Fish dying

[jrvelie]

I need some help. I had the following fish in my tank.
2 clowns
Yellow tang
Lawnmower blenny
YWG
2 Banggie Cardinal
3 blue green chromis
All seemed fine this morning but when I went to feed them tonight only the clowns and lawnmower were left. The other we all laying on the bottom of the tank.

Ph is 8.28
Salinity 1.025
Ammonia shows zero with API and nothing in one of those alert badges.
Temp 78

I turned my lights up about 3 weeks ago and the sand started getting cover with redish brown algae. So Sunday I dialed the lights way back thinking the algae was from the lights and that has just about all went away. Could this have caused something to release and kill the fish.

I have added a bag of chemipure blue in my filter sock and put some carbon in a reactor.

the clowns seems just fine as does the lawnmower.

Tank is 80 gallon with sump, been up and running for 6 months. I had the the one clown and yellow tang in another tank for about 5 years before upgrading, the rest of the fish have been in since mid December and have not showed any issues.

 

[Jay Hemdal Verified Community Expert]

The easiest/fastest way to differentiate between water quality and fish disease is how are the invertebrates/corals doing? You didn’t mention any inverts, are there any in the tank? If they are fine, but the fish are dying, then it is a fish disease.
Jay

 

[jrvelie]

I have a couple snails and a bubble tip nem. The nem is small and I can’t find it now. It disappeared when I turn the lights down. The snails seemed to be just fine.

I have been watching the fish and have not seen any spots on them, or any distress. All were acting just fine.

Just seems weird they all would die in one afternoon.

 

[Jay Hemdal Verified Community Expert]

Well, based on the missing anemone, you can’t really use my invertebrate test for fish disease...therefore it could be a water quality issue OR a disease.
Do you have good aeration in the tank?

Jay

 

[jrvelie]

One thing I did not mention was I have not had a filter sock in the last week weeks because I really don’t like them. But tonight I did notice that the water in my sump where the filter socket goes and in my overflow seemed to have a far amount of foamy bubbles. One I put the filter sock in and the chemipure in the sock it went away in about 10-15 minutes.

 

[Jay Hemdal Verified Community Expert]

One thing I did not mention was I have not had a filter sock in the last week weeks because I really don’t like them. But tonight I did notice that the water in my sump where the filter socket goes and in my overflow seemed to have a far amount of foamy bubbles. One I put the filter sock in and the chemipure in the sock it went away in about 10-15 minutes.

Sounds like a possible water quality issue, but I can’t tell you what it could be. Possibly the anemone died and decomposed, fouling the water?
Jay

 

[jrvelie]

Yes I have multiple powerheads and get good surface agitation.

 

[jrvelie]

Sounds like a possible water quality issue, but I can’t tell you what it could be. Possibly the anemone died and decomposed, fouling the water?
Jay

That what J was thinking but I thought that would have created ammonia? But I am not sure.

 

[T-J]

Any chance your missing nem got ground up by a powerhead? Is the water cloudy at all?

 

[Jay Hemdal Verified Community Expert]

That what J was thinking but I thought that would have created ammonia? But I am not sure.

Ammonia alert badges frequently fail, it could also have caused a bacterial bloom that sucked the oxygen out of the water, killing the fish.
Jay

 

[jrvelie]

Any chance your missing nem got ground up by a powerhead? Is the water cloudy at all?

Yes it did seem to have a little cloudiness tonight.

 

[jrvelie]

Ammonia alert badges frequently fail, it could also have caused a bacterial bloom that sucked the oxygen out of the water, killing the fish.
Jay

When nem died?

 

[vetteguy53081]

I agree that API kits which are notorious for false readings and Ammonia badges which are also intended for freshwater are of little confidence when testing, hence the very low price for both.
Consider test kits from salifert or hanna for future use.
A suggestion would be to take a water sample to a trusted LFS that does not use API kits and have them test your ammonia-nitrate-ph-phos-salinity to see what readings they come up with and to compare with yours.
ARE YOU USING RODI WATER OR TAP WATER FROM THE FAUCET ?

 

[jrvelie]

I agree that API kits which are notorious for false readings and Ammonia badges which are also intended for freshwater are of little confidence when testing, hence the very low price for both.
Consider test kits from salifert or hanna for future use.
A suggestion would be to take a water sample to a trusted LFS that does not use API kits and have them test your ammonia-nitrate-ph-phos-salinity to see what readings they come up with and to compare with yours.
ARE YOU USING RODI WATER OR TAP WATER FROM THE FAUCET ?

RODI and had a 1 reading on the TDS when I filled up.

 

[vetteguy53081]

RODI and had a 1 reading on the TDS when I filled up.

I can live with a 1, even 2 on total dissolved

 

[jrvelie]

Is normal at all to have some air Hubble gathering on the water surface in the overflow?

 

[Jay Hemdal Verified Community Expert]

When nem died?

Yes, that seems to be a possible cause here- missing anemone, cloudy/foamy water and dying fish....
Jay

 

[resortez]

I second the anemone being suspect by the mention of cloudy water & foamy. Run some carbon & do water changes. If you have a skimmer, run it wet. Keep an eye on PH & alkalinity. The clowns have a natural resistance to the anemones toxins, why they seem to be surviving but the toxin can & will fluctuate parameters, so keep an eye on the numbers & test frequently. Hope that helps.