Just lost a fish in my 40b. Need help!

[glb]

I just found my Royal Gramma dead under some rocks after not seeing him today. Ammonia measured at .25ppm. Nitrates at 10-15ppm, which is normal for the tank. I have five other fishes that look fine and are eating well. I put in a large dose of Prime to neutralize the ammonia and am making water now for a water change. The 5 fish just ate a big dinner and are very active, so I think I caught it in time. I'm thinking a 5g water change tonight and maybe another one tomorrow. The Prime should keep the ammonia bound as ammonium until the water change and the biofilter get rid of it. I don't have another tank to put them in. Is there anything else to do tonight other than the water change? I dosed 4-5 times the recommended amount of Prime per the instructions in case of emergency. I'm not sure what happened to the little guy. I didn't see any signs of illness. Only other change in the tank was starting Nopox last week but only got up to 1/2 the dose. I have a good skimmer so I don't think low oxygen was a problem. Any help is appreciated. This is my first loss in my 40b. Thanks in advance for your help. RIP William the Royal Gramma.

 

[Mikey Mane The Flare]

First thing I would do is stop dumping prime in there. Second are you using tap water when making your water?

 

[glb]

First thing I would do is stop dumping prime in there. Second are you using tap water when making your water?

No I'm using RODI. TDS is 0 and chloramines are zero. All parameters were checked earlier today and were fine. Only source if ammonia was the dead fish. I know Prime isn't a solution to an underlying problem, but it is an emergency measure.

 

[glb]

I've kept SW tanks for years, but my other tank was a nano and if I lost a fish, either my crabs ate it right away or I found it. I've never had an ammonia spike that I know of. Plus I only kept one fish in the nano. So taking care of the other fish is my focus.

 

[lion king]

Ammonia should always be zero, how fast did you add fish and how long has he been in there. Ideally even if a fish dies the biofilter should be established enough to handle it. A fish that may have died since yesterday should not have caused an ammonia. Fish do die and it's not always your fault. Royal Grammas can be one of those 50/50 fish, I know some people who haven't had good luck with them. Was he for sure eating, I mean really eating and not just picking here or there. If you for sure don't see any signs of disease, or distress in the other fish, and everyone is eating. I wouldn't get too worked up other than figuring out the ammonia.

 

[OrionN]

Sometime the reading of ammonia test isn't too good.
A dead Royal Gramma in a 40 gal reef tank isn't going to cause ammonia spike IMO. I would recheck the ammonia test that you use.
Why did he died?

 

[RMS18]

I agree with above post. One dead fish in a 40b will not cause that high of a spike. We need to know how long the system has been running for. This might be a cycling issue. If you havent by now do a large water change. Change out carbon to take prime out. Also it is a good idea to pick up some live bacteria like Dr Tims or biospira.

 

[glb]

Ammonia should always be zero, how fast did you add fish and how long has he been in there. Ideally even if a fish dies the biofilter should be established enough to handle it. A fish that may have died since yesterday should not have caused an ammonia. Fish do die and it's not always your fault. Royal Grammas can be one of those 50/50 fish, I know some people who haven't had good luck with them. Was he for sure eating, I mean really eating and not just picking here or there. If you for sure don't see any signs of disease, or distress in the other fish, and everyone is eating. I wouldn't get too worked up other than figuring out the ammonia.

I added them super slow. Two 6 months ago after the cycle, two more about a month after that, one a few weeks later and the royal Gramma about a month ago. No new fish since then and everything's been stable. I'm pretty sure I saw him yesterday but did notice that he wasn't eating as much as usual the past few days. I didn't see any clamped fins or signs of distress. I just can't remember exactly the last time I saw him alive.

 

[CindyKz]

Curious what test you're using for ammonia? I had a hard time with the API test. It often looked like .25 to me, but when I used other tests to confirm they would read "0".

 

[glb]

I agree with above post. One dead fish in a 40b will not cause that high of a spike. We need to know how long the system has been running for. This might be a cycling issue. If you havent by now do a large water change. Change out carbon to take prime out. Also it is a good idea to pick up some live bacteria like Dr Tims or biospira.

Tank has been up 6 mos. It was fully cycled with Dr. Tim's and pure ammonia. I just did a 5g water change and the ammonia is back to 0ppm. I used the API test because it's what I had on hand. I know they're not the greatest, but I definitely saw some ammonia in the results before. Could be a bad test, but better safe than sorry.

 

[glb]

Curious what test you're using for ammonia? I had a hard time with the API test. It often looked like .25 to me, but when I used other tests to confirm they would read "0".

I did use API. I usually get a solid 0, where it stays yellow. It was just slightly green. I don't buy expensive ammonia tests because I hardly ever do them after cycling. It could definitely have been testing error. Looks like crisis averted!

 

[glb]

Sometime the reading of ammonia test isn't too good.
A dead Royal Gramma in a 40 gal reef tank isn't going to cause ammonia spike IMO. I would recheck the ammonia test that you use.
Why did he died?

I don't know why he died. He was hiding in a cave where I couldn't see him that well.

 

[glb]

I found him under a rock. I think the snail may have taken him there for dinner.

 

[CindyKz]

I did use API. I usually get a solid 0, where it stays yellow. It was just slightly green. I don't buy expensive ammonia tests because I hardly ever do them after cycling. It could definitely have been testing error. Looks like crisis averted!

If it were me I would do the water change tonight to be on the safe side and continue to monitor ammonia with a better test kit. Also watch your other inhabitants closely...you said they are all fine now which to me is another indicator that you MIGHT not have as much ammonia as you initially thought. Keep in mind that Prime can skew ammonia tests, too...I can't remember if API is one of them. I think it is though.

I am sorry to hear about your royal gramma :'(

 

[glb]

If it were me I would do the water change tonight to be on the safe side and continue to monitor ammonia with a better test kit. Also watch your other inhabitants closely...you said they are all fine now which to me is another indicator that you MIGHT not have as much ammonia as you initially thought. Keep in mind that Prime can skew ammonia tests, too...I can't remember if API is one of them. I think it is though.

I am sorry to hear about your royal gramma :'(

Thanks. I already did a 5g water change and the ammonia is back to 0ppm. What's a good ammonia test?

 

[glb]

Thanks for your help everyone! You're the best!

 

[CindyKz]

Thanks. I already did a 5g water change and the ammonia is back to 0ppm. What's a good ammonia test?

I use salifert.

 

[glb]

Update. The tank looks great today. Looks like the water change, biofilter and skimmer solved the problem. I dose Nopox and noticed there was more slime than usual in the sump. I'm sure this was the excess nitrates being processed. In a few weeks I'll get a new fishie once I'm sure things are stable. I was thinking about a few blue chromis. Does anyone have good info on them?