New Fish Died - Next Steps

[jgaepi]

Hi, so my juvenile firefish died last night on Day 5. I messaged LiveAquaria. Should be covered by warranty but I want to decide what to do next. Coincidentally, I was planning to buy a juvenile tail spot today but maybe I shouldn’t. My other new fish is a juvenile Yasha. He hides but was out last night eating. I assume he’s ok.

The fish appeared to acclimate fine. I didn’t feed the first day. Didn’t seem interested in food Day 2. But definitely was eating Day 3 and 4.

I’m worried my MP10 might have got him. I already run it on Lagoon Mode Level 1. So not a ton of flow but enough for my Waterbox 7. He was laying on the sand underneath the pump. Without a reef link, I can’t run Night Mode but I assume I’m already at the lowest.

It is a one-month tank and they were the first inhabitants. But my tank should be cycled. I tested my water last night with a living fish and I had Ammonia 0. Nitrite 0.1. And pH 8.0.

What should I do now? Thanks.

 

[vetteguy53081]

Hi, so my juvenile firefish died last night on Day 5. I messaged LiveAquaria. Should be covered by warranty but I want to decide what to do next. Coincidentally, I was planning to buy a juvenile tail spot today but maybe I shouldn’t. My other new fish is a juvenile Yasha. He hides but was out last night eating. I assume he’s ok.

The fish appeared to acclimate fine. I didn’t feed the first day. Didn’t seem interested in food Day 2. But definitely was eating Day 3 and 4.

I’m worried my MP10 might have got him. I already run it on Lagoon Mode Level 1. So not a ton of flow but enough for my Waterbox 7. He was laying on the sand underneath the pump. Without a reef link, I can’t run Night Mode but I assume I’m already at the lowest.

It is a one-month tank and they were the first inhabitants. But my tank should be cycled. I tested my water last night with a living fish and I had Ammonia 0. Nitrite 0.1. And pH 8.0.

What should I do now? Thanks.

Could very well be the stress and impact of shipping on the firefish. Adding a different fish is probably ok. . . BUT . . . . . before so, take a water sample with you and have them test to confirm your readings, focusing on No , PO4, ammonia, salinity and Ph.
Your tank temp should be 77-79 and I assumed you acclimated and not just dropped fish in? (float bag 15 mins, empty contents of the bag into a CLEAN bucket and add a cup of water every 15 minutes 4X (one hour total) and pour off water NOT INTO TANK and release fish into tank. If you did not do this with firefish - This may have been your issue

 

[jgaepi]

Could very well be the stress and impact of shipping on the firefish. Adding a different fish is probably ok. . . BUT . . . . . before so, take a water sample with you and have them test to confirm your readings, focusing on No , PO4, ammonia, salinity and Ph.
Your tank temp should be 77-79 and I assumed you acclimated and not just dropped fish in? (float bag 15 mins, empty contents of the bag into a CLEAN bucket and add a cup of water every 15 minutes 4X (one hour total) and pour off water NOT INTO TANK and release fish into tank. If you did not do this with firefish - This may have been your issue

Yes to all that. It’s a Nano so I’m worried to begin with. Smallest tank I’ve owned. But my wife wouldn’t ok my quarantine tank in our small house so I converted to a Nano.
So not the MP10? I don’t use the foam guard bc food would stick to it.

 

[jgaepi]

Weird, now that the Firefish is gone, the Yasha has been out all day.

 

[Jon Fishman]

Weird, now that the Firefish is gone, the Yasha has been out all day.

Fences and traumatic deaths make good neighbors......

 

[jgaepi]

I’m not sure the Yasha is doing so hot. He’s alive, he moved once recently, but not active like this am and not hiding like before.

 

[jgaepi]

I found the Yasha dead this morning. I don’t get it. I took some water to my LFS yesterday before this Yasha died and my salinity was a little high at 1.027 but otherwise everything else was fine. I slowly diluted my salinity down to 1.025 by the hour.

 

[jgaepi]

So ... should I do an ICP water analysis? Am I missing something? I’ve never kept a tank beyond 18 months before but I’d never lost a fish before. These died on days 5 and 6 after introduction.

 

[aqua_code]

You likely brought a parasitic infection into your tank. Do you have a quarantine? Freshwater dips might help temporarily if it's an external parasite. API General cure or metroplex/focus is a good option. Depending on what it is, you might need to treat with copper.

How to Quarantine

How to Quarantine The purpose of this article is to present an argument for quarantining saltwater fish, and then show the reader how to setup a Quarantine Tank (QT) and discuss quarantine protocols. Why quarantine? Setting up a QT does not...

www.reef2reef.com

 

[ZachR32]

Is it possible the tank isn’t fully cycled yet? What’s your nitrate at? I would re-examine how you cycled the tank first

 

[jgaepi]

You likely brought a parasitic infection into your tank. Do you have a quarantine? Freshwater dips might help temporarily if it's an external parasite. API General cure or metroplex/focus is a good option. Depending on what it is, you might need to treat with copper.

How to Quarantine

How to Quarantine The purpose of this article is to present an argument for quarantining saltwater fish, and then show the reader how to setup a Quarantine Tank (QT) and discuss quarantine protocols. Why quarantine? Setting up a QT does not...

www.reef2reef.com

How can I know for sure? Should I stick something in there to see what happens? Maybe it was fluke?

 

[jgaepi]

Is it possible the tank isn’t fully cycled yet? What’s your nitrate at? I would re-examine how you cycled the tank first

I used one and only and my ammonia shot to 5. (FWIW, I won’t recommend Dr Tim anymore). I did some water changes and brought it to 2. My ammonia eventually went to 0. Nitrite went to 2 and eventually went down to .05. I haven’t tested ammonia above .25 in at least 10 days. Even with dead fish.

 

[aqua_code]

There are some tell tale signs if the fish is showing white spots or breathing fast.

If you are noticing fish getting sick, it's best to put them in QT and start treatment before it's too late.

 

[jgaepi]

There are some tell tale signs if the fish is showing white spots or breathing fast.

If you are noticing fish getting sick, it's best to put them in QT and start treatment before it's too late.

Both fish are dead. So it is a matter of trying another fish or not short term? And/or what to do about the existing tank?

 

[aqua_code]

When starting a tank it's good practice to wait 79 days for any parasites to die if you are introducing any foreign water. If you increase the temp to 80+ this will cause faster die off. I'm going to assume you are dealing with the ich parasite.

Any new fish should go into quarantine and undergo treatment until you are 100% sure they are parasite free. If you put them into your tank before the 79 day cycle ends, it can restart the whole cycle and the fish will be infected.

I recently had marine velvet or ich show up in a QT. I couldn't save the fish and ended up sterilizing all the gear. It's fairly common on new fish.

 

[BeejReef]

Sorry about your fish

A healthy fish shouldn't die to a powerhead, right?
MP10 could be quite a bit of flow for a 7g tank. Did they have lower flow areas to hide and sleep? Could it be that sustained high flow in a small tank was too much?

 

[jgaepi]

Sorry about your fish

A healthy fish shouldn't die to a powerhead, right?
MP10 could be quite a bit of flow for a 7g tank. Did they have lower flow areas to hide and sleep? Could it be that sustained high flow in a small tank was too much?

This was my original question. I don’t see sand getting kicked up and my water is crystal clear. The Yasha hid for days. Spend all day out yesterday after the firefish died. Then died last night.

 

[jgaepi]

When starting a tank it's good practice to wait 79 days for any parasites to die if you are introducing any foreign water. If you increase the temp to 80+ this will cause faster die off. I'm going to assume you are dealing with the ich parasite.

Any new fish should go into quarantine and undergo treatment until you are 100% sure they are parasite free. If you put them into your tank before the 79 day cycle ends, it can restart the whole cycle and the fish will be infected.

I recently had marine velvet or ich show up in a QT. I couldn't save the fish and ended up sterilizing all the gear. It's fairly common on new fish.

Ich is white spots. I didn’t inspect the fish but the firefish looked beautiful the night before it died. Could it be a salinity issue?

 

[BeejReef]

It's hard to say. Impossible really without pictures of the failing fish to confirm or diminish the possibility of disease.
You've kept fish before though, so guessing you would be suspicious to obvious ich or potential velvet. In a brand new tank, there are SO many variables.

Having had two die, I'd be hesitant to just try again.
How confident are you in your refractometer and its calibration?
How confident are you in your water source?

Perking up, eating well, and dying quickly after introduction is a little atypical

 

[jgaepi]

It's hard to say. Impossible really without pictures of the failing fish to confirm or diminish the possibility of disease.
You've kept fish before though, so guessing you would be suspicious to obvious ich or potential velvet. In a brand new tank, there are SO many variables.

Having had two die, I'd be hesitant to just try again.
How confident are you in your refractometer and its calibration?
How confident are you in your water source?

Perking up, eating well, and dying quickly after introduction is a little atypical

In honesty, I’ve never had a fish disease before. I’ve had fish up to 18 months and then gave them away. I know ich bc of “white spots.” The firefish is the shock. He ate well the night before. Was swimming around. I though the pump got him. I knew something was up with the Yasha bc he was out all day in one spot yesterday.

I ordered a Hanna salinity checker for overnight shipping. I presently use a Red Sea refractometer.

I’m thinking of adding a single coral and seeing what happens over the next month. Maybe an acan.