Fish Dying

[Samina]

Well unfortunately, I have had some deaths in my tank for the past couple of days. Tank has been setup for a little over a month I believe. The rock cured, then cycled, and was seeded since last year in December. 110g display with a 24g sump, 80lbs Stax rock, 1-2” of Caribsea Reef Flakes.

Last fish was added 2 weeks ago. A trio of Lyretail Anthias (female) and one male from Live Aquaria. Acclimated and temp matched and put into display. I haven’t quarantined fish ever before and now I am at a point where I am really regretting that. I am in the process of setting up a QT and gathering meds but I want to see if I could get opinions on what I am possibly dealing with. A couple days ago my Yellow Tang died and I found it in the morning. The night before it died, it had white spots on it and this was the first time I ever saw anything like that.

After I removed the Tang, I ran all the tests and started carbon going in a reactor.

Ammonia: 0-0.25ppm (not canary yellow, slight green tint) -API
Nitrite: 0ppm -API
Nitrate: 10ppm -Fauna Marin, Red Sea
Phosphate: 0.08ppm- Hanna ULR, Red Sea
DkH: 7.8 -KH Gaurdian, Salifert
Ca: 360ppm - API
Mg: 1360ppm -Red Sea
pH: 7.9 - Apex, API

I dosed Prime and did a 10% water change.

That same day, I found a female lyretail laying on the rock breathing heavily. I went to scoop it out of the tank and in the process it died. Today, I found another female lyretail breathing really heavily and laying on the sand. When I went to get it out it jumped away and laid in another area and died. All within 2-3mins.

I have 5 small chromis, a kole, 2 firefish, a male lyretail, a female lyretail, snowflake clown (see pics) and a diamond goby in there. All fish except the clownfish are swimming around and eating like everything is fine.

I have not added any chemicals to the tank besides the prime after the Yellow Tang died. I took pics of the gills of the lyretail that died today and also have attached those. Does anyone have any inkling on what is going on?

Any input is appreciated. Thank you.

 

[Malifry97]

#reefsquad @HotRocks bump

 

[LAReefer4Life]

Sorry for your loss. It appears you're dealing with velvet.

The only way to eradicate the parasite from your system is by disrupting its life cycle and removing all the fish from your display and placing them in a hospital tank with copper medication. The display tank needs to remain fallow for minimum of 6 weeks to fully eradicate.

 

[Dierks]

+1 on Velvet

 

[robbyg]

Oh well I see better advice arrived.
+1 Ich/Velvet

 

[saltyhog]

Agree with @pathot984, sorry you're having to deal with this.

I would also recommend going more slowly as you re-stock. 15 fish (if I counted correctly) in a month is really a lot of fish in a short time. Just the fact that you are quarantining your fish will help with that. Let each batch of fish added settle in and become comfortable before adding the next batch. Rapid additions can generate some level of stress which can add to disease susceptibility.

Good luck and don't hesitate to ask questions!

 

[Samina]

Thank you so much to you all for taking the time to reply.

@saltyhog you are absolutely right. I really should’ve went slower and used a QT and I even know better but I still went ahead and thought it will work since the rock was well seeded. I feel horrible for putting these animals through this when it is something I could’ve prevented. Another big part of the reason was because I wanted to utilize free shipping and to eligible, the orders had to be large enough. But again, I should’ve known better.

@pathot984 @robbyg @Dierks thank you for confirmation. Can you tell me how you are able to differentiate between Ich and Velvet? They look so similar.

For the remaining fish, what size QT do you think is appropriate? I only have a 10g on hand and I think that won’t be sufficient. I have copper power and Hanna Copper checker on the way. Aside from copper, would you recommend anything else?

Thank you all for your input. It does not fall on deaf ears!

 

[LAReefer4Life]

Read this thread. It is brief and has photos/descriptions of the differences between the two parasites.

The difference between ich & velvet

Many people have a hard time telling the difference between ich & velvet, or incorrectly assume all "white spots" are ich. Below are some pics of a Hippo Tang - the first one has ich, the next 4 show velvet. Ich (Cryptocaryon irritans) - Oval shaped white dots, can usually be counted. These...

www.reef2reef.com

Velvet kills fish very quickly as the life cycle of the parasite reproduces rapidly and consumes the fishes gills and immune system vs ich which is more manageable once symptoms are identified... Both are treated by copper and FWD is advised as well. The FWD helps to provide temporary relief. Ruby Reef Rally baths also help with providing relief until copper meds are administered. Also turn your lights off!!

As for the 10 gallon goes, how many fish do you have left? Size and types please. (At this point transferring to sterile tank after FWD with lights off is better then leaving in current environment)

Things you'll need for QT since its not already cycled.

- ammonia alert badge
- HOB filter
- powerhead or Internal filter sponge w/ bubbler.
- heater
- 2 bottles of biospira or dr. tims nitrifying bacteria
- Plenty of fresh saltwater prepared for large water changes to keep ammonia in check since the QT is not cycled.

 

[saltyhog]

Can't speak for @pathot984 but the number/size/density of the lesions. In your case however, it was the rapidity with which it killed. Don't beat yourself up! We all make mistakes and this one is about the most common. You can handle this and will be better reefer for it!!

 

[gobble]

I don't think you should be waiting for copper power to arrive. Go to the store first thing in the morning and get that clown and the others in copper treatment. They'll be dead before the copper power arrives.

 

[AcanthurusRex]

Copperpower and metroplex. Metroplex will actually kill the parasites but does not stay at effective dosage. Adding the metroplex will help clear the parasites and act as antibiotic while copper does its business.
I ran metroplex for the first week.