Something is very wrong with my tank. Please help me

[bookeey517]

Background:
I just came home from a three day vacation (during that time my fish were not fed) and now my fish are acting crazy.

i tested every parameter known to man, and they all came out normal.
Here are the important ones:
Ammonia: 0
Nitrate: 5ppm
Phosphate: 0
Salinity: 1.024. (Decreased from 1.026 after water change)
PH: 8.4 (stable)

while all of these look ok to me, it is obvious that there is an unknown problem parameter.

my GSP is closed up, my diamond cleaner goby is frantically swimming around trying to jump out of the tank, and one of my clownfish is lying sideways on the ground breathing heavily (I think he is going to die in the next 10-20 minutes), but the other one seems fine.

no signs of ich, and my yellow watchman goby is doing alright.

recent changes to my tank:
Protein skimmer; brought nitrates and phosphates down very low.
New light
Wave maker (480 GPH)

all of the above were added over two weeks ago, but my fish are only acting crazy now.

the only other thing I can think of is that since adding the skimmer, my tank has gone through a lot of detritus. This is weird because I stopped having detritus about a year ago but it came back when my nitrates decreased.

please help me, I’m all out of ideas.

 

[Tamberav]

Check your powerhead and heater, return etc for any damage.

Did they act like this before the water change?

I generally add some carbon if something seems off as well. Just in case something got into the tank.

How old is the tank? The rock looks very white.

I can’t see the video on my phone atm unfortunately.

 

[Tamberav]

Also have you checked temperature?

 

[Ben.QLD2]

That Goby looks emaciated, and that didn't happen in 3 days. I can't see a video/photo of the clown.

Tank looks very detritus heavy, maybe dying hair algae.

The GSP probably can't open because of the covering of algae on it.

I would do another large water change, add extra aeration, and recheck everything. I don't believe that all parameters are ok.

What's the alkalinity?

That Goby is on the way out though.

 

[I never finish anythi]

Turn off all the power to the tank to make sure they ain't getting shocked . Are you running Carbon??

 

[bookeey517]

Check your powerhead and heater, return etc for any damage.

Did they act like this before the water change?

I generally add some carbon if something seems off as well. Just in case something got into the tank.

How old is the tank? The rock looks very white.

I don’t seem any damage on the hardware and the temperature looks normal. I have activated carbon running in the filter as well.

my tank has been up for over a year now. My rocks are probobly so white because the water in the water change sprayed the detritus off of them.

my diamond back goby just died infront of my eyes (a year old and has never had problems) and my clownfish just died as well (neither of them have ever had problems at all, they were both always healthy.)

 

[bookeey517]

That Goby looks emaciated, and that didn't happen in 3 days. I can't see a video/photo of the clown.

Tank looks very detritus heavy, maybe dying hair algae.

The GSP probably can't open because of the covering of algae on it.

I would do another large water change, add extra aeration, and recheck everything. I don't believe that all parameters are ok.

What's the alkalinity?

That Goby is on the way out though.

The goby has never been anywhere near this condition, all of my fish were healthy and normal before the trip.
I agree with you on the GSP, I blow detritus off of them every morning but it covers them up again because they don’t open (they were healthy and opened up until a day before my trip, I have had them for 3 months)
As I am typing this the goby and clownfish died and are being eaten by snails. This is concerning because they were relatively normal (not completely normal) this morning.
Another update as we speak is my yellow watchman goby is swimming around the tank, he never does this, I think he is next.

i re-did all of the parameters and they all came out the same.

the alkalinity is 10DKH

 

[bookeey517]

Turn off all the power to the tank to make sure they ain't getting shocked . Are you running Carbon??

I turned off the power as two fish just died, I am running carbon in my filter.

 

[I never finish anythi]

Dang it's not looking good . Sorry

 

[Dave1993]

stray voltage?

 

[sixty_reefer]

Have you got a quarantine at hand? It could be a species of toxic dinoflagellates taking over the system.

 

[bookeey517]

stray voltage?

How do I check that? I stuck my hand in and I didn’t get shocked, but I turned the power off anyway

 

[bookeey517]

Have you got a quarantine at hand? It could be a species of toxic dinoflagellates taking over the system.

I have a QT, but I think it’s too late now. Half of my fish already died and I’m still trying to find out what’s going on

 

[sixty_reefer]

I have a QT, but I think it’s too late now. Half of my fish already died and I’m still trying to find out what’s going on

Have you got dead snails also? I would start sorting the QT and save as much as you can.

 

[sixty_reefer]

If it’s toxic dinoflagellates try and not put your hands in the system

 

[bookeey517]

Have you got dead snails also? I would start sorting the QT and save as much as you can.

My snails and shrimp are thriving right now, they are enjoying the dead fish as a little snack

 

[Sebastiancrab]

Do a better than average water change. Go to Walmart and purchase a multimeter and test your equipment one by one for stray voltage. Also, purchase some Poly Filter and run it. Hopefully, your LFS has some:

Poly Filter Aquarium Filter

The POLY-FILTER is for filtering and purifying both fresh and salt water aquariums. It is a formulation of a special patented material bonded to a synthetic matrix. By means of a unique proprietary process, the POLY-FILTER is made impervious to salt and is also organic loving to certain...

www.bulkreefsupply.com

 

[AgentKooper]

I'm sorry for your losses. Sounds pretty baffling. Is it possible something spilled into the tank somehow?

EDIT: Just saw that your snails and shrimp are thriving, so I guess it's not that.

 

[Dom]

How do I check that? I stuck my hand in and I didn’t get shocked, but I turned the power off anyway

Place your positive probe in the tank and the negative probe to ground and see if you get any voltage readings.

 

[Wamland]

This is so sad. Can you pull a dead fish and see any sign of infection or parasite/worm