What the heck just happened?

BestMomEver · May 27, 2018

I fed my tank a few hours ago. Everyone came to eat, like always. No problems. I went outside for 5 minutes and when I came back in my Zoster Butterfly was acting weird. He was swimming in weird circles and bobbing on top of the water with his nose sticking up. After a minute or two he started floating/swimming upside down. Just as suddenly, he drifted to the bottom of the tank and died. Weirdest thing I ever saw. When we got him out he looked like he was covered in opaque slime (think Vaseline Petroleum Jelly). None of the other fish seem effected at all. About an hour before I did my two part dosing. Both A and B doses went into the sump, not the DT. I’ve never seen anything kill a fish so quickly. Is it possible that he took a bite of a zoanthid and poisoned himself?

Flippers4pups · May 28, 2018

esimison said:
I fed my tank a few hours ago. Everyone came to eat, like always. No problems. I went outside for 5 minutes and when I came back in my Zoster Butterfly was acting weird. He was swimming in weird circles and bobbing on top of the water with his nose sticking up. After a minute or two he started floating/swimming upside down. Just as suddenly, he drifted to the bottom of the tank and died. Weirdest thing I ever saw. When we got him out he looked like he was covered in opaque slime (think Vaseline Petroleum Jelly). None of the other fish seem effected at all. About an hour before I did my two part dosing. Both A and B doses went into the sump, not the DT. I’ve never seen anything kill a fish so quickly. Is it possible that he took a bite of a zoanthid and poisoned himself?

I suspect that the butterfly was sick and you didn't notice until it was to late. Sounds like brooklynella to me.

https://www.reef2reef.com/threads/fish-diseases-101.189284/

Let's get some more eyes on this:
#reefsquad

tdileo · May 28, 2018

Following. I’m sorry to hear this but I’m very curious as to what it may have been.

Fishnut · May 28, 2018

You said when you got him he was covered in slime. How long ago was that and was it treated in a QT?

HotRocks · May 28, 2018

Need more details. Can you post a pic?

How long have you had the fish?

Do you QT all new arrivals?

Have you recently added any new fish corals, inverts, etc?

BestMomEver · May 28, 2018

I’m sorry... when we removed his body it looked like he was covered in a slimy white film.

But this is the weird part.... in the last three weeks I’ve “lost” four+ fish. I say lost cause they’ve just vanished. I haven’t seen my yellow watchman goby in four weeks or better. I know he could easily be in a hole with his shrimp but he was a pig and always came out to eat. I had a orange back fairy wrasse that I haven’t seen in two weeks or more. I had a yellow goby that’s gone. Just a few days ago I posted about his ego and how he perched front and center in the middle of an acro frag. The next day he was gone. Last night I watched the butterfly fish die in a matter of seconds. When I went to bed my Kole Tang was eating Nori from a clip and when I got up this morning he’s gone. Vanished. No body, no nothing. These fish were either pretty big or very prominent. I don’t understand how they could just vanish.

To answer your questions... they were not QTd. Can’t post pics cause fish has been tossed. Only thing I’ve added were a few coral frags and that was a week ago. I’ve had the butterfly for almost three weeks.... the tang as well. Bought them together.

What is left is black ocellaris clown, Pygmy yellowtale angel and a pair of yellow line gobies and a purple firefish that never comes out of his barnacle. Oh... I bought the clown when I bought the frags.

I tested my water yesterday and also had the LFS test it.
Ammonia 0
Nitrites 0
Nitrate 0.25
Phosphate 0
Calcium 420
Mag 1250
pH 8.2
Alk 9

I’m sad. And confused.

Flippers4pups · May 28, 2018

What size tank? Deaths in a tank where the bodies can't be found most certainly will produce ammonia as the body decays and is consumed by the cuc. Depending on the tank water volume, depends on how harmful the ammonia rise will be to others in the tank.

HotRocks · May 28, 2018

esimison said:
I’m sorry... when we removed his body it looked like he was covered in a slimy white film.

But this is the weird part.... in the last three weeks I’ve “lost” four+ fish. I say lost cause they’ve just vanished. I haven’t seen my yellow watchman goby in four weeks or better. I know he could easily be in a hole with his shrimp but he was a pig and always came out to eat. I had a orange back fairy wrasse that I haven’t seen in two weeks or more. I had a yellow goby that’s gone. Just a few days ago I posted about his ego and how he perched front and center in the middle of an acro frag. The next day he was gone. Last night I watched the butterfly fish die in a matter of seconds. When I went to bed my Kole Tang was eating Nori from a clip and when I got up this morning he’s gone. Vanished. No body, no nothing. These fish were either pretty big or very prominent. I don’t understand how they could just vanish.

To answer your questions... they were not QTd. Can’t post pics cause fish has been tossed. Only thing I’ve added were a few coral frags and that was a week ago. I’ve had the butterfly for almost three weeks.... the tang as well. Bought them together.

What is left is black ocellaris clown, Pygmy yellowtale angel and a pair of yellow line gobies and a purple firefish that never comes out of his barnacle. Oh... I bought the clown when I bought the frags.

I tested my water yesterday and also had the LFS test it.
Ammonia 0
Nitrites 0
Nitrate 0.25
Phosphate 0
Calcium 420
Mag 1250
pH 8.2
Alk 9

I’m sad. And confused.

I suspect a parasite. The fact that fish were added in the last few weeks, without QT is a likely cause here. As mentioned above it could be Brook, or also velvet you are dealing with based on your description of the fly that died.

Corals can also introduce parasites to your system as well...

BestMomEver · May 28, 2018

The tank is a 60 cube. The tang and fly were small... less than four inches. Had planned on trading them for something else if they started to approach the 7” mark. I got wrasse from one LFS. I’ve had him for 6+ months. The clown from another LFS. Tang, fly, yellow goby, yellowline goby pair and angel came from LA. Except for the tang and fly they were all bought at different times. Firefish came from LFS that wrasse came from as did watchman goby. I feed a variety of frozen foods soaked in Selcon. I just recently started 2 part dosing but tested before and after. I run carbon, filter sock, skimmer....

Oh.... salinity is 1.026

BestMomEver · May 28, 2018

Oh.... did 10% water change last week.

BestMomEver · May 28, 2018

Also.... this is an open top tank. There is also the possibility that some/all of these guys jumped and the dog got them. But no one was being chased or bullied so I don’t know why they would have. The wrasse and yellowline gobies and watchman gobies were transfers from another topless tank and never jumped.

ca1ore · May 28, 2018

I've kept both the zoster and sister species yellow pyramid on many occasions. That circular, nose-out-of-water behavior is common for a distressed fish. They are also highly succeptible to mouth infections, where the lips look white-ish and eroded. Quite possible that a progressing infection got it.

That you have been losing other fish does suggest that there is some progressing disease in the tank. It is not at all unusual to have fish 'disappear'. They almost certainly died in and amongst the rocks and got reduced. It can happen surprisingly quickly (much more quickly than the novice reefer expects). It's also possible that in a smaller tank with insufficient rock that ammonia becomes a problem. Fish that have died from ammonia usually present with reddened gills.

A slimy, white 'film' is an imprecise description; without a picture it's hard to offer much insight. Fish will often overproduce the slime coat in response to a parasite, which is why you sometimes see a slimy look to fish in a tank that has ich.

ca1ore · May 28, 2018

At this point I'd be pulling the rocks apart to try to remove the tang body. If you are able, moving the fish to a dedicated hospital tank would be a good idea. Treating with an antibiotic and chloroquine phosphate (ich shield) would be ideal. Resist the temptation to buy any new fish.

saltyhog · May 28, 2018

ca1ore said:
At this point I'd be pulling the rocks apart to try to remove the tang body. If you are able, moving the fish to a dedicated hospital tank would be a good idea. Treating with an antibiotic and chloroquine phosphate (ich shield) would be ideal. Resist the temptation to buy any new fish.

Excellent advice although I would use pharmaceutical grade CP at 60 mg/gallon dose if possible.