that the tang was swimming funny. Although he did eat, he seemed to have a white film on his body, mostly around his tail fin and his fins looked ragged. He died within 1/2 an hour (he was promptly removed from the tank). I kept close watch over the tank for the next several hours and everything looked normal. 5:30 that evening the damsel started to show the same symptoms. At this point I became extremely concerned. The damsel died within 10 minutes of first showing symptoms. Upon moving live rock to retrieve the damsel I discovered the algae blenny had died as well. At this point I removed the medusa worm, the nudibranch and the sea hare to separate tank. A 40% water change was done, the filter media was removed and rinsed thoroughly, a hang on the back filter was added and the sand was vacuumed. Again I kept a close eye on the tank until I went to bed at 11pm and nothing was showing any signs of anything being off. This morning I got up to discover that over night I had lost 1 of the cardinals, the clown, the baby flame angel and the male mandarin. The female mandarin is in the hospital tank and is not looking good. I added a uv sterilizer this morning, as I don't know what else I can do.

Any Idea at is causing this and how I can fix it?

*note- All of my corals and invertebrates seem to be unaffected. I also used Marine snow for the first time 2 days ago.

 

[jd371]

I'm new to this, but from what I read it sounds like velvet at the rate your fish are dying.

 

[melypr1985]

i agree. it sounds like velvet. fish have to be removed to a QT, treated with copper (except for the mandarin, they don't handle it well) and leave the DT fallow for..... i forget how long with velvet, but its not as long as the 76 days that ich requires.

 

[Humblefish]

Are you seeing any white dots (think salt or sugar sprinkles) on any of the fish? Or is it purely just a white film? Can you post any pics of the affected fish?

It sounds like velvet or possibly brook is killing all your fish. Also, a gram negative bacterial infection can spread and kill pretty quickly as well. You need to get all your fish out of the DT and into QT. You're going to need to get some copper (exs. Cupramine, Coppersafe, Copper Power) and if you can find a product which contains formalin (ex. Quick Cure) that will probably be useful as well. I also suggest giving each fish a FW dip before placing them in QT (see below). That may buy you some time until you can locate copper/formalin.

Freshwater Dip: Provides temporary relief for Brooklynella, Flukes, Marine Velvet disease (Amyloodinium); possibly even Ich & Uronema marinum (both unproven). Can be used to confirm the presence of Flukes.

How To Treat - Fill a bucket with RODI water, and use a heater to match the temperature to the water the fish is coming from. Aerate the water heavily for at least 30 minutes prior to doing the dip, then discontinue aeration while performing the dip. Fish aren’t overly pH sensitive for short durations like this, but you can squirt a little tank water into the dip just before the fish goes in to help bring it up.

Place the fish in the freshwater (FW) dip and observe closely. It is not unusual for them to freak out a little at first. Also, tangs are notorious for “playing dead” during a FW dip. The important thing is to watch their gills; they should be breathing heavily at all times during the dip. If breathing slows, it’s time to exit the dip. Dip the fish for no longer than 5 minutes. Multiple dips may be done, but it’s important to give your fish a day to recuperate in-between dips.

For flukes, use a dark (preferably black) bucket so you can see if tiny white worms fall out of the fish (especially out of the gills) at around the 3-4 minute mark. The worms will settle to the bottom, so you can use a flashlight to look for them there as well.

Pros - Provides temporary relief for a wide range of diseases in a chemical free environment. Can “buy you more time” until a proper treatment can be done.

Cons/Side Effects - Not a permanent “fix” for any disease, as FW dips are not potent enough to eradicate all of the parasites/worms afflicting the fish. Some fish can have an adverse reaction to a FW dip by appearing unable to maintain their equilibrium once returned to the aquarium. If this happens, hold the fish upright (using latex, nitrile or rubber gloves), and gently glide him through the water (to get saltwater flowing through the gills again). It is also a good idea to place the fish in an acclimation box until he appears “normal”.

 

[Swayne06]

Thank you for the quick responses. I tried to take some pics of my mandarin, but my camera dosn't work well for it and you cant see anything in the pics.

I did notice some white spots on the damsel and I see a few on the mandarin as well, But I've seen what full blown marine ick looks like and this dosn't look like that. It does look more like velvet, but i didn't thing velvet killed so quickly from the showing of symptoms.

 

[Humblefish]

Thank you for the quick responses. I tried to take some pics of my mandarin, but my camera dosn't work well for it and you cant see anything in the pics.

I did notice some white spots on the damsel and I see a few on the mandarin as well, But I've seen what full blown marine ick looks like and this dosn't look like that. It does look more like velvet, but i didn't thing velvet killed so quickly from the showing of symptoms.

IMO; velvet is the most likely culprit here. Possibly combined with a secondary bacterial infection. But look at these images of "Brooklynella" just to be sure: https://www.google.com/search?q=Bro...ved=0CAYQ_AUoAWoVChMIu6CnnbDCyAIVxZENCh2WDgD5

It mostly afflicts clownfish but I have seen some exceptions to that.

 

[Swayne06]

As far as images go it looks more like Brooklynella, but that and velvet look so similar it is hard to be sure. It has almost wiped out my entire tank in less the 24 hours of spotting the first symptom including a mandarin (which are usually resistant to ick and velvet)

 

[Humblefish]

As far as images go it looks more like Brooklynella, but that and velvet look so similar it is hard to be sure. It has almost wiped out my entire tank in less the 24 hours of spotting the first symptom including a mandarin (which are usually resistant to ick and velvet)

It would be best to assume the worst and treat for velvet. But DO make sure you perform a FW dip and chemical bath on all survivors (this process also treats brook.) How many fish are left? Just the mandy?

 

[Swayne06]

Cardinal, Fox Face, purple firefish, yellow watchman goby, and the mandarin are left.

 

[Humblefish]

Cardinal, Fox Face, purple firefish, yellow watchman goby, and the mandarin are left.

All of those should be able to handle the FW dip & chemical bath, but the mandy is not going to survive the copper treatment in the QT which is the next step. It's also not going to survive long without pods. This is a real quagmire. Your best bet is to give it to a LFS. Just be honest with them about your current disease situation. Perhaps they have a tank where they could isolate it away from their other stock.

 

[Naiad]

Humble has covered it all. See if the fresh dip provides any relief to mandarin. It will need a separate qt when you begin meds and an expensive diet of aquacultured pods during the process unless it eats frozen.

 

[Breakthecycle2]

I lost a bunch of fish in my 200 in 6 days a few months ago. Only three from that tank survived and are still in QT. I am almost 9 weeks in with a fishless display tank. As others have already said, it definitely sounds like Velvet. If you do not treat now, you will lose all of your fish. You have to keep the main tank fishless for 6 weeks for velvet.