Fish Problem

[Randy Holmes-Farley Verified Community Expert]

see below (moved old thread)

 

[Aliasger]

Hi i have two Marine FO tanks of 4000 US gallons each.
The tank parameters for both the tanks read
TANK 1
pH- 8.2
Calcium- 500
Alkalinity- 16dKh

TANK 2
pH-8.1
Calcium- 480
Alkalinity- 11dkh.

Both tanks use tropic marine sea salt. i have lost about 5-6 fish in Tank 1. Is it due to alkalinity?

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley Verified Community Expert]

I doubt the fish died due to alkalinity being high in tank 1. Tank 2 is fine.

 

[Aliasger]

How can i reduce the alkalinity then ?

 

[Aliasger]

How can i reduce the alkalinity then ?

Oh sorry!! what could else be the problem. As there was no ich no disease out break in the tank.

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley Verified Community Expert]

Both tanks?
What type of fish?
Over what time period did they die?
Any symptoms on the fish that died?
What sorts of filtration do you have?
How long has the tank been set up?
How long were the fish in it the tank?
Are other fish in the tank OK?

 

[Aliasger]

Both tanks?
What type of fish?
Over what time period did they die?
Any symptoms on the fish that died?
What sorts of filtration do you have?
How long has the tank been set up?
How long were the fish in it the tank?
Are other fish in the tank OK?

The fish that died were, emperor, koran angel, one moorish idol and one powder blue and today another 2 heniochus. The fish didn't have anything on it's body. As for now i can see that my blue tang is little stressed while other fish have been doing well.
For filtration i am using TMC system 10,000 commercial filter with ozonizer. The tank has been set up for over 6 months with fish and over a year with the setup. The fish were for 2 months.
Few of the fish i can see some spots however other are doing just great.

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley Verified Community Expert]

I doubt this is a chemical issue, unless there is ammonia in the water, so I'm going to move it to the fish forum.

 

[Aliasger]

ok so then..

 

[eatbreakfast]

Sounds like velvet to me.

 

[Humblefish]

Sounds like velvet to me.

+1 Can the OP describe the spots he is seeing and/or provide photos.

Are they white spots? Can they be counted on the fish or are they too numerous to count?

 

[melypr1985]

I'd like to see pictures as well. I am suspicious of velvet as well here.

 

[aykwm]

^^ Agree with photo, do you notice other symptoms. It might also be flukes as most cases they are invisible, or internal infection (did you notice white stringy poop?)

 

[Maritimer]

When did you last add any new creatures, rocks, corals or plants to the tank, and what did you add?

~Bruce

 

[4FordFamily]

Agree with the other 5 posters -- velvet.

Some strains of velvet mainly attack the gills and you'll see little or nothing on the fish.

The fish may also show the following symptoms: hide from light, become more cryptic, swim in to powerheads, breathe heavily, scratch, flash, lose color, sometimes in blotches (especially in large angels), and sometimes swim erratically.

 

[Jish mariner]

see below (moved old thread)

Dear randy, i did my first water icp and found out high amount of aluminium and the reason for my acropora demise , all hard coral whitening .. my po4 is 0.04 while my alkalinity was being maintained at 8-8.4... reading your article i understand that i must reduce my alkalinity since my take is very low nutrient.. so now i am targeting an alkalinity of 7-7.5 corresponding to my low po4 value...my question is how do we calculate the PH value required.. if that gos too low due to low alkalinity then what?.. i use a skimmer, rowaphos, silicon remover and a chaeto reactor.. i was dosing few carbon additives which i have stopped now after learning my very low phosphate level... thanks you again for the excellent writeup..my icp test attached