Fish in Shock. Can I save it???

[1stNoel]

Hello, everyone.

I am a noob to saltwater reefkeeping, and even though I've tried to research thoroughly...some things you only learn because a situation arises and then you try to figure out why it happened.

My tank is cycled and parameters are perfect. Tonight I added the first fish to my 220 gallon tank (5 green chromis and 3 orange anthias).

I left them in the bag for one hour for temp acclimation, and then placed them in a bucket and drip acclimated for half an hour. My mistake (and one I didn't know I was making because none of the youtube videos mentioned it) is that I didn't know most critical for acclimation is matching salinity and PH (i know now).

As a result, one of my anthias is hidden away at the top of the tank by the overflow box. It occasionally wiggles out for a few seconds, but it definitely looks stressed. And one of my chromis is struggling at the bottom corner of the tank (the hermit crabs keep coming for him and I keep moving them away, hoping he recovers...but he's really struggling to stay off the ground).

All of the other chromis are swimming around and eating. The anthias are active but not yet eating dried foods (I will pick up some Cyclop-eeze tomorrow and try again).

Any recommendations? I feel bad and want to save them both.

Thanks in advance.
Noel

 

[TattoosandFrags]

Too many fish at once is my guess idk someone else can chime in on here.

 

[Shep]

Drip acclimation for half an hour would match the pH and salinity for the most part, it could be a few things. First, this entire process if very stressfull for the fish so what you are seeing could just be the normal reactions. Give it a day or two and see how they do after that. Second, being in the bag for an extended time can cause further stress but with only an extra hour I doubt it (unless the fish were purchased online but even then kind of doubt it). Its really difficult to know for sure what is causing the stress but give it a few days to see how they do. Also keep an eye on you parameters.

 

[Harold Green]

You didn't mention how the chromis were bagged. If the five chromis were left in one bag for that length of time I'm surprised you didn't have more problems. I generally float for around twenty minutes or so unless the bags were exposed to some really off temperatures. Generally with a new tank I'd start with one or two fish until I saw how well they were doing in the tank and I realize you have a large tank but it doesn't hurt to double check everything with a single fish or so. Anthias might be a better fish to add after you have some experience with keeping less demanding fish. At this point I would suggest that you allow the tank to run with just these fish to give the tank time to stabilize more.

 

[cu455]

Just wait and see how it goes. There is nothing you can do now, but they are probably just a little stressed.

 

[1stNoel]

Situation has gone from bad to worse!

• 2 anthias are dead. The third is in real bad shape.
• 1 chromis dead. 2 have disappeared. 1 in bad shape, but still eating. 1 looks stressed, but still eating.
• I've noticed the bellies on the green chromis have turned blackish.

Water tests show no detectable ammonia or nitrites, nitrates are less than 10ppm (my color chart has 10 ppm as the lowest), and PH is 8.0.

I also have a zoa coral that is doing just fine, and my cleanup crew is fine (fire red shrimp, 4 emerald crabs, several trochus snails, and about 20 hermit crabs)...all of which were added 2 weeks before the fish.

I don't understand why the fish are dying. Especially since 4 of the chromis looked happy and healthy after day 2, and were swimming the length of the tank. I've been feeding them a mixture of LRS Reef Frenzy, Frozen Brine Shrimp, and pellets.

What gives??? I can understand the fish that were stressed and never recovered, but many of the fish appeared healthy, active, and were eating before taking a sudden turn for the worst.

 

[Humblefish]

How long has this tank been setup?

Were the fish bought at a LFS or online source?

Do you know what the SG is of the "source" or "bag" water, and how that compared to your own SG?

 

[Reefrookie220]

Ph is low. 8.4 is optimal. What is your specific gravity? (Salt content)

Also I'd make contact with the lfs they should offer some sort of guarantee, with a tank that big you have had to spend some money there. They should work with you.

 

[Breakthecycle2]

Could be a couple of things. How slow or fast was the drip? You didn't answer, were all the fish bagged separately or 5 in one and 3 in the other? Where did you purchase? Online? In store?

 

[Harold Green]

Even though you're testing the water you might want to take a sample down to the lfs and have them check it. At this time are you still testing for ammonia? You added eight fish to a newly cycled tank and the bacteria may not have had time to catch up. That's why most of us recommend adding one fish at a time allowing a week or two between additions for the filter to develop. Have you inspected the sick fish for any signs of parasites on the skin? Do you have a large amount of live rock, skimmer, sump, any other filters? All that has a bearing on water issues. Is the temperature, ph, and salinity stable?

 

[Oceansize]

You might just be unlucky, but if it were me I wouldn't float the bag that long before starting to acclimate, maybe only 20 or 30 minutes, because they will foul that water pretty fast especially if stressed. But I would also drip-acclimate for longer, like an hour. And with delicate species I double that. pH at 8.0 is on the low side, but it isn't TOO low. Fish can acclimate to that just fine IF they are acclimated sufficiently before removing from the bag.

 

[1stNoel]

Thanks for the replies.

I bought the tank used, including the sand that was in the tank. The tank was set-up about 5 weeks ago, using a combo of dry rock, 20 lbs of live rock, 40 lbs of live sand, and cleaning about 100 lbs of that used sand with RODI water (i drained it scoop by scoop a total of 3 times). When I first put that sand in, my protein skimmer was working overtime to clean the water. After all levels went down to normal (less than a week), I used micro-bacteria for 2 weeks. Levels were fine then also. As a final test, I threw in a large, decayed, raw deli shrimp and though I did have an ammonia spike...all levels were back at zero by the second day. I noticed that the protein skimmer was really producing waste for the first spike, but not much for the other two (which I took to mean that all the bacteria were doing their job). From there, I added my cleanup crew (with no issues or casualties), then a few days later added a zoa coral (no issues there). And one week after (which was Monday night), I added the fish. And only the fish are dying; everything else is fine.

To answer some of the questions:

• I slow dripped about a drop per second, and I did it by hand using a turkey baster.
• The fish were bagged 3 anthias in one bag; 5 chromis in the other.
• SG in my tank is currently 1.023. It was at 1.025 when I first set-up the tank, but it looks like the topoff water has changed it over the course of a month. It goes through 2 gallons per day. Temperature is steady at 78 degrees. PH is steady at 8.0.
• I purchased at a local LFS, and they have worked with me.
• I test for ammonia about twice weekly (based on all the cycling mentioned above). I also tested the day before buying the fish; the day after they went in the tank; and yesterday as well after I noticed the other fish getting sick. The levels all read fine. And I know I'm testing correctly because I noticed the spike after I put the dead shrimp in.
• Didn't really inspect the fish. To be honest, I wouldn't even know what to look for.
• I have a sump w/ filter bag and rock, protein skimmer rated for 250 gallons, 3 powerheads with heavy flow, 200 lbs of rock, water heater, and using aquamaxx all-in-one carbon/phosphate remover.
• I've been feeding frequently, but not much. I hear the anthias have a high metabolism and need about 3 to 5 feedings per day. I use a combination of LRS Reef Frenzy, Frozen Brine Shrimp, and some soft pellets.

The only thing that's been changing in my tank is that I'm dosing Magnesium daily. I used Instant Ocean when I first set-up the tank, but it left me with low Magnesium (1000 ppm) and Calcium (300 ppm). Alkalinity was fine. I dose the recommended daily dosage of Magnesium into the sump to get my tank up to 1350 ppm (it's currently at 1200 ppm). BUT...I didn't dose during the first two days that the fish were in the tank (Monday & Tuesday). I did resume yesterday.

Without any clear sign of what's wrong, how am I suppose to know when the tank is safe for another fish?

 

[Reefrookie220]

Any stray electricity?

 

[Harold Green]

Since no one's actually been able to pinpoint your problem, could be lots of things. We normally think cycling problem with any tank less than a few months old. Do you know the history of the tank before tear down? Was there any chance of chemicals ending up in the tank? If it were me I'd do a water change, allow the tank to run as is for several weeks, and then add one tough fish, perhaps a damsel or even a couple of mollies that are acclimated to salt water. Watch the fish for another two weeks and if they are doing well you can try adding other fish one at a time with a week or so between additions.