Whats wrong with my tank

[big man]

Yesterday when I came home from school my yellow tang was dead. The day before he's was eating and active. I looked at my other fish and the all had no signs of parasites and they were active and eating. Except my hawkfish he didn't eat and is know perching of the corner of the tank on the sand bed and is not that active. I was a air stone in my tank and bubbles cover the whole top of the tank. My water parameters are nitrates were 0 nitrite 0 ammonia is .5ppm ph 8.1 I have a canister filter and I just cleaned it. Is the ammonia the reason the tang died and the hawkfish is not looking so good? Or might it be a parasite like flukes

 

[Sharkbait19]

How long has the tank been running? What test kits are you using?
If you have pics and a video it would help a lot with diagnosis, otherwise it’s just a guess.

 

[big man]

The tank is a temporary 40 gallon because my other tank had a leak but the tank it technically 1 year old I am using a api test kit. I am not home ccurrently so I can't give pictures at the moment.

 

[Sharkbait19]

How long has everything been in the 40? Api is known to cause false positives for ammonia (it reads both toxic and nontoxic), but even then 0.5 is high.
When was the most recent addition to the tank? Was everything quarantined?

 

[big man]

They have been in the tank for two weeks know and the only new addition was a emperor and which I quarantined for one month and added him before the leak then my yellow tang killed him the day I added him. Other wise the other fish have been in my tank for about 8 months

 

[vetteguy53081]

Yesterday when I came home from school my yellow tang was dead. The day before he's was eating and active. I looked at my other fish and the all had no signs of parasites and they were active and eating. Except my hawkfish he didn't eat and is know perching of the corner of the tank on the sand bed and is not that active. I was a air stone in my tank and bubbles cover the whole top of the tank. My water parameters are nitrates were 0 nitrite 0 ammonia is .5ppm ph 8.1 I have a canister filter and I just cleaned it. Is the ammonia the reason the tang died and the hawkfish is not looking so good? Or might it be a parasite like flukes

If canister is only method of filtration , you likely have elevated nitrates and ammonia and your readings posted suggest to me you are using API brand test kit- Am I correct ?
Ammonia at .5 is considered elevated and enough to deplete oxygen even with air stone and cause issues with toxicity in water.
Canister is great for freshwater but is literally a mechanical filter in which your tank is lacking chemical and biological filtration.
Is is safe to say your fish are breathing Heavy and showing loss of appetite?

With flukes, they would be scratching, darting, yawning effect and even gasping at surface.
What is your tank temperature and salt level and are you using RODI water or tap water from the faucet ?

 

[big man]

I am using a api test kit. Just my hawkfish didn't eat. But my other tangs and clownfish
Eat and don't breath heavy. I use water from my shower to do a water change

 

[Jay Hemdal Verified Community Expert]

I am using a api test kit. Just my hawkfish didn't eat. But my other tangs and clownfish
Eat and don't breath heavy. I use water from my shower to do a water change

Can you post a video and maybe have your pet store test for ammonia to determine if the ammonia is actually at 0.5 ppm? That level can be deadly at higher pH levels.

You say there are bubbles at the surface, could that be foam? That can also be a sign of water quality issues.


Jay

 

[MnFish1]

If canister is only method of filtration , you likely have elevated nitrates and ammonia and your readings posted suggest to me you are using API brand test kit- Am I correct ?
Ammonia at .5 is considered elevated and enough to deplete oxygen even with air stone and cause issues with toxicity in water.
Canister is great for freshwater but is literally a mechanical filter in which your tank is lacking chemical and biological filtration.
Is is safe to say your fish are breathing Heavy and showing loss of appetite?

With flukes, they would be scratching, darting, yawning effect and even gasping at surface.
What is your tank temperature and salt level and are you using RODI water or tap water from the faucet ?

Ammonia at 0.5 is 'elevated - but dependent on the pH and the salinity - is unlikely to cause the death of one fish out5 of many

 

[Jay Hemdal Verified Community Expert]

Ammonia at 0.5 is 'elevated - but dependent on the pH and the salinity - is unlikely to cause the death of one fish out5 of many

A couple of clues here: the hawkfish is also acting off. The pH is 8.1, which is just on the edge of starting to cause loss, depending on how long the fish have been exposed. The water's surface may be foamy as well. They also cleaned the canister filter - that may be an issue if they removed nitrifying bacteria in the process.

Jay

 

[vetteguy53081]

Ammonia at 0.5 is 'elevated - but dependent on the pH and the salinity - is unlikely to cause the death of one fish out5 of many

Not saying ammonia is cause and is up there and likely nitrate with limited filtration which is mechanical and requires frequent cleaning which removes anything beneficial to sustain tank

 

[MnFish1]

Not saying ammonia is cause and is up there and likely nitrate with limited filtration which is mechanical and requires frequent cleaning which removes anything beneficial to sustain tank

Agreed - total ammonia should not read that high - no matter what test - without it being 'true ' - or operator error.

 

[big man]

Here are the pictures of the bubbles and the tank my hawkfish is still not even intrested in eating any food nor Is he trying to. But none of my fish are breathing heavy

 

[big man]

I checked my temperature and it read 67 f!! I think that's the main reason my yellow died and my hawkfish isn't doing do well I'm gonna take some water out and add in warmer water slowly to make the temperature back to 79f

 

[big man]

I was looking at my hawkfish again and I found the Reason he's not eating for acting the same is because he has popeye. His left eye is swollen and cloudy

 

[Jay Hemdal Verified Community Expert]

I checked my temperature and it read 67 f!! I think that's the main reason my yellow died and my hawkfish isn't doing do well I'm gonna take some water out and add in warmer water slowly to make the temperature back to 79f

Both of those species come from regions where the water temperature naturally dips that low, so that wouldn't kill the fish outright, but it might stress them a bit.

You should just bump the aquarium heater up slightly, let the tank temperature go up a few degrees, then bump it again, etc.

Jay

 

[big man]

Every thing has gone to ****! I woke up and everybody was dead except for one clownfish. Turns out my air stone got unplugged by I think one of my cats getting stuck on it and my tank got depleted oxygen. I hope I can save my one clown fish but she's not doing so well

 

[EeyoreIsMySpiritAnimal]

I use water from my shower to do a water change

Can you clarify this??

 

[big man]

I turn on my shower head and put it in the bucket until full

 

[MnFish1]

I turn on my shower head and put it in the bucket until full

If its a salt water tank this doesn't make sense?