My fish are all dying

[BigAquaBob]

Sounds like something definitely got into the system when you added the anthias. If I understand this, all other fish had been with you for at least a month and you added the anthias directly after drip acclimation from a lfs. Did the fish do any type of qt?
Corals and other inverts okay?

Corals are ok and the anemone is doing good. He's been in there about 2 weeks but is eating once a week. Crab and arrow crab are good and so are the hermit crabs and most other snails.

 

[BigAquaBob]

So I see on Sunday you posted that you were having massive algae issues. Covering everything and the water looked like pea soup. The pic posted above looks like a newly setup tank it is so clean. What has happened over the past 5 days?

I did the 3 water changes and a black out and went down to one light until I can get them hooked up to the ceiling. I lowered the overall brightness and have been going mainly blue augmented with the sun light in the room. I have a lil bit of algae on the glass and sand but water is clear. I am getting a uv sterilizer on Sunday.

 

[BigAquaBob]

Sorry I am still new to this only been in for about 5 or so months. This is killing me I hate seeing these guys die. I have done a ton of research but man I am at a loss.

 

[Dom]

I hate to be writing this but I am not sure what else to do I am getting tons of different stories from 3 lfs. I bought a anthias to add to the tank drip acclimated him and put him in. Did good for 4 days then stopped eating and died a day later. Took him back and lfs said he was probably stressed. A week later my purple dottyback started acting weird and started hiding and not eating. Dead a day later. No discoloration really or signs of ich or velvet. A week later my tomini tangs also acts wired eyes look cloudy next day dead. He looked like he might have some white spots so I gave him a freshwater dip and mucus came off when I put him back in the tank but when he died I did not see any spots or lesions. Following day white clownfish ate in the morning boom dead in the afternoon. I checked my parameters nothing is wrong salt level 1.025 nitrites 20 and no amonia. I only have 1 clownfish a cardinal who now also has cloudy eyes and seems to be acting weird and a wrasse. This is in a 75 gallon tank with 2 gsps, zoa and an anemone. I don't know what to do. I haven't changed anything and none of the pics of disease I see look like my fish and for them to die so quick?? Please help!

You added an Anthias and 4 days later, it was dead. A week later, the Dottyback dies. One day later, a Clownfish died.

You didn't mention anything about quarantining your new Anthia. You simply acclimated and placed it into your display.

I'm sorry, but based on the information provided, it sounds like you placed a diseased Anthia in your display tank, and after a week, it has taken hold.

Disease (Brook, Velvet?) are a common cause for things like this.

@Jay Hemdal

 

[DeniseAndy]

Unfortunately this can happen. I am sorry for your losses. In this day and age, with both wild and captive bred fish, I am seeing more and more deaths of fish. I will always qt my fish. No exceptions.
Since you do not have a qt system and are rather new to the whole process, I recommend using pre-qt'd fish. There are a few out there.
As above, you added a nasty disease to the tank. If all fish die, leave tank fallow for 4 months and then either only do captive bred from captive only systems, or a qt'd fish.
Good luck. Even the much more experienced make mistakes. Just see my build. ;Happy

 

[Greg P]

Possibly Brooklynella

 

[fade2black]

Or early velvet.

Velvet (Amyloodinium):

Symptoms - Because velvet can be such a fast killer, key behavioral symptoms will often prelude visible ones. A fish with velvet may breathe heavy, seek relief by swimming into the flow of a powerhead and act reclusive (velvet makes them sensitive to light).

If visible symptoms do manifest; velvet appears the same as ich, except the fish will usually be covered in “dust.” This dust may look gold colored if viewed at the right angle and under the right spectrum of light. Velvet is often misdiagnosed as ich and is the main “tank killer” in our hobby. It can wipe out all your fish in less than 72 hours and cannot usually be “managed” as ich sometimes is.

Treatment options - Chloroquine phosphate is the treatment of choice for velvet, but copper also works if symptoms are caught early on. Tank transfer and hypo does not work with velvet. A freshwater dip or formalin bath is recommended before treatment begins, due to the severity of this disease; however these would only provide temporary relief and will not eradicate velvet.

 

[Uncle99]

Arrow crab?
Can attack small fish, certainly other crustaceans.
Hum?..
Just a SWAG...

 

[BigAquaBob]

Unfortunately this can happen. I am sorry for your losses. In this day and age, with both wild and captive bred fish, I am seeing more and more deaths of fish. I will always qt my fish. No exceptions.
Since you do not have a qt system and are rather new to the whole process, I recommend using pre-qt'd fish. There are a few out there.
As above, you added a nasty disease to the tank. If all fish die, leave tank fallow for 4 months and then either only do captive bred from captive only systems, or a qt'd fish.
Good luck. Even the much more experienced make mistakes. Just see my build. ;Happy

Well supposedly this place qts for 4 weeks so that is kind of why I bought from there. I will have to work on getting a qt of my own. Should I just let it run it's course in the main tank or take them out and let that tank sit for multiple weeks.

 

[BigAquaBob]

Arrow crab?
Can attack small fish, certainly other crustaceans.
Hum?..
Just a SWAG...

So far the arrow has been pretty mellow he pops out grabs food from the column and backs away.

 

[BigAquaBob]

So far the arrow has been pretty mellow he pops out grabs food from the column and backs away.

4 months fallow. Geez am I better off just burning the thing in the front yard

 

[BigAquaBob]

I will work on getting a qt tank going to treat the 3 fish I have left. What should I do with the main tank? A different lfs told me to put peppermint shrimp and cleaner shrimp in to clean the tank?? And leave the fish in there but that sounded weird. I want to do this the right way for the long term and fix this issue. I don't want to reintroduce fish and have them sick again.

 

[Jay Hemdal Verified Community Expert]

I hate to be writing this but I am not sure what else to do I am getting tons of different stories from 3 lfs. I bought a anthias to add to the tank drip acclimated him and put him in. Did good for 4 days then stopped eating and died a day later. Took him back and lfs said he was probably stressed. A week later my purple dottyback started acting weird and started hiding and not eating. Dead a day later. No discoloration really or signs of ich or velvet. A week later my tomini tangs also acts wired eyes look cloudy next day dead. He looked like he might have some white spots so I gave him a freshwater dip and mucus came off when I put him back in the tank but when he died I did not see any spots or lesions. Following day white clownfish ate in the morning boom dead in the afternoon. I checked my parameters nothing is wrong salt level 1.025 nitrites 20 and no amonia. I only have 1 clownfish a cardinal who now also has cloudy eyes and seems to be acting weird and a wrasse. This is in a 75 gallon tank with 2 gsps, zoa and an anemone. I don't know what to do. I haven't changed anything and none of the pics of disease I see look like my fish and for them to die so quick?? Please help!

If your invertebrates are fine, but all the have died or are sick, it isn’t a problem with the water, it is one of the infectious fish diseases. Are he fish breathing deeply or fast?
Jay

 

[BigAquaBob]

If your invertebrates are fine, but all the have died or are sick, it isn’t a problem with the water, it is one of the infectious fish diseases. Are he fish breathing deeply or fast?
Jay

Yea the tang seemed to have some rapid breathing at the end. I am just throwing this out there but what if it's my oxygen levels with the algae bloom and die off?

 

[BigAquaBob]

Yea the tang seemed to have some rapid breathing at the end. I am just throwing this out there but what if it's my oxygen levels with the algae bloom and die off?

Looked at the cardinal fish and it has white spots on its fins but I don't know if that's just how their fins are?? The dead clownfish does not have spots at all. The live clownfish has no spots and neither does the wrasse. The cardinal fish also has some mucas coming off it and lil bit cloudy eyes. Still very yactive swimming tho

 

[Jekyl]

Yea the tang seemed to have some rapid breathing at the end. I am just throwing this out there but what if it's my oxygen levels with the algae bloom and die off?

Have a ph test? Using a skimmer or something else to oxygenate the water?

 

[BigAquaBob]

Have a ph test? Using a skimmer or something else to oxygenate the water?

I don't have a skimmer. I have the pump the blows water across the surface to agitate it across the tank.

 

[Rubberfrog]

Take some water down to the LFS and get some tests run. We don't really have enough info.

 

[dvgyfresh]

I’ve had fish with disease (flashing / ich / flukes) and what has saved them is adding selcon to their meals. It boosts immune system to best out disease and gives healthier/brighter fish. But if you had velvet I think that is a ticking time bomb unfortunately

 

[Tamberav]

Just remove the fish, go fallow and start treating them. Start with a peroxide dip, 1.25ml/cup of 3% for 30 min. Regardless of what it is... adding any more fish to this tank without at least 45 days fallow (no fish) at 80 degrees is foolish.

It could be a number of things and not all disease shows signs. It seems Uronema has been going through the wholesalers recently and killing fish without lesions (internal). Anthias are very prone to this and often carriers. Velvet can kill fast enough without signs as well.

The fish I have been picking up the last few months have been carrying aggressive bacterial infections and needing treatment within days of buying them.

Adding any fish without QT has the possibility of taking out your entire tank (more so if the tank is new/young). So when you see a new fish you really want and you don't QT... ask yourself if it is worth it.