Why is everybody dying?

[Brooks1997]

Sorry for the long post but some opinions would be helpful in figuring this out. The past 2 weeks my fish have unexpectedly died. I have 2 ideas why but information online is conflicting.
My aquarium; 90 gallons, 20 Gallon sump, its about 4 months old. I had a 75 gallon and upgraded to this one, moved my old Rock and sand over, same skimmer. Most of the rock and sand is a year old.
What was inside of my Tank; 1 young Hippo Tang 6 months, Dwarf Bi color butterfly 4 months, 2 Clowns 1 year, yellow watchman Goby 1 year , Pistol Shrimp 1 year, purple serpent star 7 years old have had 3 months, 5 green Chromis mixed ages, 2 emerald crabs, a few hermits, 2 turbo snails, 5 pepermint shrimp
Whats in my Tank now; Pistol Shrimp, 2 clowns, Dwarf Bi color Butterfly, serpent star, 2 emerald crabs, a few little hermits, my snails, 5 pepermint shrimp.

Tang; Kind of killed her self. Since we first got her she always got stuck inside of things. Examples; between the heater, between anything...She tried to swim in between a small opening in between 2 Rocks. I removed her (VERY carefully) by picking up on rock, and put her into QT she died about 3 hours later. I tried CPR for 10 minutes but she cut her head up pretty bad. The Chromis and Goby are the big mystery.
Chromis- I went to feed and noticed the smallest 1 swimming with my clowns no others in sight. Chromis #2 found on top of my lid, #3 found dead in the bottom of the tank, 4 &5 never found...its really odd the smallest one was the one alive? I moved all my rock work around and even removed it! Never found the other 2. Whatever happened 1 of them decided to jump all the way out of the tank.
Goby- NO clue I have had him since I got the clowns. I did notice some strange behavior. I usually only see him twice a month not to far from his tunnel. His shrimp was spotted days before swimming like super man across the top of the tank all over the place. 2 Days later the Goby was spotted doing the same. He never does that. The next day he was found dead on the sand bed.
I can only think of two possible killers but I cant find anything online to support it. #1 would be aiptasia. I am currently handling an aiptasia issue. Its starting to get under control. I have removed Rock slowly and left them out in the sun for 2 weeks one rock at a time along with, injecting with boiling water then siphoning out, and my peppermint shrimp. I bought some nudi branch but they are so tinny...who knows if I still have them. After the goby died I freaked out and went and bought an aiptasia eating file fish.
#2 would be the star fish... the star fish I have is about 7 years old. I have only had him for 3 months now. The day I got him he ate my entire bubble tip anemone and sexy shrimp. Since then I have been keeping him well fed with clams, oysters, and sliders. I have watched the clown fish tease him but nobody in my tank messes with the clown fish. I know this is probably ridiculously long and I apologize for being all over the place. I would just like a little input or opinions. I have tested my salinity, calcium, phosphate, KH , Magnesium, PH Manually and via my apex, ammonia, nitrate, nitrite, everything is ideal. My salinity is currently 1.022 and temp is 78. I used a multi meter and I have no voltage leaking into the water. I love my fish and I am so torn up about it. I want to fix whatever is causing this

 

[Big G]

Have you added anything "wet" (corals, fish, inverts) to the tank in the last 30 days or so?

 

[Brooks1997]

Have you added anything "wet" (corals, fish, inverts) to the tank in the last 30 days or so?

No not in the past 30 days when everything started dying. The last fish I added was the file fish and that was a few days ago because I thought maybe the aiptasia was at fault.

 

[Salt Addiction]

+1 on adding anything wet. Have you tried observing at night under a red light to see if anything unexpected comes out? Also keep an eye on the file fish if you have coral as they can occasionally got for other things.

 

[TriggerFinger]

You said you are drying rock out...are you adding it back to the tank after it has sat out for two weeks? If so, you might be creating an ammonia spike from the organics in the rocks.

 

[Brooks1997]

+1 on adding anything wet. Have you tried observing at night under a red light to see if anything unexpected comes out? Also keep an eye on the file fish if you have coral as they can occasionally got for other things.,

I haven't tried a red light at night, I will have to try that out. I have a few stoney corals. At this point I figured either aiptasia will get them, or the fish killing them will. Hopefully it works out for the best though!

 

[Mastiffsrule]

Hi, and welcome even under such horrible conditions

What your describing sounds more like a pathogen or physical than disease. What I mean by that is something physically in tank versus a disease. You hit on voltage which was my first thought as well. Just to be double sure, do you have a ground probe in use? Next question to ask was there any sign of disease on any of them? (Sorry if I missed that, I was focused on all the behavior).

You mentioned upgrade, is this a recent change or has it been a few months or more? It wasn’t the aptasia, so i would stop worrying about that. Any recent house work, cleaning, painting, anything else out of the norm?

 

[Brooks1997]

You said you are drying rock out...are you adding it back to the tank after it has sat out for two weeks? If so, you might be creating an ammonia spike from the organics in the rocks

I have taken it out, scrubbed, soaked in water, rinsed a few times, then dried out. I have only done it to about 1/4 of my rock so far. I haven't noticed any ammonia spikes yet though. I try and test at least twice a week. At this point I'm thinking it's a parasite, the star, or pest anemones but it's hard to know which one.

 

[Brooks1997]

Hi, and welcome even under such horrible conditions

What your describing sounds more like a pathogen or physical than disease. What I mean by that is something physically in tank versus a disease. You hit on voltage which was my first thought as well. Just to be double sure, do you have a ground probe in use? Next question to ask was there any sign of disease on any of them? (Sorry if I missed that, I was focused on all the behavior).

You mentioned upgrade, is this a recent change or has it been a few months or more? It wasn’t the aptasia, so i would stop worrying about that. Any recent house work, cleaning, painting, anything else out of the norm?

Yes! I do have a probe in the tank just to be extra safe. My husband is a plumber and has a multi meter he uses at work. I tested the water with the probe in, and out. The upgrade is a few months old now, the only thing new is the tank its self and about 30 lbs of sand. The newest inhabitants are the dwarf angle fish and star fish. The angle fish is very small though maybe 1.5 inches-2 inches. He is super shy too. If he knows I'm looking at only him he hides. Sort of creepy but he likes to hang out with the star fish. As for things going on in the house I really can't think of anything out of the ordinary. The last time I painted I was paranoid and covered the aquarium in a plastic mattress bag, that was 6 months ago. I did start adding frozen shreded mussel to their diets. I like to feed a variety to every one. Typically they get enriched mysis but some nights I do other shrimp, squid, blood worms, clam, krill. Maybe something is coming out at night. I haven't noticed any disease or signs of disease. Chromis tend to fight and create a pecking order as expected. Every once in a while they would "argue" and one would appear to have a nip on the fin. 2 dying and 2 vanishing in one night is a bit wild. My goby never had issues. I was so shocked honestly. My shrimp keeps looking around for him.

 

[Mastiffsrule]

Sounds like you have looked into everything. The chromis probably will thin out the herd so to speak. They just do that most of the time , not always.

Hopefully everything will settle down. Keep us posted

 

[brmreefer]

Salinity seems low to me.

 

[vetteguy53081]

Low salinity and other possible water parameters. I would take a large sample to a trusted LFS and have them test for you to verify readings and to compare with yours.

 

[Brooks1997]

Low salinity and other possible water parameters. I would take a large sample to a trusted LFS and have them test for you to verify readings and to compare with yours.

I didnt realize 22 was low both my local fish stores keep theirs even lower one being 18 and the other being 20! I'll have to take them a sample and see what they say.

 

[Brooks1997]

Sounds like you have looked into everything. The chromis probably will thin out the herd so to speak. They just do that most of the time , not always.

Hopefully everything will settle down. Keep us posted

Yeah, I suppose your right about the Chromis. I probably will not buy them again. Hopefully things calm down. For now I'm going to observe things, try a red light, and take a water sample to the LFS.

 

[Coralcrazy06770]

Sorry for the long post but some opinions would be helpful in figuring this out. The past 2 weeks my fish have unexpectedly died. I have 2 ideas why but information online is conflicting.
My aquarium; 90 gallons, 20 Gallon sump, its about 4 months old. I had a 75 gallon and upgraded to this one, moved my old Rock and sand over, same skimmer. Most of the rock and sand is a year old.
What was inside of my Tank; 1 young Hippo Tang 6 months, Dwarf Bi color butterfly 4 months, 2 Clowns 1 year, yellow watchman Goby 1 year , Pistol Shrimp 1 year, purple serpent star 7 years old have had 3 months, 5 green Chromis mixed ages, 2 emerald crabs, a few hermits, 2 turbo snails, 5 pepermint shrimp
Whats in my Tank now; Pistol Shrimp, 2 clowns, Dwarf Bi color Butterfly, serpent star, 2 emerald crabs, a few little hermits, my snails, 5 pepermint shrimp.

Tang; Kind of killed her self. Since we first got her she always got stuck inside of things. Examples; between the heater, between anything...She tried to swim in between a small opening in between 2 Rocks. I removed her (VERY carefully) by picking up on rock, and put her into QT she died about 3 hours later. I tried CPR for 10 minutes but she cut her head up pretty bad. The Chromis and Goby are the big mystery.
Chromis- I went to feed and noticed the smallest 1 swimming with my clowns no others in sight. Chromis #2 found on top of my lid, #3 found dead in the bottom of the tank, 4 &5 never found...its really odd the smallest one was the one alive? I moved all my rock work around and even removed it! Never found the other 2. Whatever happened 1 of them decided to jump all the way out of the tank.
Goby- NO clue I have had him since I got the clowns. I did notice some strange behavior. I usually only see him twice a month not to far from his tunnel. His shrimp was spotted days before swimming like super man across the top of the tank all over the place. 2 Days later the Goby was spotted doing the same. He never does that. The next day he was found dead on the sand bed.
I can only think of two possible killers but I cant find anything online to support it. #1 would be aiptasia. I am currently handling an aiptasia issue. Its starting to get under control. I have removed Rock slowly and left them out in the sun for 2 weeks one rock at a time along with, injecting with boiling water then siphoning out, and my peppermint shrimp. I bought some nudi branch but they are so tinny...who knows if I still have them. After the goby died I freaked out and went and bought an aiptasia eating file fish.
#2 would be the star fish... the star fish I have is about 7 years old. I have only had him for 3 months now. The day I got him he ate my entire bubble tip anemone and sexy shrimp. Since then I have been keeping him well fed with clams, oysters, and sliders. I have watched the clown fish tease him but nobody in my tank messes with the clown fish. I know this is probably ridiculously long and I apologize for being all over the place. I would just like a little input or opinions. I have tested my salinity, calcium, phosphate, KH , Magnesium, PH Manually and via my apex, ammonia, nitrate, nitrite, everything is ideal. My salinity is currently 1.022 and temp is 78. I used a multi meter and I have no voltage leaking into the water. I love my fish and I am so torn up about it. I want to fix whatever is causing this

what type of star fish is it? some species can be very good hunters and will catch and eat your fish . I speak from expierence i would have never thought it till at night i caught him he had caught my clownfish and was eating him . OK you did list its a purple serpent star . I would move him into your sump for a while and see if everything calms down just my opinion i bet he is the player that is causing a lot of the problems. The only other thing that could be a possibility your live rock was it dri when you started or did you buy it cured from some where?

 

[vetteguy53081]

I didnt realize 22 was low both my local fish stores keep theirs even lower one being 18 and the other being 20! I'll have to take them a sample and see what they say.

They keep theirs low to provide hyposalinity which aids in disease control. Always test bag water against tank water to know where your needs are for acclimation in which the imbalance can cause shock.

 

[Paul B]

What did the dead fish still in the tank look like? Did they have their mouths wide open?
Did you see any fish swimming at the surface gulping air?
Did you see ant fish shaking their head from side to side?

Did you look inside any of the dead fishes gills with a magnifier?
It is hard to tell what something died from without knowing a little about it.

It could be anything but I am still "guessing" ammonia.
I know you used rock from an older system but that older system was still a very new system.
Then you are scrubbing rock which will kill the bacteria that you need to keep the tank stable and convert ammonia.
It is not aiptasia and your ammonia test kit will not be of much help because ammonia gets converted pretty quickly. It kills fish pretty quickly too then gets converted.

This is a very new system and you had a lot of livestock in there right from the beginning.

 

[Brooks1997]

what type of star fish is it? some species can be very good hunters and will catch and eat your fish . I speak from expierence i would have never thought it till at night i caught him he had caught my clownfish and was eating him . OK you did list its a purple serpent star . I would move him into your sump for a while and see if everything calms down just my opinion i bet he is the player that is causing a lot of the problems. The only other thing that could be a possibility your live rock was it dri when you started or did you buy it cured from some where?

Yes purple serpent star has a old guy and fairly big...fast too. When I first got him I watched him eat my entire anemone. I was considering the sump idea but a bit paranoid he will get into one of the pumps. Maybe I can put a net of some sort over the opening. About half my rock was dry, then the other half was 1/2 "life rock" and 1/2 live rock. I think the live rock is what had aiptasia on it. I don't think I'll be buying wet rock like that again. I got it all from LFS

 

[Brooks1997]

What did the dead fish still in the tank look like? Did they have their mouths wide open?
Did you see any fish swimming at the surface gulping air?
Did you see ant fish shaking their head from side to side?

Did you look inside any of the dead fishes gills with a magnifier?
It is hard to tell what something died from without knowing a little about it.

It could be anything but I am still "guessing" ammonia.
I know you used rock from an older system but that older system was still a very new system.
Then you are scrubbing rock which will kill the bacteria that you need to keep the tank stable and convert ammonia.
It is not aiptasia and your ammonia test kit will not be of much help because ammonia gets converted pretty quickly. It kills fish pretty quickly too then gets converted.

This is a very new system and you had a lot of livestock in there right from the beginning.

I didnt scrub all my rock, only some of it I have probably 130lbs of rock all together maybe more. I haven't seen any fish gulping at the surface ever. One chronos had its mouth open but...his lips were torn off and his fins. The other one jumped out but his mouth was shut. Goby had a closed mouth and didnt have any Mark's on him except for one on his side. He had a crab on top of him in that spot. I added bacteria into the tank after scrubbing some rock. I can't remember what brand it was, I feel like it was dr.tims? When I top off or do water changes I use RO water that I have added a small amount of Prime to. Prime is supposed to remove/convert ammonia if there is any in the water. I've been testing the ammonia twice a week and haven't seen anything. I'll start testing it every day in case it does spike.

 

[Paul B]

You actually don't want to use Prime in a new tank. You want ammonia so it can be converted to nitrite then to nitrate. I understand that you used old rock, but when you added it to this tank it acted almost like a new tank and I feel you have too many fish for the bacteria you had.

Of course you can't have ammonia with fish so I think the fish were added to quickly before the bacteria grew enough. I don't think disease killed them.
Fish that die from ammonia normally have their mouth wide open.
I also think bacteria in a bottle is useless, but that is just me.

I would just keep doing what your doing, but don't add any more livestock for a while.