Fish keep dying

fishing2014 · Mar 16, 2014

I have a 29 gallon and my fish keep dying. My temp stays around 80. My pH is 8.1 my nitrates are around 5 my salinty is 1.024. Everything dies about 7 or 8 days after I put it in there. My clown was fine 3 hours ago now he is on the sand about dead. Please help?

Connie · Mar 16, 2014

Give us your tank parameters. Do you have coral? How long has the tank been running? Do you have sand? Refugium? A picture of your tank would help also. Can you check for ammonia? PH?

Barky · Mar 16, 2014

How long has the tank been up and running, what do you have for inside tank structure live rock or other decorations. are you waiting for tank bio load to adjust before you add another fish, and what are the type of fish you are adding

Marshall O · Mar 16, 2014

Also what do you use for water, both to mix salt and top off?

fishing2014 · Mar 16, 2014

I have a biocube 29 all stock equipment. I have 21 lbs of live rock. The fish that died were 4 clowns a blemmy and a clown golby. Ive only had 2 clowns in there at a time. I'm not putting anymore in there until I figure out what's going on. I have a valentini Puffer a clown, 2 shrimp and 3 turbo snails in there. None of my inverts are dying. Just fish. The only coral I have is a Kenya tree and I had a small frogspawn but my shrimp ate it.

mike007 · Mar 16, 2014

You need to test your ammonia level. Are you buying all your fish from the same lfs? This is why we recommend quarantine.

Marshall O · Mar 16, 2014

Any aggression from the puffer on new additions?

fishing2014 · Mar 16, 2014

I use pre mixed water for my water change. And I use fresh RO water for top off. No aggression from the puffer.

Small triggers · Mar 16, 2014

Do you test your premixed water? If not, just an FYi... You should

Bradsreeeftank · Mar 16, 2014

fishing2014 said:
I have a biocube 29 all stock equipment. I have 21 lbs of live rock. The fish that died were 4 clowns a blemmy and a clown golby. Ive only had 2 clowns in there at a time. I'm not putting anymore in there until I figure out what's going on. I have a valentini Puffer a clown, 2 shrimp and 3 turbo snails in there. None of my inverts are dying. Just fish. The only coral I have is a Kenya tree and I had a small frogspawn but my shrimp ate it.

Dude i seriouslt had the exact same fish die in my cube! ); now i stick to only my 1 fish and all corals

fishing2014 · Mar 16, 2014

Sorry to hear that. I just need a cure for this ICH if this is what it is. What can I use to treat it.

fishing2014 · Mar 16, 2014

I don't test my premixed water but I'm going to start.

Small triggers · Mar 16, 2014

If it is ich...there is not a cure in your tank...you need to set up a QT tank and pull all fish and treat with copper.....
That beng said if none of your other fish are showing symptoms, then they are fighting it off....wait a few weeks and don't add anything....
Keep an eye on everyone and if anyone exhibits signs of ich (looks like salt sprinkled on them) then possibly pull all and QT...

fishing2014 · Mar 16, 2014

Do i treat the tank with copper or the fish in the QT tank with copper. And what is the beat waynri setup a QT tank. I need something fast.

Small triggers · Mar 16, 2014

Never treat your display tank...,never
If you decide to treat, you need to set up a dedicated QT tank .. As copper and many other meds will be absorbed by live rock and sand, the QT is to be barren...maybe a piece of PVC to hide in.., but anything used for a QT should never be used on anything else....
You could grab a standard 15 or 20g, a cheap hob filter but you need some beneficial bacteria to do a quick cycle...you can buy bottled...

fishing2014 · Mar 16, 2014

If I don't treat the display tank how do I keep ich from getting back on my fish when I stick them back in there.

kschweer · Mar 16, 2014

fishing2014 said:
If I don't treat the display tank how do I keep ich from getting back on my fish when I stick them back in there.

Qt for 8-10 weeks leaving your tank free of fish this entire time. The time will let the ich live out its life cycle and die off due to them not having a host (your fish).

Small triggers · Mar 17, 2014

Exactly what Kschweer said...
The ichs life cycle is about 8 weeks...you pull all fish and QT for that entire time....they have to have a host fish to live their entire life cycle, without that the ich will die off...
You do not want to ever do any meds in your display tank, not only does it kill the beneficial bacteria you have worked hard to build..but most meds get absorbed by rock and sand ... Not to mention some also get absorbed by the silicone...and then it will kill all of your inverts as they are not tolerant of the meds...