Help! Nothing is surviving.

[danenelsen]

About a two months ago I bought a 55 gallon tank used from someone. It came with 2 clownfish and a lawnmower blend. The tank was working well until about two weeks in. Then, one of the clownfish and the blenny died. After about a week of good water testing we decided to get a conch and a starfish. After 24 hours they also both died. Now, last week I got an orchid dottyback and it died after 3 days. I have had the water professionally tested and it tests perfect. However, the first clownfish is doing well. I can't figure out what's wrong. All the water tests good and I change it out every weekend. Help!

 

[dedragon]

should have asked this before as well but just asking a bunch of questions to get the full scope of the issue, How did the fish look before they died and right after? Heavy breathing or look whitish? Any specks on them? How much water flow is there as well, as O2 could also be an issue?

 

[vetteguy53081]

Well, if my water was bad why didn't the other clownfish die? Shouldn't all of them be dead?

Not necessarily. The new fish are more affected by sudden change and As I suspected hence question - Not all store water is good and should be periodically tested and an LFS testing assuming with API is NOT Professionally tested- An Icp test is professional. Over 3 decades ive seen LFS sell water that was high on nitrate and phosphate and they didnt even know it as well as very low salinity water.
If tank was not set up right away, you risk low level toxins and dead bacteria. Aged water will help assuming not high in ammonia and nitrate.

 

[danenelsen]

did you reuse sand/substrate from the original tank setup?

Yes.

 

[dedragon]

Yes.

this could have caused some of the issues. Sand traps a bunch of stuff which can get broken down overtime and build up unless cleaned frequently. When you transferred the sand it would send everything out at once into the water column and probably spiked ammonia for a bit as well.

 

[dedragon]

Because this is a used tank I would probably run an ICP test (the professional test as Vette stated), just in case the previous owner used copper in the tank or something. I would run carbon as well and get the nitrate and phosphate retested with better tests (I like salifert, red sea pro, and hanna checkers)
From here I would just do a 50% water change and wait 2 more weeks doing regular maintenance as well. This will give the tank (and really bacterial populations) time to stabilize. Then I would add one tank bred clown to see about pairing your clown and see how it does before adding other fish.

I am guessing this will be a reef tank given the equipment you are using but do you know if this will be reef or fowlr? You can also take heater and temp controller and put it in the sump if you have room, if not I would place it in the overflow box. (just extra space and hides it from viewers)

 

[dedragon]

let us know how those fish looked when dying/dead as well it would be helpful so we know whether it is a common parasite like ich or brook

 

[danenelsen]

let us know how those fish looked when dying/dead as well it would be helpful so we know whether it is a common parasite like ich or brook

All the fish looked paler right before they died.

 

[danenelsen]

Because this is a used tank I would probably run an ICP test (the professional test as Vette stated), just in case the previous owner used copper in the tank or something. I would run carbon as well and get the nitrate and phosphate retested with better tests (I like salifert, red sea pro, and hanna checkers)
From here I would just do a 50% water change and wait 2 more weeks doing regular maintenance as well. This will give the tank (and really bacterial populations) time to stabilize. Then I would add one tank bred clown to see about pairing your clown and see how it does before adding other fish.

I am guessing this will be a reef tank given the equipment you are using but do you know if this will be reef or fowlr? You can also take heater and temp controller and put it in the sump if you have room, if not I would place it in the overflow box. (just extra space and hides it from viewers)

Yes. I am aiming for it to eventually be a reef. Thank you for the food suggestions!

 

[Snoopdog]

Also, do not rule out things like stray voltage. There are also things you just are not going to be able to test for even with good test kits. An ICP test would not hurt at this point, if you are in this for the long haul.

 

[danenelsen]

should have asked this before as well but just asking a bunch of questions to get the full scope of the issue, How did the fish look before they died and right after? Heavy breathing or look whitish? Any specks on them? How much water flow is there as well, as O2 could also be an issue?

The fish did look whitish right before they died. I didn't notice any heavy breathing or specks but I could have misses them. I don't think water flow is an issue, the return is fairly strong and there is also a fan that is blowing at thr bottom.

 

[dedragon]

All the fish looked paler right before they died.

this could be indicative of brook (brooklynella). Sometimes they will also have a visible white mucus coming off as well. If it does end up being brook you will usually know as it kills all fish pretty fast and clowns are pretty susceptible to it

The fish did look whitish right before they died. I didn't notice any heavy breathing or specks but I could have misses them. I don't think water flow is an issue, the return is fairly strong and there is also a fan that is blowing at thr bottom.

If you have a sump running with 1 fish you will be fine. Always point one of the wavemakers or returns from sump at the surface so it increases O2 exchange, more of an issue if you had more fish but will be helpful later.

 

[dedragon]

Brooklynella

Brooklynella hostilis What You Need To Know: * This is most often seen in clownfish, but it can afflict any fish. The fish’s skin will appear to be peeling or sloughing off, oftentimes causing excessive white mucous to form around the affected area(s). * Treatment of choice is a 45 minute...

www.reef2reef.com

I would take a look at this just in case so you know how to proceed if it is. Qt is the best prevention for any disease going forward or just buying either prequarantined fish or tank bred fish.

 

[danenelsen]

Thank you everyone for the great advice and helpfulness!