Help 2 deaths in 2 nights - what to do now?

[Steven Goff]

I have a 125 gallon tank - ammonia is 0, nitrites is 0, nitrates is between 0 and 5. Two nights ago my bicolor angel was fine when lights went out. (maybe hiding in rocks more than normal) I think he was eating. The next morning he was dead. The color looked alittle pale, but no damage. Nothing from someone who is unexperienced in figuring out what's wrong. The next night (last night) almost the exact same thing with my flame angel. Before the lights went out, my son and I examined all fish and could not see anything wrong (the flame might have been hiding more than normal also) This morning he was on his side and barely breathing (and died shortly after I discovered him) Now I am just waiting to see what will die tonight. I have included a picture of the flame.

Any thoughts?

 

[Daoz126]

How long have you had your angels?

 

[Steven Goff]

not long about 1 week

 

[W1ngz]

Do you quarantine, and have you added anything recently? By 'anything' i really mean anything - rocks, snails, corals, fish, un-sanitized used hardware... anything.

 

[Steven Goff]

Do you quarantine, and have you added anything recently? By 'anything' i really mean anything - rocks, snails, corals, fish, un-sanitized used hardware... anything.

I put the angels in an observation tank, but not long enough (now that I learned the hard way). Yes - I added a tang on sunday

 

[W1ngz]

The fin rot on that flame makes me think infection. Can you get new photos with higher resolution and better light?

 

[Steven Goff]

I can later - I took the picture quickly before work - if infection is there anything I need to do for other fish in tank?

 

[W1ngz]

I can later - I took the picture quickly before work - if infection is there anything I need to do for other fish in tank?

There's lots of things you can do. If it was a bacterial infection it may have been localized to just the angels - which makes you pretty lucky. With clearer photos of both fish someone on the #reefsquad might be able to identify other symptoms, which will determine the right course of action.

Have a really close look daily for the next little while at all of the other fish for anything at all that doesn't seem to match pictures of perfect looking fish (you can google them) - any white spots, brown spots, white 'dust', torn or raggedy fins, heavy breathing.

Don't add anything else to the tank until we figure this out.

 

[Steven Goff]

There's lots of things you can do. If it was a bacterial infection it may have been localized to just the angels - which makes you pretty lucky. With clearer photos of both fish someone on the #reefsquad might be able to identify other symptoms, which will determine the right course of action.

Have a really close look daily for the next little while at all of the other fish for anything at all that doesn't seem to match pictures of perfect looking fish (you can google them) - any white spots, brown spots, white 'dust', torn or raggedy fins, heavy breathing.

Don't add anything else to the tank until we figure this out.[/QUOTEThe pn;

The only thing I noticed was some discoloration on the blue tang - some white bloches on his forehead (I don't know the name of that part of the fish). I thought that was the natural color of the tang - but I could be wrong.

 

[W1ngz]

The only thing I noticed was some discoloration on the blue tang - some white bloches on his forehead (I don't know the name of that part of the fish). I thought that was the natural color of the tang - but I could be wrong

Blue tangs are varying shades of blue with black and yellow. White blotches on a blue tang aren't normal at all and indicate something, possibly serious - possibly simple.
Have a really close look above and below the eyes, and the fins. The fins should be full, with only bumps at the end of each spline, no clear spikes.

Good news though, you'll be getting plenty of practice taking fish pictures

 

[Lasse]

How old is the tank? How much corals do you have? Is the skimmer running 7/24? Bar bottom or sand? Do you run any dissolved organic carbon source like NoPOX? Which are your other fish?

Sincerely Lasse

 

[Steven Goff]

How old is the tank? How much corals do you have? Is the skimmer running 7/24? Bar bottom or sand? Do you run any dissolved organic carbon source like NoPOX? Which are your other fish?

Sincerely Lasse

The tank is 5 years old, but I just moved it. So there is new sand. I dosed it with ammonia twice and both times went to zero quickly. I have some coral frags - about 5. The skimmer is running all the time. I do not run anything like NoPOX.

Other fish
3 clowns
1 lawnmower
2 diamond goby
1 blue tang

 

[Big G]

Dwarf angels have been taking a pretty bad beating in the supply chain the last couple of years. Many of them are coming in with velvet hidden in their gills, from the shippers and wholesalers using sub-therapeutic levels of copper to suppress parasites, often not showing a lot of external symptoms until they pass: hiding from light, lethargy, loss of color, suddenly not eating. Usual time frame unfortunately fits your experience. Sorry for your losses. Beautiful fish(s).

 

[Steven Goff]

Dwarf angels have been taking a pretty bad beating in the supply chain the last couple of years. Many of them are coming in with velvet hidden in their gills, from the shippers and wholesalers using sub-therapeutic levels of copper to suppress parasites, often not showing a lot of external symptoms until they pass: hiding from light, lethargy, loss of color, suddenly not eating. Usual time frame unfortunately fits your experience. Sorry for your losses. Beautiful fish(s).

This sounds close to what happened - my other fish are now exposed?

 

[BestMomEver]

The only thing I’ve seen that can kill that fast is velvet. I lost eight fish in 2.5 days. The ones that lived are still with me.

 

[Steven Goff]

Good news - nothing died last night. All remaining fish ate very good yesterday. Even the Diamond Goby (which is one of my favorites). The discoloration on the Hippo was from fighting at the LFS. He was in the store for about a year with other Hippos (there were about 1 inch when LFS got them, now about 2-3) And I saw the fish with about 15 other hippos.

I did a water change last nite also.

So now it is just best to wait and see what happens?

 

[Steven Goff]

There's lots of things you can do. If it was a bacterial infection it may have been localized to just the angels - which makes you pretty lucky. With clearer photos of both fish someone on the #reefsquad might be able to identify other symptoms, which will determine the right course of action.

Have a really close look daily for the next little while at all of the other fish for anything at all that doesn't seem to match pictures of perfect looking fish (you can google them) - any white spots, brown spots, white 'dust', torn or raggedy fins, heavy breathing.

Don't add anything else to the tank until we figure this out.

How do I know if it was localized to the angels - it has been 5 days since the deaths and all other fish are eating and looking good? Just wait this out?

 

[W1ngz]

It's hard to say without pics.
The ratty fins on that flame angel should have been an indication something was wrong before it died.