Fish keep dying. What do I test?!

[Proxses]

So I've lost two fish in a row. The only fish I've tried to put in this tank. Coral Beauty and Flame Angel. They seem fine. A bit shy but start swimming around near the end. I wake up on the second day, and they are dead.
No spots. No heavy breathing beforehand. No chance to eat, but two days won't kill them. They eat at the LFS.
I fishless cycled the tank. Ammonia hits zero from 2ppm in less than 24 hours. Then did a 30 gallon water change.

Tank has been up for about a month.

Parameters:
Ammonia 0
Nitrites 0
Nitrates 16-32 Red Sea pro kit
Salt 32-33 PPT
Using RODI water
pH is 8.4

Cycled with BRS dry rock and Fiji pink sand.

75g with 40 breeder sump. Somatic 60 skimmer. Modular Marine overflow and 1000gph return. Two A80 lights and am IceCap 1K gyre.

The only thing I find strange is that I haven't had algae growth.

What can I test for that will kill fish in 2 days?
LFS is lost as well...
Help please I don't want to try anything until I have an idea of what could be happening.

 

[Crabs McJones]

If its taking out your fish in two days I'd guess parasite of some sort. Velvet can kill in that time frame.

 

[Mical]

Tank is only a month old - how are you acclimating them? I'm suspecting shock between LFS salinity and yours. A slow acclimation would be a good starting point.

 

[Grahamstyle77]

That would be my guess as well. Disease in the store system, and perhaps stress from moving them from the store home exacerbated the disease. (By the way, that's not a knock on your acclimation procedures, just saying any acclimation can be stressful).

Unfortunately the only fish store less than an hour drive from me I've had horrible luck with. Every fish I bought from them was dead within days, they'd eat, seem ok then dead. Changed fish stores, now I drive 90 minutes to 2 hours, haven't had any troubles since. Best of luck to you!

 

[Surfer311]

What is your tank temperature?

Are you seeing anything on the dead fish that look like parasites? (I know you mentioned “no spots”)

Also, what kind of flow/oxygenation do you currently have in your setup?

 

[Proxses]

The return has a VCA RFG on it disrupting the surface. And I hear the skimmer will add oxygenation.

To acclimate I set the bag in the tank to get to 79° which is the tank temp. Then drip acclimate for a little over an hour. Maybe drop the temp a bit?

Nothing visually wrong with the fish. I never see any parasites.

If the first fish came with velvet, do you think the rest from the same tank at the store would perish? They are still going well. Saw them today when I was checking with the LFS as to possible causes.

 

[PRock]

Other than a parasite, have you tried running carbon? You might have something funky in the water that you don't realize, maybe some carbon in a bag and a water change might help? Worst case, grab an ICP test kit and send that out?

 

[Proxses]

This has just happened. So I haven't taken any action yet.
But carbon is a good idea. I'll see what I can setup.

Thanks

 

[Surfer311]

The one thing that sticks out to me is that you mentioned there hasn’t been any algae at all, strange you aren’t going through a diatom bloom...

 

[Surfer311]

Other than a parasite, have you tried running carbon? You might have something funky in the water that you don't realize, maybe some carbon in a bag and a water change might help? Worst case, grab an ICP test kit and send that out?

Good suggestion for sure! I always run carbon in all my setups for this very reason

 

[Proxses]

The one thing that sticks out to me is that you mentioned there hasn’t been any algae at all, strange you aren’t going through a diatom bloom...

I know! It kinda feels like people ignore that... But again, I don't know what to do about that part. It's not like I want to introduce some to see, and end up having to fight it off afterwards.

 

[Mical]

I would run the carbon as mentioned and keep testing parameters. It almost sounds like your tank hasn't cycled completely - that's just a guess.

 

[Brad Miller]

Same here...no algae, cyano, etc...
New tank with live sand only
Very short ammonia cycle
Possibly tank not even cycled yet
Then did a big water change...
Thoughts ???

 

[Surfer311]

I would run the carbon as mentioned and keep testing parameters. It almost sounds like your tank hasn't cycled completely - that's just a guess.

This was my initial thoughts exactly, but re-read intial post with test results showing 0 ammonia, 0 nitrite, and nitrates present. Not sure if that’s possible without cycling, hopefully some of the experts chime in soon. I’m very curious about this also.

 

[joec]

If its disease that disease in now in your DT. You should make the effort to quarantine your fish before adding to DT.

 

[Proxses]

Just to give an update. I added carbon on Monday, and I now have a ton of diatoms. There must have been something in the water....
Gonna let this die down a bit before adding fish.
Thanks for the help!

 

[4FordFamily]

New tanks have a lot of swings and dwarf angels are more susceptible to these than many. They do well in quarantines so long as oxygen is high and ammonia is not present, interestingly. But in a system with rock and sand if it’s not stable (post diatoms and possibly cyano) they tend to struggle more than most.

I also highly suspect velvet. Velvet and uronema are VERY common in dwarf angels these days.

 

[Surfer311]

Just to give an update. I added carbon on Monday, and I now have a ton of diatoms. There must have been something in the water....
Gonna let this die down a bit before adding fish.
Thanks for the help!

Great looking scape! Really like the rockwork. Glad to hear the diatoms are growing, sounds like things are moving in the right direction and thanks for updating us all

 

[Jesterrace]

If the salinity disparity isn't the issue then I agree it's a quick killing parasite (ie Velvet). Did you notice a sort of gold/copper shine to the fish when you pulled them out). That's a dead give away for velvet even if you don't see any other symptoms.

 

[Proxses]

Another update. Have had fish in here for some time, and no issues. Again, not sure what was in the water the first time, but all is good. Fish are fat and happy!!