HELP! Fatality after Fatality with practically any new fish. Brook or Ich or...?

[Zyrakito]

Hi all!

I'm new to this forum and about 7 months into the reefing hobby.

I love clownfish but MAN, I can't catch a break with them dying on me one by one within a week.

I even went through a couple sailfins, cardinals, mandarins...I can keep going.

Here are my stats, tank is about 7 months old.

80.4 degrees Fahrenheit
1.024 SG
8.11pH
8.9 Alk
22 ppb nitrite
.17 ppm phosphate
546 Ca

Would appreciate what steps I can take, keep hearing about quarantine tanks? Or any guides I can follow to prevent future fatilities.

Thank you so much!

 

[MnFish1]

More information needed - BUT
1. Source.
2. Your quarantine protocol
3. Other issues - which you could answer by reading my signature.

 

[Sharkbait19]

Have you been buying from the same source? Do they show similar symptoms before dying or is it always different?
The only way to successfully prevent disease from entering a tank is to properly quarantine:

Current Quarantine Protocol

2024 Quarantine Procedures Jay Hemdal David Scarborough Protozoans (Cryptocaryon/ich, Amyloodinium/velvet) and Metazoan trematodes/flukes are by far the most common parasites found on newly acquired fish. A carefully managed, proactive quarantine process can effectively eliminate these...

www.reef2reef.com

 

[Mr. Mojo Rising]

How big is the tank? How many fish do you add at one time?

 

[Gumbies R Us]

Sorry about your issues, similar to what some of the people above have said. How long have you had them before they started to get ill? Any changes you have made recently that would be causing this?

 

[Zyrakito]

Don’t nail me to the coffin. I didn’t think quarantining is required for healthy-looking fish from a reputable store. Because I do ask how recent they get them in. Now I might have to investigate and invest into a smaller QT tank. Currently have a 40-gallon with various corals, anemones as well - which, thankfully, are surviving and thriving. Total fish livestock about 5. I’m thinking too I might have to do an intense quarantine cleanse of the DT to get rid of whatever is infecting any new fish?

 

[907_Reefer]

Do you always run the tank above 80F ?

 

[Sharkbait19]

No need to completely tear apart the tank - fallowing for 60 days will eliminate all likely pests (I’m suspecting brooklynella based on the large amount of mucus). This gives you time to properly set up a qt to keep new fish in. Often diseases don’t show up in the store (whether because a low copper level is maintained to suppress ich/velvet or because they haven’t been there long enough for anything to show up) but appear once in the tank.

 

[vetteguy53081]

Hi all!

I'm new to this forum and about 7 months into the reefing hobby.

I love clownfish but MAN, I can't catch a break with them dying on me one by one within a week.

I even went through a couple sailfins, cardinals, mandarins...I can keep going.

Here are my stats, tank is about 7 months old.

80.4 degrees Fahrenheit
1.024 SG
8.11pH
8.9 Alk
22 ppb nitrite
.17 ppm phosphate
546 Ca

Would appreciate what steps I can take, keep hearing about quarantine tanks? Or any guides I can follow to prevent future fatilities.

Thank you so much!

Are you acclimating fish and how and how long?
What is your nitrate level (disregard Nitrite in marine unless above 80-100)
Your Phos level vert high (mainly affects coral) and should be .04-.08 safe range
CA is extremely high and should be in the 450 range. Are you doing anything to tank ?
What salt mix are you using ?

I recommend taking a water sample to a store that does NOT use Api kits and have them test your ammonia and nitrates and compare readings to yours - then you'll know where your levels truly are at

 

[Jay Hemdal Verified Community Expert]

Is that a shadow, or does that clown have sheets of mucus coming off it? If so, that's Brooklynella. Our quarantine protocol does not handle Brooklynella well. That is best handled by avoiding wild caught clownfish. Formalin works well to treat it, but that is difficult to source.

Jay

 

[Zyrakito]

Is that a shadow, or does that clown have sheets of mucus coming off it? If so, that's Brooklynella. Our quarantine protocol does not handle Brooklynella well. That is best handled by avoiding wild caught clownfish. Formalin works well to treat it, but that is difficult to source.

Jay

Yes. It was coming off in sheets.

 

[Lavey29]

Stop adding fish to the death list untol you identify your problem. Your tank will probably need to be fallow for 76 days due to disease.

 

[Jay Hemdal Verified Community Expert]

Yes. It was coming off in sheets.

That's Brooklynella. You can try Ruby Reef Rally Pro, but that doesn't always work. There really isn't any other treatment you can use in a display tank.

Jay

 

[Zyrakito]

Are you acclimating fish and how and how long?
What is your nitrate level (disregard Nitrite in marine unless above 80-100)
Your Phos level vert high (mainly affects coral) and should be .04-.08 safe range
CA is extremely high and should be in the 450 range. Are you doing anything to tank ?
What salt mix are you using ?

I recommend taking a water sample to a store that does NOT use Api kits and have them test your ammonia and nitrates and compare readings to yours - then you'll know where your levels truly are at

Acclimate for about 20 minutes using drip method. I was using the Hanna testing kit to get my numbers, time to time I get it tested at store to compare numbers. I’m not doing anything new to the tank by dosing. Just fish livestock, maybe 2-3 every few weeks, depends what died off and is current. Salt mix is what I get directly already pre-mixed from the store.

 

[Zyrakito]

Stop adding fish to the death list untol you identify your problem. Your tank will probably need to be fallow for 76 days due to disease.

Can a DT go fallow with existing fish that are doing just fine in the tank? Or do I need to take them out and QT?

 

[Sharkbait19]

Can a DT go fallow with existing fish that are doing just fine in the tank? Or do I need to take them out and QT?

All fish need to be removed or the parasites will continually be able to feed.

 

[Zyrakito]

All fish need to be removed or the parasites will continually be able to feed.

Gotcha. Okay, thank you!

 

[Lavey29]

Can a DT go fallow with existing fish that are doing just fine in the tank? Or do I need to take them out and QT?

Clowns are known for brook. I had the same issue. All fish need to be removed and treated in QT with formulin. Your tank needs to sit fallow for 76 days.

 

[vetteguy53081]

Acclimate for about 20 minutes using drip method. I was using the Hanna testing kit to get my numbers, time to time I get it tested at store to compare numbers. I’m not doing anything new to the tank by dosing. Just fish livestock, maybe 2-3 every few weeks, depends what died off and is current. Salt mix is what I get directly already pre-mixed from the store.

have that salt mix tested at a different LFS for:
Alk
Calcium
ph
salinity
phosphates

Some LFS have sold bad water and didnt even know it. Their environment is often humid and they get high evaporation which has effect on certain numbers OR next time, check with Hanna kits. Certain salts have higher alk numbers why I was curious what brand.

 

[MnFish1]

Curious - which test kits are you using?