Help identify a problem

[Staisman]

I am loosing my fish slowly. Couple month ago I lost my Copperband due to some bacterial disease, then my Leopard wrasse femail turned into the male and disappeared, didn't see her/him for a month now. And yesterday my bi-colored blenny died after it got some discoloration on its side and then the hole appeared on that spot. So something is wrong here. All my other fish are doing fine, I don't see any abnormal behavior or anything. Before I loose all my fish I would like to ask what should I do? Everyone is fat and eating normally, even blenny ate.

My tank is 150 gal with 50 gal sump, I have skimmer, over sized carbon filter and cheato as my nutrients export. I do not dose anything right now because I don't have many corals. I do WC every two weeks. My ATO system using RODI water only. My lighting is two 48'' BML LEDS with 4-48'' T5 bulbs.

I was thinking maybe I should get UV filter?

 

[DeniseAndy]

How long has the system been running and how long had you had the fish that died. Also, did you qt them? Add anything new?

 

[Staisman]

My system running for 3-4 years, the blenny has been in my tank for 2 years, same with wrasses, the copperband was new, he was in the QT tank for a month with no illness and then died after a month or two in the DT.

 

[Staisman]

I have also Fox Face, Purple Tang, Ocellaris Clown, Leopard Wrasse, Flame angel, Blue Chromis, Mandarin and Powder blue Tang in a QT, I just got him.

 

[graffitireef]

What are your water parems? Are you using any meds in the QT?

 

[Staisman]

Temp 78-79
Alk - 8 dkh
Cal - 450 ppm
Mag - 1300 ppm
NO3 - 8 ppm
PO4 - 0.04 ppm (could be 0.0 because I use HI713 hanna)

I only use meds in QT if fish shows some signs of the disease.

 

[DeniseAndy]

Not surprised on the copperband actually. Sometimes they make it months then just die. It is usually liver disease because of diet we cannot support in our systems (not for lack of trying though). The blenny I am not sure without actually seeing the injury or isssue. Maybe a predator in your tank or a bacterial infection on him too? The wrasse would hide for a bit, but a month is a long time. How old was it? Most only live about a year or maybe 2 after full transition.

Keep an eye out for any discolorations on other fish. If you do have a communal bacteria infection going around, you will have to treat it. If not, your healthy fish will make it through. I would be reluctant to add all the qt fish in though. Maybe at least treat with anti parasitic to make sure these do not weaken them for anything they may get in dt. Wait till you are confident your other tank is healthy again. No deaths, issues for another month. Hoping your qt can handle that.

Good luck. These are just my opinions from what I have experienced and would do if it were me.

 

[Staisman]

What happened to my wrasses is very interesting tho, I bought them as pair, mail and female and they stayed like that for over 2 years, and about 3 month ago my female turned into the male, and got chased by the dominant male of course, so i am assuming she is long dead. She would go out less and less and now i don't see her/him anymore.

Also time to time my purple tang gets discoloration on his bottom or sides, but they would disappear with no issues to the fish, so I assumed the same with blenny, after couple days spot become less visible and then huge hole appeared there, and after two days he died. It was happening for about a week in total.

Maybe I can feed metroplex with their food just in case? Will it effect corals?

 

[laverda]

Did the copperband also have a hole as well? If so it could be a parasite.

 

[Paul B]

Not surprised on the copperband actually. Sometimes they make it months then just die. It is usually liver disease because of diet we cannot support in our systems (not for lack of trying though).

I never heard of that one. Did you read it someplace. I never have problems with copperbands and I have been keeping them for decades. But it could be true. I am just interested in the source.

 

[DeniseAndy]

I have lost three and each time I did a necropsy, the liver was damaged beyond almost recognition. So, those are experiences. I have also read a bit (honestly off hand cannot remember source - I will look) about liver disease in captive fish. I had one that was healthy and I eventually found a new home for due to eating my lps, but all others have had same results in necropsy. Maybe my bad luck, but I did one for a friend and hers had same issue. I have seen it in other fish also, not just copperbanded. I should probably have kept a journal of my necropsies (many for others) to record this, maybe I will start now.

 

[Staisman]

Did the copperband also have a hole as well? If so it could be a parasite.

No Copperband died with some red spots at the tail. He was in my DT for about two months, and one month in QT before that. Was eating fine, looked fat, had no signs and one morning I found him next to the overflow barely holding straight, so I moved him to the QT and he died in 2 hours.

 

[DeniseAndy]

He looks pretty bad. Pinched abdomen, red blotches usually signify bacterial infection. Poor thing.

 

[Staisman]

I found no pattern or any similarities in deaths of my fish.

He looks pretty bad. Pinched abdomen, red blotches usually signify bacterial infection. Poor thing.

That happened overnight ! I fed him at 6pm the day before and he was eating normally.

So there is something in my tank, I need help to figure it out !!!

 

[Staisman]

So what should I do? More frequent WC ? Less feeding maybe?

 

[DeniseAndy]

Man, I am sorry. Are your fish still in QT and doing okay? What else is in the DT? You can try metronidazole in the food (it may need a binder though). I have used some antibiotics in a full reef (putting in fish food) with good effect on the fish, not so good effect on my sponge. The corals were all fine, but sponges lost all color. Over time they came back fine. I believe I used eurythromycin.

 

[Staisman]

My QT is 15 gal, I can't put my fish in a QT, I have only one fish in my QT, powderblue tang. Where is bacterial disease come from? My fish is not stressed, my water is clean, I have barely any algae growing on the glass. I do WC every two weeks from my sump so fish doesn't even know.

I have metroplex and focus, I can feed with food.

 

[DeniseAndy]

I would treat with that and see if it helps. Good luck! I am sorry this is happening to you.

 

[Staisman]

I would treat with that and see if it helps. Good luck! I am sorry this is happening to you.

Don't be sorry, not your fault thanks for advise.