My fish keep dying

[Cameron80288]

Ok so, I have a 75 gallon saltwater fish only with live rock. There’s about 50 pounds of live rock I have about a 2 inch sand bed and the tank has about a 9 gallon sump space and a protein skimmer. The tank is almost 2 years old and I do regular maintenance on the tank as well. The tanks temperature is 77 and the tank is far from being overstocked. The tank has been doing amazing up until now, the only think I can think that had a big impact is when I moved houses 3 months ago, but that was a while ago and I think that that is out of the equation. Usually I will get a fish and it will last about 3 weeks doing great, eating, and swimming great but one day it will randomly just die with no sign of disease or any sign it was picked on. I really like these fish and I don’t neglect them at all. I have never had this problem before for about 1 year. This is the only time I have come across this. Could anyone help me with this problem, it would really be nice

 

[Sick_man]

Ok so, I have a 75 gallon saltwater fish only with live rock. There’s about 50 pounds of live rock I have about a 2 inch sand bed and the tank has about a 9 gallon sump space and a protein skimmer. The tank is almost 2 years old and I do regular maintenance on the tank as well. The tanks temperature is 77 and the tank is far from being overstocked. The tank has been doing amazing up until now, the only think I can think that had a big impact is when I moved houses 3 months ago, but that was a while ago and I think that that is out of the equation. Usually I will get a fish and it will last about 3 weeks doing great, eating, and swimming great but one day it will randomly just die with no sign of disease or any sign it was picked on. I really like these fish and I don’t neglect them at all. I have never had this problem before for about 1 year. This is the only time I have come across this. Could anyone help me with this problem, it would really be nice

How many fish and what kind are in there? Whats your salinity and other param?

 

[HB AL]

Is it just the new fish that end up dying or have other fish that you already had also die? Where are you buying your fish from? Assuming from what you said about no disease present then really the only thing I would look at is the water chemistry, something severely wrong with the water chemistry. For example say there is no disease present, the water quality is pristine then you would not have so many fish deaths, in fact you shouldn’t have any.

 

[Cameron80288]

How many fish and what kind are in there? Whats your salinity and other param?

Nitrate: 10ppm
Nitrite: 0ppm
Ph: 7.8
Ammonia: 0.25ppm
Edit: salinity: 1.025

• Pink Smith Damsel-2
• Blue Devil Damsel-1
• Blue Green Chromis-1
• Sargent Major Damsel-1
• Aptasia Eating Filefish-1
• Pink Spotted Prawn Goby-1
• Falco Hawkfish-1
• Zebra Barred Dart Fish-1
• Sunset Butterflyfish-1

 

[Jon Fishman]

Damsels are often killerz

 

[Cameron80288]

Is it just the new fish that end up dying or have other fish that you already had also die? Where are you buying your fish from? Assuming from what you said about no disease present then really the only thing I would look at is the water chemistry, something severely wrong with the water chemistry. For example say there is no disease present, the water quality is pristine then you would not have so many fish deaths, in fact you shouldn’t have any.

My new fish have died but some of my old fish are dying as well. I have had some issues with ich lately but there is no visible signs of ich present as of posting this.

Fish are

• Pink Smith Damsel-2
• Blue Devil Damsel-1
• Blue Green Chromis-1
• Sargent Major Damsel-1
• Aptasia Eating Filefish-1
• Pink Spotted Prawn Goby-1
• Falco Hawkfish-1
• Zebra Barred Dart Fish-1
• Sunset Butterflyfish-1

 

[Cameron80288]

Damsels are often killerz

I do have a 4 1/2 inch Sargent major. But he hasn’t touched my old fish for 8 months. I don’t see him going on a kill spree all of a sudden.

 

[Sick_man]

Ammonia should be 0. That may be the reason. Since you got a large sump add some porous media and some bottled bacteria to try to fix it. Also a water change.

 

[HB AL]

If that ammonia figure is correct that is probably your biggest issue. I would use a different test kit to verify ammonia, either buy one or take a sample of water to your lfs, ammonia should always be zero. Ammonia kills fish slowly or quickly depending on the concentration.

 

[dvgyfresh]

I do have a 4 1/2 inch Sargent major. But he hasn’t touched my old fish for 8 months. I don’t see him going on a kill spree all of a sudden.

Fish are smarter than we give them credit for, the damsels behave differently when they think we are not watching and I also have a blue devil damsel that isn’t “aggressive” yet I’ve had a fish just end up dead with no signs , I wish I could relocate him lol

 

[Cameron80288]

Ammonia should be 0. That may be the reason. Since you got a large sump add some porous media and some bottled bacteria to try to fix it. Also a water change.

I will try to add some bottled bacteria. I do have 3 cubes marine pure block already as well.

 

[Cameron80288]

If that ammonia figure is correct that is probably your biggest issue. I would use a different test kit to verify ammonia, either buy one or take a sample of water to your lfs, ammonia should always be zero. Ammonia kills fish slowly or quickly depending on the concentration.

I will try and get my water tested at my lfs. They’re probably more precise than my test kit.

 

[Peng1606]

I will try and get my water tested at my lfs. They’re probably more precise than my test kit.

Depending on LFS they usually use test kits too but even that should confirm any issues. In meantime add something like Seachem Prime it Safe to detoxify ammonia. A 2 year old tank even though you moved house 3 months ago shouldn’t have ammonia present. Did you check through all equipment etc? I had a previous tank where a pump was malfunctioning and leeching stuff in water that ended up killing stuff.

 

[excell007]

Fish are smarter than we give them credit for, the damsels behave differently when they think we are not watching and I also have a blue devil damsel that isn’t “aggressive” yet I’ve had a fish just end up dead with no signs , I wish I could relocate him lol

+1 on this. I have 4 damsels that I just relocated yesterday, because they are picking on the new frags that I added 2 weeks ago. Corals looks very nice, then suddenly polyps are retracted or fallen off the frag rack. They don't do it when I am standing in front of the aquarium, I observed them from far away and sure enough the blue velvet and four stripes are doing it. After 2 weeks of polyps openning and closing, I decided to catch them yesterday, not easy on a 90G with so many rocks. Today I have never seen so many polyps out on my toadstool, zoas are also out the whole day, duncans are fully extended. if it's something toxic in the water most if not all of the fishes should be dead by now.

 

[Cameron80288]

Depending on LFS they usually use test kits too but even that should confirm any issues. In meantime add something like Seachem Prime it Safe to detoxify ammonia. A 2 year old tank even though you moved house 3 months ago shouldn’t have ammonia present. Did you check through all equipment etc? I had a previous tank where a pump was malfunctioning and leeching stuff in water that ended up killing stuff.

I do think so, I should check the pump in my protein skimmer because I haven’t exactly 100% cleaned it. But I have cleaned my return pump before just to make sure it doesn’t malfunction.

 

[Cameron80288]

Could there be a parasite in my tank that I can’t see but kills fish without any trace? If so how do I get rid of it?

 

[HB AL]

Could there be a parasite in my tank that I can’t see but kills fish without any trace? If so how do I get rid of it?

I dont think there is an invisible parasite that kills fish and no visible symptoms. Have you confirmed that ammonia reading you got yet? This should be pretty simple to determine what is killing your fish. Either there is something seriously wrong with the water quality or there is a disease in your tank. Either way its something in the WATER!

 

[Saltwaterfish011]

Ok so, I have a 75 gallon saltwater fish only with live rock. There’s about 50 pounds of live rock I have about a 2 inch sand bed and the tank has about a 9 gallon sump space and a protein skimmer. The tank is almost 2 years old and I do regular maintenance on the tank as well. The tanks temperature is 77 and the tank is far from being overstocked. The tank has been doing amazing up until now, the only think I can think that had a big impact is when I moved houses 3 months ago, but that was a while ago and I think that that is out of the equation. Usually I will get a fish and it will last about 3 weeks doing great, eating, and swimming great but one day it will randomly just die with no sign of disease or any sign it was picked on. I really like these fish and I don’t neglect them at all. I have never had this problem before for about 1 year. This is the only time I have come across this. Could anyone help me with this problem, it would really be nice

You should talk to a local fish store as well, or do a daily check on the water temp, salt, etc.

 

[Debramb]

+1 on this. I have 4 damsels that I just relocated yesterday, because they are picking on the new frags that I added 2 weeks ago. Corals looks very nice, then suddenly polyps are retracted or fallen off the frag rack. They don't do it when I am standing in front of the aquarium, I observed them from far away and sure enough the blue velvet and four stripes are doing it. After 2 weeks of polyps openning and closing, I decided to catch them yesterday, not easy on a 90G with so many rocks. Today I have never seen so many polyps out on my toadstool, zoas are also out the whole day, duncans are fully extended. if it's something toxic in the water most if not all of the fishes should be dead by now.

Jeez, my yellow and Sailfin Tangs destroyed my 3 month old Lavender Mushroom, about 2”. Moved it as it was melting, caught then nibbling it till it’s so tiny I thought it was gone! Now the yellow nips my soft coral every time it extends, got nip marks

 

[Cameron80288]

I dont think there is an invisible parasite that kills fish and no visible symptoms. Have you confirmed that ammonia reading you got yet? This should be pretty simple to determine what is killing your fish. Either there is something seriously wrong with the water quality or there is a disease in your tank. Either way its something in the WATER!

I fear it’s a disease because I test my water every week and it shows every thing at optimal parameters.