New fish breathing fast - Stray voltage in tank?

[Brit’s Fish]

Hi Reefers!
I have a new tank that completed its cycle - I quick cycled it with Fritz 9, but still waited another week or so before adding any fish. The tank is an AIO - Fluval 32.5gal (123L) Flex. I’m using the stock pump and filtration for now (planning to upgrade to the Sicce 2.0 and InTank media baskets), a Hygger Eco Slim wave maker & an Aqueon 100w heater. Everything is brand new. Returns are pointed up so there is plenty of surface agitation for better oxygenation.

Here’s why I’m posting this - my two new fish are breathing fast & I’m not sure why. on Sunday, I added the first two fish to this tank, was supposed to only be one but then I saw the other guy. I added a Midas Blenny, which is the fish I was planning on and ended up also adding a Pixy Hawkfish because I really love these guys. I know these two are not the most incredibly active fish, but since they’ve been in my tank, they’re fairly inactive and breathing fast. The Midas Blenny goes after and eats food but I have yet to see the Pixy Hawk eat.

Ive tested my water at home with my Ted Sea test kit & had 3 LFS in the area test it for me as well. One uses API dip strips, one used Salifert & the other used Hanna checkers. All came out pretty much the same even though the tests were done on 3 different days, including today. There are no corals, I used live sand & LifeRock from CaribSea and water from one of my other existing systems along with water from a trusted local LFS.

Parameters:
NO3 0-1
PO4 0
Magnesium 1080
Calcium 370
kH 5
PH 8.3
Salinity 1.023

My husband used a multimeter to test for stray voltage today & there is 45 volts in the tank. We tried unplugging a few things to see what was causing it - the pump, heater and lights are all putting some voltage into the tank. Checked my two other tanks though - my 28g nano cube was also at 45, my Fluval Evo was at 32v.

Any thoughts on what would be causing my fish to breathe so quickly would be helpful. I just want them to thrive & I want to be a good fish mom!
Hopefully the video clips I attached work to show how they are breathing.

 

[sacutshall]

did you check your nitrites? a 0.05 or higher will burn their gills so they look like gasping for air. Add more Fritz #9 . If you have a QT move fish for a couple day and let Fritz 9 do its job. if not nitrites could just be stress of new home. If you don't have a QT I suggest getting a 2 to 10gl and set it up.put shrimp and hermits in keep it running for emergence.

 

[Brit’s Fish]

Ah, not sure how I missed Nitrites in my first post - they were 0 also. I will try adding more Fritz #9 to see if that will help.

 

[Cell]

Nitrites do not harm saltwater fish nor does stray electricity as fish are not grounded.

 

[Cell]

How long has tank been running? At least 14 days with bottled bac and Liferock? You are cycled.

 

[theMeat]

Sounds like flukes to me

tanks should be plugged into gfci with a ground probe in tank

 

[sacutshall]

It just could be stress. lets say you picked them up yesterday. Maybe they were new arrivals to ur LFS the same day or before. who know how far they travel during shipping to LFS Since all your prams are good I would go with stressed out. give them a few day to recover.

 

[pseudorand]

I assume the Ammonia Alert has been in for a full day, correct? (The instructions say it takes a day). If not, maybe ammonia.

Can you rule out parasites and/or ich? I had fish in QT I thought was cycled, but they started breathing fast first and eventually developed ich. I had no ammonia alert at the time, but I think what happened with was:
1. I added too many fish
2. This caused a small Ammonia problem
3. Stress maid them susceptible to ich

I've read flukes and other parasite can cause fast breathing. I haven't read that about ich, but my fish were breathing fast and definitely had the white spots a few days later. (3 died, 1 lived and is now in DT.)

 

[Brit’s Fish]

How long has tank been running? At least 14 days with bottled bac and Liferock? You are cycled.

It has been about 2 weeks now. I tested on Sunday, Monday and today and all parameters have been stable & do seem to indicate that the tank is cycled. Added the fish on Sunday.

 

[Brit’s Fish]

I assume the Ammonia Alert has been in for a full day, correct? (The instructions say it takes a day). If not, maybe ammonia.

Can you rule out parasites and/or ich? I had fish in QT I thought was cycled, but they started breathing fast first and eventually developed ich. I had no ammonia alert at the time, but I think what happened with was:
1. I added too many fish
2. This caused a small Ammonia problem
3. Stress maid them susceptible to ich

I've read flukes and other parasite can cause fast breathing. I haven't read that about ich, but my fish were breathing fast and definitely had the white spots a few days later. (3 died, 1 lived and is now in DT.)

I do not see any spots on them or any other signs of disease although I know flukes are hard to see. I suppose I can move them to a QT (I know, I should have done this anyways) or do a fresh water dip if nothing improves to see if they have flukes coming off.
The ammonia was 0 on all 3 days the water was tested, including today but I did add the ammonia badge yesterday just to have something that I can easily look at without needing to break out my test kits.

 

[Brit’s Fish]

Sounds like flukes to me

tanks should be plugged into gfci with a ground probe in tank

I have 4 wires coming from the tank - pump, heater, wave maker & lights in hood and they’re all plugged into power strip. Could this be part of the problem?
Forgive my naïveté.

 

[theMeat]

Doubt your heavy breathing is voltage related.

Good idea to have all tanks on gfci protected outlet, paired with a ground probe into tanks water.
This is different than surge protection some power strips provide

 

[Brit’s Fish]

I will give it a couple days to see if anything resolves & I’ll get hubby to install an outlet with a GFCI and get a ground probe into the tank, to be safe.
Thanks for all the replies everyone!
if anyone thinks of anything else, please let me know!

 

[TheReaperOfMars]

Were these fish quarantined? If not it could be any number of ailments. Ich and velvet come to mind, as well as previously mentioned flukes on the gills. Can you get some close up pictures of the fish?

 

[takitaj]

You said you added a bacteria source (Fritz Turbo?) but did you add any food source (ammonia or ammonium chloride) then wait until the cycle was completed by testing and waiting until ammonia fell back to zero? Or did you just add Fritz wait 2 weeks then add fish? If the latter then you really should test for ammonia. You should test it anyways. Don't count on the badge.

 

[Brit’s Fish]

You said you added a bacteria source (Fritz Turbo?) but did you add any food source (ammonia or ammonium chloride) then wait until the cycle was completed by testing and waiting until ammonia fell back to zero? Or did you just add Fritz wait 2 weeks then add fish? If the latter then you really should test for ammonia. You should test it anyways. Don't count on the badge.

Hi! I did only use Fritz and wait two weeks, but I have tested for ammonia multiple times and there is none as of the tests done Sunday, Monday & today. I mentioned it in my original post, but I know it was a pretty long one. I definitely don’t just count on the badge since they might not always show the ammonia right away, if there is any.

 

[Brit’s Fish]

Were these fish quarantined? If not it could be any number of ailments. Ich and velvet come to mind, as well as previously mentioned flukes on the gills. Can you get some close up pictures of the fish?

I did not quarantine them myself, which I know is playing with fire. I think I will move them into a QT though if nothing improves. The fish look very healthy & I know that the LFS who I purchased them from has a QT system they use before putting the fish out for sale. But I know that doesn’t mean I should just trust everything from them.
Here are pictures of both fish. They look healthy, no red gills, clear eyes, no white spots that I can see, no frayed fins, they are alert and respond when I walk up to the tank. Unfortunately, the best picture I have of the Midas Blenny is where he’s in a shadow.

 

[Brit’s Fish]

Just an update - fish are looking much better today, more active, both are eating plenty & breathing more normally. I ended up doing a 50% water change last night just to rule out anything that could possibly be causing an issue with the water. I became a little concerned there may have been a bacteria bloom going on. Even though Fritz #9 says it can’t be overdosed, I’m worried I might have overdone it somehow.
You live and learn... or rather, my fish lived and I learned.
Thanks again to everyone for the helpful replies! I’ll put in another update if anything starts to go south again.

 

[sacutshall]

I thought it was stress. Glad to hear everyone is happy.

 

[Brit’s Fish]

I thought it was stress. Glad to hear everyone is happy.

I think you were 100% correct.