Fish Breathing heavy and might die
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kiwis
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Tank was cycled for almost 2 months, had nitrate reading of upwards of 20-30ppm. This is my reading from last night, slightly lighter in real life, hard to get the true colour in a photo from my phone.
Brian1f1
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Tank was cycled for almost 2 months, had nitrate reading of upwards of 20-30ppm. This is my reading from last night, slightly lighter in real life, hard to get the true colour in a photo from my phone.
So do you not have a thermometer?
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Three smaller fish should have been fine in a 30-gallon tank, O2 wise. Did you at least have a return pump on from the sump? The oxygenation just from the overflow should have been enough.
Adding an air stone is always a good idea. It is not possible to have "too much" oxygen in a salt water tank with fish.
Is it an "empty" tank?
How many pounds or Kg of mature live rock do you have in the tank?
(30 pounds or 13 Kg would be a good range)
Sounds like the ammonia was burning their gills.
Even a bad cellphone picture of the tank and another of the whole tank and sump would be extremely helpful.
Look forward to seeing your mature happy tank a year from now.
[emoji4]
Adding an air stone is always a good idea. It is not possible to have "too much" oxygen in a salt water tank with fish.
Is it an "empty" tank?
How many pounds or Kg of mature live rock do you have in the tank?
(30 pounds or 13 Kg would be a good range)
Sounds like the ammonia was burning their gills.
Even a bad cellphone picture of the tank and another of the whole tank and sump would be extremely helpful.
Look forward to seeing your mature happy tank a year from now.
[emoji4]
kiwis
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I don't want to get into semantics but I said an exact reading. I have a sticker one and the heater is going on an off regularly and is set to 25. I do not have a digital one yet.
Not sure how much my coral rock weighs but you can see it in the picture and you can possibly see some more in the sump.
My API kit shows no Ammonia though!
Attached is my Display Tank, Sump and Ammonia reading.
Only changes since yesterday are:
1) Moved coral (Coral still has brown algae on it, white parts used to be covered by other coral)
2) Return pump turned up to full power
3) air stone in the sump (not in photo)
Brian1f1
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I don't want to get into semantics but I said an exact reading. I have a sticker one and the heater is going on an off regularly and is set to 25. I do not have a digital one yet.
Not sure how much my coral rock weighs but you can see it in the picture and you can possibly see some more in the sump.
My API kit shows no Ammonia though!
Attached is my Display Tank, Sump and Ammonia reading.
Only changes since yesterday are:
1) Moved coral (Coral still has brown algae on it, white parts used to be covered by other coral)
2) Return pump turned up to full power
3) air stone in the sump (not in photo)
That’s not semantics my friend. Those stickers are notoriously unreliable... If your tank drifted into the 80s and you had minimal circulation that could do it. Get a thermometer.
kiwis
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I'll head down and get one shortly.
It's still winter down in NZ and I was home yesterday, doors and windows open so doubtfully the temperature got too hight but agree it's possible.
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I'm stumped.
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The skimmer looks like it's working well.
The amount of live rock looks good.
(Important. Was it mature live rock when you put it in the tank or just white 'dry' rock?)
Tank size is appropriate for 3 fish.
Nice set up.
You will always have a small ammonia Spike when you add new fish to a tank that small.
But it shouldn't have been enough if the rock was fully mature when you added it to the tank.
Just guessing at this point.
'Dry' rock (honestly, takes 10 weeks to begin maturing. Longer is better.) plus small ammonia spike plus water change with possibly 'stale' water ( my water usually sits around the house for several weeks in a container. Ruins the alkalinity level BTW.) plus reduced oxygenation from reduced flow.
Looking at your pictures, none of them alone should have been enough to do it, but the combination of all those possible factors probably tipped the scales.
[emoji848]
The skimmer looks like it's working well.
The amount of live rock looks good.
(Important. Was it mature live rock when you put it in the tank or just white 'dry' rock?)
Tank size is appropriate for 3 fish.
Nice set up.
You will always have a small ammonia Spike when you add new fish to a tank that small.
But it shouldn't have been enough if the rock was fully mature when you added it to the tank.
Just guessing at this point.
'Dry' rock (honestly, takes 10 weeks to begin maturing. Longer is better.) plus small ammonia spike plus water change with possibly 'stale' water ( my water usually sits around the house for several weeks in a container. Ruins the alkalinity level BTW.) plus reduced oxygenation from reduced flow.
Looking at your pictures, none of them alone should have been enough to do it, but the combination of all those possible factors probably tipped the scales.
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What other factors do you have going on outside of the tank but in the house?
Have you been painting any rooms lately?
Does your better-half have a thing for air fresheners? Or scented candles?
Do you live in a rural farm area where they has been spraying recently?
Have you been painting any rooms lately?
Does your better-half have a thing for air fresheners? Or scented candles?
Do you live in a rural farm area where they has been spraying recently?
kiwis
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Thank you to everyone so far for their help.
I've just purchased a digital thermometer, temp seems to have stayed at around 25.1c which according to google is 77.18F, in saying that I've changed 20L out of 120L in the last 24 hours, new water has been a little cooler due to having no time to warm it.
No painting, no air fresheners and live in a suburban area, already considered water contamination but there's nothing new or changed in the last 2 days vs the last 2 weeks.
A summary of where we're at.
1) I have a 120L system with overflow and sump.
2) Cycled for about 6 weeks.
3) 2 Chromis been in the tank 2 weeks + 1 day.
4) Power Head Turned off 27 hours earlier
5) Return Pump with a ball valve on to slow return rate due to the noise over the overflow
6) Frabic cover overnight and morning to avoid too much light
7) 1 New (small) fish added 2 days ago
8) Last water change was 2 weeks ago prior to Chromis going in.
Yesterday I noticed the fish breathing heavy so I've done the following.
1) Ammonia, Nitrite, Nitrate, PH and Salinity testing - No alarms
2) Did an immediate 10L water change
3) Checked fish for any other spots etc - nothing is seen
3) 6 hours later I turned the Power Head back on but the lowest flow (was off for 27 hours)
4) This morning 2x Chromis dead in the tank
5) Did another 10L water change
6) Turned return pump to full power but back down again, it's like having a tap running on full when open.
7) Added an airstone into the sump
8) As of just now, Dottyback still alive but hiding
The consensus seems to be oxygen deprivation due to
1) Too long between water changes in conjunction with...
2) Powerhead being turned off and
3) Return pump dialled down
4) Maybe Tank covered up overnight
Ultimately I want to confirm this theory, is this possible?
I've just purchased a digital thermometer, temp seems to have stayed at around 25.1c which according to google is 77.18F, in saying that I've changed 20L out of 120L in the last 24 hours, new water has been a little cooler due to having no time to warm it.
No painting, no air fresheners and live in a suburban area, already considered water contamination but there's nothing new or changed in the last 2 days vs the last 2 weeks.
A summary of where we're at.
1) I have a 120L system with overflow and sump.
2) Cycled for about 6 weeks.
3) 2 Chromis been in the tank 2 weeks + 1 day.
4) Power Head Turned off 27 hours earlier
5) Return Pump with a ball valve on to slow return rate due to the noise over the overflow
6) Frabic cover overnight and morning to avoid too much light
7) 1 New (small) fish added 2 days ago
8) Last water change was 2 weeks ago prior to Chromis going in.
Yesterday I noticed the fish breathing heavy so I've done the following.
1) Ammonia, Nitrite, Nitrate, PH and Salinity testing - No alarms
2) Did an immediate 10L water change
3) Checked fish for any other spots etc - nothing is seen
3) 6 hours later I turned the Power Head back on but the lowest flow (was off for 27 hours)
4) This morning 2x Chromis dead in the tank
5) Did another 10L water change
6) Turned return pump to full power but back down again, it's like having a tap running on full when open.
7) Added an airstone into the sump
8) As of just now, Dottyback still alive but hiding
The consensus seems to be oxygen deprivation due to
1) Too long between water changes in conjunction with...
2) Powerhead being turned off and
3) Return pump dialled down
4) Maybe Tank covered up overnight
Ultimately I want to confirm this theory, is this possible?
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Did you have white dry rock or fully mature live rock when you started the tank?
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Yeah, Thats a large part of the problem.
Ignore the test kits for now.
Your rock isn't fully mature for at least another 6 weeks.
The bacteria levels/types in Dry rock go through multiple stages to maturity.
I added almost 200 pounds of dry rock to the last tank and went through something similar. It takes forever to mature and for the coralline to finally kick in. (3 months ?)
The only good news. Wherever you had the worst GHA you will have the best coralline algae.
If you can get even a couple small pieces of mature live rock from your LFS that will help a lot. Even a few pieces of 10cm rubble.
1 small fish in that size tank should be ok.
But it's a dottyback. Its going to be really angry when you try to add another fish in a few *months*.
Read up on removing the original fish to a separate tank for a few days and rearranging some of the rocks before you reintroduce the dottyback.
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kiwis
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Another update;
My Dottyback is back Swimming nicely in the tank. Only things done to affect the water is
1) 2x 10L water changes
2) Air pump in the sump
Now, I'm not getting ahead of myself but the fish doesn't appear to be breathing overly heavy either.
Yesterday she looked almost dead, this morning stationary at the bottom.
Supporting the oxygen issue perhaps?
If she survives, I might give it another 6 weeks to let the Coral rock completely mature.
My Dottyback is back Swimming nicely in the tank. Only things done to affect the water is
1) 2x 10L water changes
2) Air pump in the sump
Now, I'm not getting ahead of myself but the fish doesn't appear to be breathing overly heavy either.
Yesterday she looked almost dead, this morning stationary at the bottom.
Supporting the oxygen issue perhaps?
If she survives, I might give it another 6 weeks to let the Coral rock completely mature.
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Sounds like it should pull through OK.
It may have some damage to its gills, or not. Difficult to know for sure.
I would definitely wait a few months before adding more fish.
At that point the dottyback will have been *its* home as the only fish and have claimed the entire tank as its territory.
They are not known for their good manners in the 1st place. It's going to be a real jerk when you try to add more fish.
Take it out of the tank. move the rocks around a little bit and leave the dottyback in a separate small tank for at least 3 or 4 days, just before you add the new fish to your tank.
Everything else looks like you are on track and should do well.
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