Need help with losing fish

mrepack · Apr 7, 2014

From my experience those tap water filters aren't worth anything. They are just DI resin which gets exhausted very fast without going through an R.O. filter first. Get and RO/DI filter and it will make your life much easier. I would also raise the S.G. to 1.025. 1.021 is real low and if you dip below that for some reason, your fish won't be happy. Do you top off water frequently to account for evaporation? Fish hate changes in Salinity. With a new tank I would start stocking very hardy fish first and go from there once you are successful. Just don't put in any Damsel fish other than maybe a Percula Clown.

mrepack · Apr 7, 2014

Your tank may also still be cycling since you have high Nitrates. I never detected any Nitrates when my tank was done cycling.

Pizan · Apr 7, 2014

My tank had been established for a little over two years and I'm looking into the RODI now i saw the spectrapure maxcap got good reviews

Naiad · Apr 7, 2014

Just so I understand the fish are dying in the main tank and quarantine tank after a few weeks?

gary collins · Apr 7, 2014

hi im am fairly sure what your problem is i feel from reading your posts it is an ammonia problem.at night the ammonia spikes at the bottom of your tank in a layer probably were your new fish hides. your old fish probably have higher up hideing spots. when u come to test for ammonia its all ok in the day.
i would put a bigger pump on for more tank turnover makeing sure there is no dead spot in the lower 1-2 inches of your tank.i hope this helps i had a very similar problem its mainly how you describe the fishes behaviour and colour is so similar good luck

Torx · Apr 7, 2014

Nitrates are not the issue same as most of what people are thinking as this is a fish only issue, they can tolerate much higher levels then we are used to with corals. I would start by switching your water. You never know what is in your tap water. Most tap water is in the hundreds of TDS and you do not know what is in that whether it be copper, other metals, rust...can be anything coming out of your tap. It may be safe for human consumption, but still killing your fish. Not sure why people are questioning a cycle or grounding probe. Your other fish are fine and your tank is a year+ old. Nothing that should affect your fish.

I hope that people read that it is a FOWLR tank, not a reef tank before commenting further as they have different tolerances.

How have they been eating?
Are you feeding the same as in store?
Did you see them eating in store before you purchased them?
What are the fish that are dying?
How many fish are we talking? You only said all new ones.
What are they doing before they die?

Pizan · Apr 7, 2014

Naiad yes both tanks the fish don't last in. And Gary thanks.you i have a pump moving water on one side if the tank i can try adding another pump on the othrr side if the tank to for maintaining water flow

Naiad · Apr 7, 2014

I would say it's something in your tap water (common examples could be copper, floride and iron but there are thousand of things) that lvls have built up over time to the point that they are deadly to new fish. Older fish have adapted but it is just too much for a new fishes system to process and organs begin to fail. If this is the case using purified water and several weeks of 20 percent waterchanges should help. You could also try a type of all purpose media pad like poly pad to see if it pulls any contaminate out. Tap water could also be why you have a higher nitrate lvl. Some tap water sources actually contain nitrates so you add nitrates back during wc if you don't filter the tap water.

Pizan · Apr 7, 2014

Before dying ask the fish look great and eat well. At first i thought i had a problem with picking over sized fish for my tank because i had Two small powder browns one powder blue two hippo tangs two rock.beauty.angelfish and an auriga butterfly. I kept several tangs in the past with no trouble and always offered.them plenty of seaweed. All.of.the fish ate very well at first and i fed brine and mysis the same as my lfs but also offered sponge and clams since my.father previously.kept a rock beauty with no problem for years. Each fish was bought individually and died very suddenly after one our two weeks of being healthy and active.

Naiad · Apr 7, 2014

These fish are all ones that tend to be more sensitive to heavy metal poisoning and copper use so I would suspect that something is making it through your tap water pretreatment process.

SeaClown · Apr 7, 2014

I would definitely get a RODI filter. Tap water, aside from metals, also commonly has chlorine and chloramine which is added by your water company to kill bacteria that is harmful to humans. Unfortunately those additives are harmful to fish. Also if you are unsure if you are getting proper readings from your test kits, your lfs should be happy to test a sample for you. Good luck.

Pizan · Apr 7, 2014

Thank you all. I think the consensus is that contaminants in the water may be hurting new fish. I hour this is the problem and getting a better unit may solve the problem. I will let everyone knee how it goes once i can get a new unit

sbitt79 · Apr 7, 2014

I had this issue a while back. Got a 125 with Yellow tang, fairy wrasse, and two blue chromis. Anyway, I lost 2 firefish, 1 cardinal, 1 royal grmma, and 1 hawkfish. Tank had been up over a year. Parameters were spot on, temp never fluctuated, all else checked out. Changed the rock work around and never lost another fish. Have you tried this?

Torx · Apr 7, 2014

Contaminants would affect all your fish though, not just the new ones. Cleaner water will help eliminate potential issues, I would really focus on the feedings.

Eric N · Apr 7, 2014

What species are the fish you purchaced? They wouldn't happen to all be tangs would they? Since it's a fish-only tank you could try some copper treatment or other medicine and see if it helps any. Maybe just put a slew of medications in the quarentine tank for their first couple weeks as a sort of cleanse. While their alive try to get a look at their feces to see if it's unusual, then try a necropsy and look at their organs next time one dies. You can compare the anatomy to some online source of pictures. Look for obvious parasites in the digestive tract. Also, check for stray electrical current. I just check for any voltage between the water and the ground with a standard voltmeter.

Naiad · Apr 7, 2014

Torx, it is likely that his other fish are having problems but their symptoms are not as severe as death. When a contaminate builds over time the body is able to respond and protect the vital organs to a point. Now a new fish that has come from a source free of contaminates is introduced and given only at most an hour to adapt. That fish is going to suffer much more damage. Long term the older fish are being damaged. They are diverting energy from growth and other functions to survive.

Choptrucks · Apr 7, 2014

Also sounds like cyanide poisoning from how they harvest those particular fish. Just a thought. A lot
Of people harvest fish this way but not everybody. Just something that come across my mind.

Torx · Apr 7, 2014

Naiad said:
Torx, it is likely that his other fish are having problems but their symptoms are not as severe as death. When a contaminate builds over time the body is able to respond and protect the vital organs to a point. Now a new fish that has come from a source free of contaminates is introduced and given only at most an hour to adapt. That fish is going to suffer much more damage. Long term the older fish are being damaged. They are diverting energy from growth and other functions to survive.

Great points, I was thinking that after I clicked submit, just got distracted as my 3year old wanted to clean her pico tank.

Daimyo68 · Apr 7, 2014

Has your water company done a chloramine flush lately?

Also, what do the dead fish look like? Any pics?

Even pics of the current fish will help to determine if it's a parasite issue or a water issue.