Help! New fish died.

averagesteve · Aug 21, 2019

Hey all. I'm fairly new to this. My 29 gallons has been up for a few months now with 2 clowns, added 2 Cardinals and 6 hermits a about a month ago. Everything was still going smoothly so I added a royal gramma and serpent star 5 days ago.

Every is eating well and water params check out, however 3 crabs have died over the course of the month and my royal gramma died today. The royal gramma was normal until today, eating well, swimming well, acting normal. Today I got home from work and the gramma was just hanging out vertically in the back top corner of the tank just swimming there. I noticed one eye was cloudy.

2 hours later the gramma was dead. Any idea what could have happened? I inspected the body and it just had the one cloudy eye. I don't see signs of ich or anything else.

Also, 3 hermits died within the month, is this a sign that something is bad?

Params: 34 PPT salinity, <.25 ammonia, 0 nitrites, 5-10 nitrates. 87 degrees F. 8.3 alk.

COreef8 · Aug 21, 2019

Sorry to hear about the deaths in the tank, it is by far the hardest thing for me about this hobby when it happens. It is an unfortunate part of the learning curve.

My first red flag in your post is your tank temperature. Not sure if 87 is a typo, but 87 is too high for most saltwater fish and invertebrates. The tank should be closer to 78. Fortunately, in a 29 gallon tank, a fan or two will do a lot to lower the tank temperature. What is your heater set to?

averagesteve · Aug 21, 2019

COreef8 said:
Sorry to hear about the deaths in the tank, it is by far the hardest thing for me about this hobby when it happens. It is an unfortunate part of the learning curve.

My first red flag in your post is your tank temperature. Not sure if 87 is a typo, but 87 is too high for most saltwater fish and invertebrates. The tank should be closer to 78. Fortunately, in a 29 gallon tank, a fan or two will do a lot to lower the tank temperature. What is your heater set to?

Sorry I meant 78.

averagesteve · Aug 21, 2019

Update. Everything died. Not even sure what happened. Everyone was normal yesterday. Eating good. Within hours today, total loss.

j.falk · Aug 22, 2019

That sounds like a contaminant got in the water and crashed the tank. Soap, lotion, perfumes, etc... can all be detrimental to aquarium livestock.

Another possibility is someone sprayed a chemical near the tank. Glass cleaner, aerosol air fresheners, etc...

Were the fish gasping for air at the top of the tank before they died?

mattzang · Aug 22, 2019

sorry for your loss man

i'm no disease expert, but for it to kill that quickly it sounds like velvet

W1ngz · Aug 22, 2019

Ouch. Sorry.
For everything, inverts and fish to die it would have to be high ammonia, lack of oxygen or a contaminant in the tank. I can't think of what else would wipe out everything. Velvet doesn't kill inverts.

averagesteve · Aug 22, 2019

j.falk said:
That sounds like a contaminant got in the water and crashed the tank. Soap, lotion, perfumes, etc... can all be detrimental to aquarium livestock.

Another possibility is someone sprayed a chemical near the tank. Glass cleaner, aerosol air fresheners, etc...

Were the fish gasping for air at the top of the tank before they died?

I think they may have been gasping for air. What would cause lack of oxygen tho? Maybe I filled the tank too high last water change and the filter wasn't breaking surface tension?

j.falk · Aug 22, 2019

Heaters can malfunction and deplete the oxygen in the water...usually the fish will hover at the top of the tank gasping for air. Check your heater to see if it's running hot...also look for water inside of the glass tube to see if the heater possibly has a crack in it.

Chemicals in the water can make them gasp too and they would probably have been swimming erratically (swimming circles, laying on the bottom and then quickly darting off, etc...).

My money is on some kind of chemical getting in the tank. I thoroughly rinse my hands and arms before getting in my aquarium and I never use spray chemicals or air fresheners in the same room the tank is in.

Edit: If you have a pet cat they like to sit on top of aquariums and stick their paws in the tank. Cat litter will also wipe out an aquarium quickly.