New fish dying but older fish just fine??

[1MCp]

Hi there everyone.

Wanting get some help from you guys. My tank is 30 gallons, mixed reef.

Nitrate 0
Ammonia 0
Nitrite 0
Ph 8.2
Temp 78
Alk 200 ppm
Salinity 1.025 check with refractor

I have had this tank running for 1 year and 3 months now.

4 weeks ago I sold all my fish out except for my clownfish. The reason being some were getting a bit big for the tank and when I started that I wanted to get a new set of fish all together.

Now last night I bought a lawnmower blenny and acclimated for 1 hour dripping. Put him in the tank and during my regular feeding time saw that it was busy eating and later in the night I saw it going everywhere in my tank to lick or suck algae off the walls of my tank. All this to say it looked very healthy and active during the first day.

This morning I found him dead, no dmg to fin, body, no discolouration. What was curious is that my Nassarius snails didn't eat the body, usually my snails are super quick to eat them, as I have had 2 firefish goby die last year and they just got eaten as soon as they died.

TLDR tank is more than a year old, old fish are fine but the new fish is dying. The LFS qt their fish quiet well from what I hear of other hobbiest. This LFS is the biggest chain around so they have a reputation to uphold.

I have tested my water myself and also at the LFS just to be sure and the readings were same both times.

What should I be looking for and where should I start investigating? I have done as much research as I can and I have yet to find a case that's the same as the one I'm in.

Thank you for all your help.

 

[Jason mack]

#reefsquad

 

[Diesel]

Just thinking that your blenny might have been a sick blenny.
Velvet comes to mind on a quick dead.

Btw, how do you test your ALK?

 

[1MCp]

Just thinking that your blenny might have been a sick blenny.
Velvet comes to mind on a quick dead.

I'd like to try one more fish today just to confirm that it wasn't a one time thing. If this one fails, maybe I'll hold off another month again?!?!

 

[Diesel]

I'd like to try one more fish today just to confirm that it wasn't a one time thing. If this one fails, maybe I'll hold off another month again?!?!

I would hold of for a week or two.
No need to sacrifice another fish.
Keep monitoring your existing fish in the tank.
Most likely if it brought a decease in the tank something could show up.

 

[Brew12]

I have tested my water myself and also at the LFS just to be sure and the readings were same both times.

Are you saying that you tested the LFS water or that they tested your water?

I always test the salinity of the water my fish come in. If your LFS keeps their system at 1.020 and you put a fish into water that is 1.025 the fish could suffer from osmotic shock.

 

[1MCp]

Are you saying that you tested the LFS water or that they tested your water?

I always test the salinity of the water my fish come in. If your LFS keeps their system at 1.020 and you put a fish into water that is 1.025 the fish could suffer from osmotic shock.

I tested my water both time myself and the LFS. Sorry for the confusion. If I can confirm that the LFS salinity is lower as you have mentioned, does the one hour drip help with that, or should I slowly lower my salinity now for the week?

 

[Diesel]

The hour drip is more than enough to acclimate to all your parameters in the existing tank.
Yet some fish can suffer some stress but as you mentioned it was swimming happy the first day thinking stress was low.
All I can advice as I mentioned before monitor your existing fish closely.
Don't buy anymore fish till you think you're on the safe side after a few weeks.
Mean while try to drop your ALK to better levels around 16o or 8.5 dkh

 

[1MCp]

The hour drip is more than enough to acclimate to all your parameters in the existing tank.
Yet some fish can suffer some stress but as you mentioned it was swimming happy the first day thinking stress was low.
All I can advice as I mentioned before monitor your existing fish closely.
Don't buy anymore fish till you think you're on the safe side after a few weeks.
Mean while try to drop your ALK to better levels around 16o or 8.5 dkh

I am going to use all my patience to hold off getting a new fish. I was so excited to be getting new types of fish as a nano tank owner it's not everyday you can just add fish haha. Thank you for the help. I will post here in about ten days or so and see if things are better. Luckily my clowns are dang Spartan level warriors and are still kicking around and eating like the pigs they are.

 

[mcarroll]

With nutrient levels that low, what kind of algae was he eating? If it was toxic... Ever have dino's or chrysophytes...or anything else more weird than green hair algae?

Do you have snails in your CUC? How are they doing?

This has nothing to do with sick fish, but personally I think that tank is way too small for a regular blenny unless you're just getting him as a pet. As an algae eater he'll be unhappy (there'll never be enough algae in that tiny tank) and will adapt to eating tank food vs algae.

 

[1MCp]

With nutrient levels that low, what kind of algae was he eating? If it was toxic... Ever have dino's or chrysophytes...or anything else more weird than green hair algae?

Do you have snails in your CUC? How are they doing?

This has nothing to do with sick fish, but personally I think that tank is way too small for a regular blenny unless you're just getting him as a pet. As an algae eater he'll be unhappy (there'll never be enough algae in that tiny tank) and will adapt to eating tank food vs algae.

I'd intended the blenny to be more of a pet than algae control. There are very small amounts of green hair algae. Currently my CUC are doing well I have accounted for almost all of them being alive at the moment.

I have some blue legged hermit crabs 5
Nassarius snail 3 medium sized sand sifting starfish 1 and a cleaner shrimp

 

[mcarroll]

That's good overall.

Did you see the store bag your blenny so you can be sure nothing happened to him then?

How long were you able to observe him since the store first got him in?

 

[1MCp]

That's good overall.

Did you see the store bag your blenny so you can be sure nothing happened to him then?

How long were you able to observe him since the store first got him in?

They had 4 lawnmower blennies, not sure how long they had it, but I saw all 4 about two weeks prior to purchasing. And I watch the bagging process quite closely all the time for all my purchases and it seemed like a normal process. When I first saw the blennies I saw them eat well as well, I usually wait a week before buying.

This way I do miss some chances with nice fish, but at least I know what I buy lasted and survived the tank environment.

 

[Yuki Rihwa]

Next time QT your new live stock or 1 day you will get a change of wiping out entire your tank live stock with the "excited" add in a new tank member.

 

[1MCp]

Next time QT your new live stock or 1 day you will get a change of wiping out entire your tank live stock with the "excited" add in a new tank member.

The LFS I shop at always quarantine their fish, are you recommending I do so again after purchasing?

 

[Yuki Rihwa]

The LFS I shop at always quarantine their fish, are you recommending I do so again after purchasing?

Absolutely! I don't trust any LFS or online stores, the only live stocks that I don't QT are from well known friends tank that I often visit and saw their tank/live stock regularly. It's your call to trust your LFS but it is a dangerous decision!

 

[Darryl]

You should allways QT new fish before they go into display to prevent your display from comming down with something or wipping it out all together
2 weeks QT is enough time to see if your fish might be harboring something like ich or velevet or parasite and then you can treat it in the tank without destroying your display.

 

[1MCp]

Absolutely! I don't trust any LFS or online stores, the only live stocks that I don't QT are from well known friends tank that I often visit and saw their tank/live stock regularly. It's your call to trust your LFS but it is a dangerous decision!

I don't trust most LFS out here but the one where I get my fish, I do 100%. A close friend and avid hobbiest works there and I've seen them treat and quarantine countless times. As mentioned they are a huge monopoly over this market and have been scrutinized enough to quarantine carefully and thoroughly. But I will keep your message in mind as well for my future purchases once I allow some time to pass.

 

[1MCp]

You should allways QT new fish before they go into display to prevent your display from comming down with something or wipping it out all together
2 weeks QT is enough time to see if your fish might be harboring something like ich or velevet or parasite and then you can treat it in the tank without destroying your display.

Makes complete sense. Due to the condition that I'm in I have yet to set up a QT tank, I know the risks that this introduces. Over the past year and a bit I've been going to only one place for fish because I personally know the people that work there and how passionate they are about the hobby to trust that when they say they QT its done very well and in a strict manner. I will definitely think more into getting my own QT.

 

[Darryl]

Makes complete sense. Due to the condition that I'm in I have yet to set up a QT tank, I know the risks that this introduces. Over the past year and a bit I've been going to only one place for fish because I personally know the people that work there and how passionate they are about the hobby to trust that when they say they QT its done very well and in a strict manner. I will definitely think more into getting my own QT.

its not that you cant trust your lps but having them in a QT makes it easy to treat if something pops up