New fish keep dying

[Galeas]

Hey all,

so I’ve had my 32g tank set up now for about 3 months and have run into a bit of an issue. The last 4 fish I’ve added to my tank have all died within 72 hours and I can’t figure out why.

I’ll start off with that my 2 clowns and 1 blue throat wrasse appear to be just fine. Other then the wrasse looks a little stressed out after the latest death. My cleaner shrimp, inverts and corals are all good as well.

The fish I tried to add was a small blue hippo tang ( yes I know tank is too small, but he was tiny and was going to be moved to a bigger tank when needed) who appeared to be doing really well. He was eating right off the bat swimming around and happy. Then one day I left for work came home and bam dead. Next fish was a tailspot blenny who didn’t last more then 24 hours. After the tail spot I wasn’t going to try anything else but my LFS got 2 of the fish I started this tank for. A ruby red dragonet (I’ve been seeding copepods since I started tank) and a Pygmy hawk fish. Well it’s been 72 hours and I just pulled the dead ruby red out and can’t find the hawk fish and I’m assuming he’s dead. This is all within the last month.

This is devastating me as I’ve never had issues like this with fish tanks or anything and it’s honestly making me want to just tear it down and stop. I thought maybe velvet but wouldn’t my other fish be gone by now?


tank temperature 79.5 stays fairly steady.
Salinity 1.024
Ammonia .1 was zero when I added the last 2 fish but assuming due to latest death it’s spiked.
nitrite 0
Nitrate 25

thank you in advance for any help

 

[Idech]

Wild caught fish have a really hard time before they get to the fish store. It’s possible there is disease in your tank and a few fish are able to fight it off but most of whatever you will add will die from it.

I’m no expert but maybe consider going fallow for a few months before adding new fish and then only add pre-quarantined fish or quarantine yourself.

 

[SlugSnorter]

Hey all,

so I’ve had my 32g tank set up now for about 3 months and have run into a bit of an issue. The last 4 fish I’ve added to my tank have all died within 72 hours and I can’t figure out why.

I’ll start off with that my 2 clowns and 1 blue throat wrasse appear to be just fine. Other then the wrasse looks a little stressed out after the latest death. My cleaner shrimp, inverts and corals are all good as well.

The fish I tried to add was a small blue hippo tang ( yes I know tank is too small, but he was tiny and was going to be moved to a bigger tank when needed) who appeared to be doing really well. He was eating right off the bat swimming around and happy. Then one day I left for work came home and bam dead. Next fish was a tailspot blenny who didn’t last more then 24 hours. After the tail spot I wasn’t going to try anything else but my LFS got 2 of the fish I started this tank for. A ruby red dragonet (I’ve been seeding copepods since I started tank) and a Pygmy hawk fish. Well it’s been 72 hours and I just pulled the dead ruby red out and can’t find the hawk fish and I’m assuming he’s dead. This is all within the last month.

This is devastating me as I’ve never had issues like this with fish tanks or anything and it’s honestly making me want to just tear it down and stop. I thought maybe velvet but wouldn’t my other fish be gone by now?


tank temperature 79.5 stays fairly steady.
Salinity 1.024
Ammonia .1 was zero when I added the last 2 fish but assuming due to latest death it’s spiked.
nitrite 0
Nitrate 25

thank you in advance for any help

disease maybe

 

[PeterEde]

Do you have a mantis or pistol shrimp hiding in the tank
Are all the dead fish bottom feeders?

 

[Galeas]

Do you have a mantis or pistol shrimp hiding in the tank
Are all the dead fish bottom feeders?

No mantis or pistol shrimp. One was a tang.

 

[theMeat]

Would check the salinity level your lfs keeps their livestock in.

 

[Lavey29]

You need to go fallow for a minimum of 45 days up to 76 days to ensure you have no disease in the tank. Make sure new fish are QT prior to adding.

 

[Galeas]

You need to go fallow for a minimum of 45 days up to 76 days to ensure you have no disease in the tank. Make sure new fish are QT prior to adding.

So to do this what should I do with current live stock? Set up a QT tank?

 

[I WANT CLOWN GOBIES]

The same thing happens to me yesterday I ordered from saltwater fish.com and they came yesterday the black cap basslet died last night and I can’t find the flasher wrasse today ??

 

[Lavey29]

So to do this what should I do with current live stock? Set up a QT tank?

What do you have left? Inverts like snails and shrimp are ok. You can ghost feed to maintain minimal nutrients levels. I had to fallow for 3 months after brook. Shrimp and snails were fine.

 

[Lavey29]

I should preface by saying fallow if you suspect a bacterial disease in the water but based on the rapid deaths of your fish in 24 to 48 hours it's quite likely but you would have probably noted some symptoms on the fish, cloudy mucus, spots, rapid breathing, not eating, sitting on the bottom, etc... if you suspect something else killed them like bad water parameters or just sub quality fish health from your LFS then the fallow is not necessary.

 

[bnord]

sorry to hear about your losses, and know you feel badly

only thing that stands out for me is perhaps a degree or two warm, but that didn't cause the problem. any disease in the tank that your current inhabitant are perhaps resistant to problaly would not have lasted that fast, except velvet, and don't the the clowns would survive

last to first, the pigmy hawkfish should be hardy and not sure what happened there. I too have lost dragonets right away in a nice and stable tank, so I would not over react there, i.e., don't blame yourself or your tank. The tang sounds tiny, and sometimes these little guys have no reserves in their ability to deal with stress of moving. so for me the surprise and disappointment in the hawkfish - and doesn't mean the tank has a major problem.

AS to throwing in the towel, what I would do is stop and take a deep breath. If you have the space for a rudimentary QT set up, start one and focus on that.

If not, eye a nice hardy easy going fish from your LFS, like a gramma, and watch it for a week. see if you can pay for it and pick it up later (assuming your LFS runs a clean system0.

add that and see how it goes.

and when in doubt, water change!

hope the clowns and wrasse hang in there in the meantime

Patience and condolences

 

[PeterEde]

Tried an ICP test?
Might be worth testing for other nasties we don't usually test for on a daily/weekly or monthly basis.

 

[Galeas]

I should preface by saying fallow if you suspect a bacterial disease in the water but based on the rapid deaths of your fish in 24 to 48 hours it's quite likely but you would have probably noted some symptoms on the fish, cloudy mucus, spots, rapid breathing, not eating, sitting on the bottom, etc... if you suspect something else killed them like bad water parameters or just sub quality fish health from your LFS then the fallow is not necessary.

I was just looking at my surviving fish and noticed one of the clownfish has white spots all over it. Not just a couple either. Guess QT tank might be in the works.

 

[Galeas]

sorry to hear about your losses, and know you feel badly

only thing that stands out for me is perhaps a degree or two warm, but that didn't cause the problem. any disease in the tank that your current inhabitant are perhaps resistant to problaly would not have lasted that fast, except velvet, and don't the the clowns would survive

last to first, the pigmy hawkfish should be hardy and not sure what happened there. I too have lost dragonets right away in a nice and stable tank, so I would not over react there, i.e., don't blame yourself or your tank. The tang sounds tiny, and sometimes these little guys have no reserves in their ability to deal with stress of moving. so for me the surprise and disappointment in the hawkfish - and doesn't mean the tank has a major problem.

AS to throwing in the towel, what I would do is stop and take a deep breath. If you have the space for a rudimentary QT set up, start one and focus on that.

If not, eye a nice hardy easy going fish from your LFS, like a gramma, and watch it for a week. see if you can pay for it and pick it up later (assuming your LFS runs a clean system0.

add that and see how it goes.

and when in doubt, water change!

hope the clowns and wrasse hang in there in the meantime

Patience and condolences

Thank you for your response. Very helpful. I’m not 100% if the hawk fish is actually gone but it wasn’t moving much yesterday and today I can’t find it.

 

[ggNoRe]

Thank you for your response. Very helpful. I’m not 100% if the hawk fish is actually gone but it wasn’t moving much yesterday and today I can’t find i

Sorry for your losses. I know too well how much it sucks. You may want to consider buying pre-quarantined fish after a fallow period. I have used Drreef for that a couple times.

 

[Galeas]

Here are a couple pictures of the clown.

 

[Galeas]

What do you have left? Inverts like snails and shrimp are ok. You can ghost feed to maintain minimal nutrients levels. I had to fallow for 3 months after brook. Shrimp and snails were fine.

I have 2 clowns and 1 blue throat wrassse. I have snails and shrimp, but from what i am reading they should be alright.

not sure how to go about setting up QT tank but I’ll do some research I guess

 

[Lavey29]

Here are a couple pictures of the clown.

Definitely looks like brook on those clowns. It's very common with clown fish.

 

[Lavey29]

I have 2 clowns and 1 blue throat wrassse. I have snails and shrimp, but from what i am reading they should be alright.

not sure how to go about setting up QT tank but I’ll do some research I guess

Hopefully Jay will check in here but clowns often have brook, that's what wiped out my tank. If you can set up a 10g qt for those 3 fish you could treat them with formulin based medication and possibly save them while tank is fallow.