Problems arise! eek!

[gjustinj]

Okay guys, the tank is about 2 months old. 110Lb of live rock, 3 inch sand bed, 125G 6 ft.

I am running a Protein Skimmer (Octopus classic 2K HOB), Fluval FX4 cannister (can't put in a sump), and I have two heaters on each side, and 3 powerheads (Hydor Koralia 2 850 GPH, 1150 GPH).

The 1150 sits on the right back corner of the tank slightly down from the top pointing up towards the water surface at slight angle towards the other side of the tank where the protein skimmer is, next to it towards the front on the right hand side points at a slight angle down towards the front of the glass is a 850, and then on the left side in the front another 850 points mid towards the front of the glass.

This morning I found my bangaii cardinal dead under a live rock w/ snails eating it. I can't get to it, so I guess it has to stay there - will this cause any problems? I seen him panting for the last couple of days, but two days ago I did see a white string hanging from him (parasite?) that eventually fell off. He has not eaten for over 4 days and he was beginning to fight the current at the bottom of the tank - I seen it coming. I tried soaking his food in garlic, that did not work either and then @JaimeAdams requested I grab some black worms (Had plans to get them today, still gonna get them however).

I am also missing a green/blue chromis - I have not found him anywhere yet in the tank. I have 4, but only 3 are swimming together today. I noticed all 3 are panting pretty quickly, but swimming without issue. Should I be worried?

Also 4 clownfish seem to be doing okay, but some are starting to pant too. None of these fish are swimming toward the top of the water.

My coral beauty seems to be doing great, no panting and eating and swimming, earlier this week it was into harassing my flame angel, but that seemed to have stopped in the last 2 days.

On to my flame angel, it is panting and has not eaten for 4 days. I am going to get black worms tonight and try to get him to eat it. I have soaked mysis, and all kinds of other frozen varieties in garlic x-treme, still he will not eat! I figured maybe it was due to the coral beauty giving him a little trouble earlier in the week, but they seem to swim next to one another now.. the flame angel is staying in a cave, and not coming out much if at all.

My Azure damsel is also panting, but swimming in his hovering manner fine guarding his area of the tank like he typically does. Is this panting a problem? or common?

My scooter blenney seems to be doing good, gonna grab some copepods tonight (free swimming is all i can get right now) to help feed him until I can setup a culture.

Okay, so far I've lost both Bangaii Cardinals I have bought.. the first one died within days (never ate), and the second one died after about 2 months, started acting like the one did that died within days. I have lost 3 green and blue chromis now (granted 2 of them were really small babies, and were not getting to the food fast enough, and were being picked on), and 1 is possibly alive in my tank still, but I am starting to think we lost him - since still no sign of him.

All of the other fish have been great, aside for the panting and the flame not eating right now (i really need to fix this problem).

Okay, on to my water paremeters.

Ammonia 0
Nitrite 0-.1
Nitrate 10
PH 8.2 (it was 8.3, but we topped off the tank yesterday (not by much) and we seen it drop slightly
78 degrees

We typically do water changes weekly, but I am thinking of skipping this week since we haven't even hit 20 this time.

I really am trying hard to keep my fish alive and learn all I can. i know we rushed into this and paid the price some, but we have been moving slow since.

 

[Brew12]

If you are running a skimmer the panting shouldn't be caused by low oxygen. Odds are you have a parasite in your system that is impacting their gills. This could be Flukes, Cryptocaryon Irritans (Marine Ich), Turbellerians (Black ich) or Amyloodinium ocellatum (Marine Velvet). It is possible that they have gill damage from previous ammonia exposure but I would consider that unlikely.

Can you take pictures of your fish so we can get a closer look at them?

If you can catch one, I would recommend doing a fresh water dip to check for Flukes.

#mods Can we get this moved to the fish disease section?

 

[dylana407]

If I recall correctly, your options were moving the fish to QT to start treatment and go fallow, or tough it out and hope you don't lose any fish. You chose the latter. The first option is still available.
You CAN'T say the fish are doing great when they are panting and not eating.
Good luck.

 

[gjustinj]

If I recall correctly, your options were moving the fish to QT to start treatment and go fallow, or tough it out and hope you don't lose any fish. You chose the latter. The first option is still available.
You CAN'T say the fish are doing great when they are panting and not eating.
Good luck.

The flame is the only one not eating, but I am going to try blood worms. So the panting is a parasite attacking the gills? I mean I am already 4K into costs for this - and followed the LFS every move to lead me here. I am happy I met @JaimeAdams. He's really got us on the right path, but I don't think I can do all of this. I don't know how to keep all these fish in a 20G i don't have that experience. So the fish are all gonna die? that's just great.

 

[Brew12]

So the panting is a parasite attacking the gills?

Ah, I had forgotten about your previous post. I can't say for sure that it is a parasite but that is the most likely cause at this point. Are all the fish going to die? That is hard to say. Fish can develop a natural immunity to parasites if kept under ideal conditions and fed high quality live or frozen foods. It helps if there is something to limit the parasite numbers while their immunity is building.

Your best bet is a QT system and proper treatment once the actual parasite involved is determined. Running a QT isn't very hard and I am sure @JaimeAdams can help give you all the advice you need. The only hard part about the treatment in QT is the patience it takes to do it right.

 

[JaimeAdams]

Just for the record the flame angel certainly had cryptocaryon when I was over there a few days ago.

Obviously I would guess that all, or most, of the fish are affected. The parasite can attach to the gill tissue and cause problems with the fish breathing. Given the circumstances I would have to venture to say that is what is going on.

I'll try to come over tonight.

 

[gjustinj]

Just for the record the flame angel certainly had cryptocaryon when I was over there a few days ago.

Obviously I would guess that all, or most, of the fish are affected. The parasite can attach to the gill tissue and cause problems with the fish breathing. Given the circumstances I would have to venture to say that is what is going on.

I'll try to come over tonight.

Thanks @JaimeAdams Lets do it! Lets QT the whole lot! Can you take my Duncan and Inverts and try to keep them alive during this process by chance? Hopefully you will be able to stop by! Thanks!

 

[JaimeAdams]

You can just leave the duncan and inverts in the tank.

I'll come over even if I have to grab the wife from work, but it might be late, like after 9.

 

[gjustinj]

You can just leave the duncan and inverts in the tank.

I'll come over even if I have to grab the wife from work, but it might be late, like after 9.

Thanks Jaime! that's fine. I will run out right after 5:30 to wet pets and grab the black worms, and pods.

 

[Humblefish]

Just to add; the "white string hanging" from the now-deceased Cardinal, did it look like this?

 

[gjustinj]

Just to add; the "white string hanging" from the now-deceased Cardinal, did it look like this?

Yes, perhaps a little more 'fuzzier' but pretty close.

 

[mcarroll]

It is possible that they have gill damage from previous ammonia exposure but I would consider that unlikely.[...]
#mods Can we get this moved to the fish disease section?

Clearly too quick of a start and still some nitrites showing on a test kit. Why presume there was no ammonia exposure when you have some evidence?

Hopefully QT and the disease forum aren't the end of our effort.

 

[gjustinj]

Clearly too quick of a start and still some nitrites showing on a test kit. Why presume there was no ammonia exposure when you have some evidence?

Hopefully QT and the disease forum aren't the end of our effort.

Just retested nitrites. Showing 0

 

[Humblefish]

Yes, perhaps a little more 'fuzzier' but pretty close.

Your fish probably have intestinal worms then: https://www.reef2reef.com/threads/internal-parasites-intestinal-worms.267419/

In addtion to ich, as per @JaimeAdams. That's double trouble as the immune system is trying to battle external parasites while simultaneously dealing with intestinal worms. All the nutrition in the world isn't going to make those two problems go away.

 

[mcarroll]

Your fish probably have intestinal worms

+1

I agree that's a toughie too, even without complicating factors like a parasite.

Seems like they lose their appetite in most cases. And of course the best med – which is unpalatable in the first place – needs to be eaten for max. effectiveness.

I've got my fingers crossed for him!

 

[gjustinj]

Hey guys, I do have a question (Jaime is stopping over later so we can look this over and determine what the next action will be) however I did take plastic wrap and wrap tightly the top back end (open area) of the aquarium with plastic wrap so the blenney wouldn't jump out of the tank. Do you think they are gasping for air because there is no air in the tank? I know there is some coming in through the skimmer, but is it enough? Maybe i need to change to mesh asap?

 

[Brew12]

Hey guys, I do have a question (Jaime is stopping over later so we can look this over and determine what the next action will be) however I did take plastic wrap and wrap tightly the top back end (open area) of the aquarium with plastic wrap so the blenney wouldn't jump out of the tank. Do you think they are gasping for air because there is no air in the tank? I know there is some coming in through the skimmer, but is it enough? Maybe i need to change to mesh asap?

I doubt that is the reason but it isn't helpful.

Getting something like this is cheap, easy, and readily available from Lowes and Home Depot.

http://www.homedepot.com/p/Lithonia...r-Replacement-Diffuser-L2GT-PLTS-R5/100579509