Just say a prayer

KatSea · Jul 4, 2017

Can we all just say a prayer for my mom lol.

So my last massive fish kill I had happened on her watch (nothing she did and I never found out what really happened everything was balanced or in the right range)

This time I'm gone for one day in my week vacation and one of my clown fish die and she hasn't even fed them yet lol! She's really beating herself up about it so just send some positive vibes lol.

prsnlty · Jul 4, 2017

Awe, poor mom! Lol

Putting all levity aside, it sounds like something maybe going on in your system. How long between the original Fishkill and the clown dying?

KatSea · Jul 4, 2017

prsnlty said:
Putting all levity aside, it sounds like something maybe going on in your system. How long between the original Fishkill and the clown dying?

This is a completely new tank. Only thing I brought over from the only tank was filter media, rock, and sand and of course any stock I had

revhtree · Jul 4, 2017

Oh no hate to hear!

prsnlty · Jul 4, 2017

KatSea said:
This is a completely new tank. Only thing I brought over from the only tank was filter media, rock, and sand and of course any stock I had

How long did you cycle the tank and how long ago was that? Whatever killed the first fish may well be in the rock and or sand. Don't mean to change your reason for the post but the fish didn't die for no reason, and I personally would take that as a warning and begin looking for the cause. [emoji6]

jsker · Jul 4, 2017

Could be a ammonia stick still happening or the still does not have the bio load to support fish yet. How long has the system been up and running?

prsnlty · Jul 4, 2017

Can you tell us about your tank and its parameters? Do you have a build thread? Do you know for certain why your other fish died in the previous setup? The problem with reusing Rock and especially sand from a previous setup is that you can transfer whatever cause the deaths of your other fish to your new tank depending on what happened there in the first place and how it was treated after the fact and before the move.

KatSea · Jul 4, 2017

All the filter media was already cycled and more than half the water was from the old tank (the first fish kill happened couple of months ago and I had already gotten the water balanced and everything clean) this tank has been up for a week now with used filter media and all that.

KatSea · Jul 4, 2017

prsnlty said:
Can you tell us about your tank and its parameters? Do you have a build thread? Do you know for certain why your other fish died in the previous setup? The problem with reusing Rock and especially sand from a previous setup is that you can transfer whatever cause the deaths of your other fish to your new tank depending on what happened there in the first place and how it was treated after the fact and before the move.

I never figured out what happened to my other fish. Water parameters where perfect and I checked them right after I found the fish and everything literally died in a die except one my pink spotted goby who lived with the rock and sand in the old tank untill last week when everything got moved over

KatSea · Jul 4, 2017

Also dont feel bad about asking questions I would like to figure out what happened but sadly I'm literally on the other side of the country with no way to give you exact readings.

prsnlty · Jul 4, 2017

KatSea said:
I never figured out what happened to my other fish. Water parameters where perfect and I checked them right after I found the fish and everything literally died in a die except one my pink spotted goby who lived with the rock and sand in the old tank untill last week when everything got moved over

Did you take any pictures of the fish when they were sick? Or can you describe what they looked like? It sounds like a parasite or velvet. But without seeing what they look like I couldn't tell you for sure. Also how long did that tank cycle or was up and running before those fish died? This new tank does not sound like it's fully cycled . One week- even using water Rock and Sand from an old system is not enough to cycle in one week without additional bacterial help. I agree that it could be as simple as in ammonia Spike. However we need to be sure that nothing transferred from the old system to the new system like parasites for example.

prsnlty · Jul 4, 2017

What test kits are you using and what tests are you doing? Is your tank livestock only or do you also have Coral? What size is your tank?

KatSea · Jul 4, 2017

Sadly I didn't take pictures and that tank was running for over a year with no deaths before hand. And I've been adding a daily dose of beneficial bacteria since starting it and I didn't really have a choice but to move everything in so quickly but like I said all the water parameters where good when I last checked even though I can't tell you exactly the number right now

KatSea · Jul 4, 2017

prsnlty said:
What test kits are you using and what tests are you doing? Is your tank livestock only or do you also have Coral? What size is your tank?

I use the API reed master kit and saltwater master kit right now it's just live stock I was waiting to add corals. It's 50 gallons with a 20 gallon sump. Live stock was 2 clowns (now only one) a pink spotted goby and a couple of snails and hermit crabs. Clowns where just introduced but everything else was from the old tank

4FordFamily · Jul 4, 2017

prsnlty said:
Did you take any pictures of the fish when they were sick? Or can you describe what they looked like? It sounds like a parasite or velvet. But without seeing what they look like I couldn't tell you for sure. Also how long did that tank cycle or was up and running before those fish died? This new tank does not sound like it's fully cycled . One week- even using water Rock and Sand from an old system is not enough to cycle in one week without additional bacterial help. I agree that it could be as simple as in ammonia Spike. However we need to be sure that nothing transferred from the old system to the new system like parasites for example.

X2. This spells out problem parasite. Unfortunately, without running the tank fishless for 76 days it'll return to kill nearly every fish added again.

Prayer sent by the way!

prsnlty · Jul 4, 2017

Ok. Adding the bacteria is good.

How many fish died last time and how quickly? How did they look, raised spots, flat spots, no spots? How were they breathing? What about this clown, how did he look and behave before dying?

KatSea · Jul 4, 2017

prsnlty said:
Ok. Adding the bacteria is good.

How many fish died last time and how quickly? How did they look, raised spots, flat spots, no spots? How were they breathing? What about this clown, how did he look and behave before dying?

Last time I lost 8 fish 2 clowns, 3 chromises, 3 pj Cardinals and a cleaner shrimp and all in less than 24 hours. They weren't acting weird I was worried about one PJ cause we wasn't doing g much but staying in one area. But not heavy breathing no slow movements no funny spots or anything off with there appearance. And the other day he looked just fine. Eating good and swimming fine

prsnlty · Jul 4, 2017

Can you run some tests now? We need to see if you have an ammonia Spike going on. And if your fish died altogether within 24 hours that's nearly always velvet. However not to see any spots of any kind is unusual with velvet. I would be concerned for sure that parasites did in fact transfer over to your new system and not put any new fish in your tank for a while. So all you have left is the goby now correct? Is there any other place that you can put the Gobi for 76 days and let that tank sit fallow? Maybe even a friend's tank? I think that would be your best course of action right now. Letting the tanks it follow will be sure to kill off any possible parasites with in your rock and sand. It will also give your tank a chance to finish cycling properly.

KatSea · Jul 4, 2017

prsnlty said:
Can you run some tests now? We need to see if you have an ammonia Spike going on. And if your fish died altogether within 24 hours that's nearly always velvet. However not to see any spots of any kind is unusual with velvet. I would be concerned for sure that parasites did in fact transfer over to your new system and not put any new fish in your tank for a while. So all you have left is the goby now correct? Is there any other place that you can put the Gobi for 76 days and let that tank sit fallow? Maybe even a friend's tank? I think that would be your best course of action right now. Letting the tanks it follow will be sure to kill off any possible parasites with in your rock and sand. It will also give your tank a chance to finish cycling properly.

Like I said earlier I'm half way across the country away from my tank nothing I can do at the moment. And as for putting them in a separate tank I have nothing else.

prsnlty · Jul 4, 2017

KatSea said:
Like I said earlier I'm half way across the country away from my tank nothing I can do at the moment. And as for putting them in a separate tank I have nothing else.

Ok I see. When you return see if you can pick up a 10 -20 gallon setup for cheap and use that as a QT. You can find these smaller systems most of the time on Craigslist or from Facebook resale pages in your area at very reasonable prices. You can also use a tote with a hang on the back filter, heater and light, this would be easy to store away for emergencies as well. My main system is 180 gallons so I have 6- 32 gallon trash cans on standby [emoji12] Please let us know how things go when you return.