Death Death Everywhere

[ghostiroc]

So i did the big switcharoo. I went from 55gal to 125 and all the parameters looked good. I got the fish out of the small little tank, acclimated them for a few hours in a bucket with a heater and the put them in the new tank and da da they are dropping like flies. So far I have lost my sgt major damsel, my lavender tang, my clown fish, my blue devil damsel, my yellowtail damsel and when I came down this morning the yellow tang is still stressing along with the domino damsel. The Lunar Wrasse, 2 Niger Triggers, 4 stripe damsel, Velvet Damsel, 5 Hermits, are all doing great and accepted food when I gave it to them this morning. I am sad...not because of the loss of livestock due to money, although there was quite a bit invested, or about the time it took to raise them to this size. But because of the loss of personality in the tank. All those fish were different in personality. They did different things, they had routines, they were like little dogs, so happy to see me come up to the tank to watch them, and mainly probably feed them. If feels like I lost family. I thought everyone would be so happy in their new tank with all that room and all that new rock and I guess the trip into the bucket, into the temp tank and back into the bucket in a matter of a week were all to much for them to take.
R.I. P my friends.... and have fun in the big ocean in the sky. You will truly be missed!

RIP
Sarge
Blue Devil
Lavy Tang
Funny guy clown fish
Ole Yellow Tail

 

[milomlo]

I am sorry for your loss.
I can relate to your pain though. I upgraded my 29 gallon to a 100 gallon a couple of weeks ago. Everything was great. Day 2 I lost a cleaner shrimp (his tail was cut off, not sure why). I had bought two clown gobies and they didn't even last 12 hours. They went over the overflow. Then the following day one of my clowns (the first fish I ever bought) went over the overflow as well as was caught in the filter bag.
He didn't make it either.
Don't give up. Just hang in there.

 

[ghostiroc]

its just devastationg that such a beautiful hobby has so much death associated with it. Not only do you lose fish do to uncompatibility but when you upgrade you lose them to. Some of those fish were with me for over a year. They had grown from little bitty guys to some 3+ inches in length. I guess when all you do is see your little guys thirve then when they pass on its like .... you hit rock bottom.

 

[ghostiroc]

add one yellow tang....you will be missed

 

[ophiura]

Are the parameters still good???
Gotta figure out what is going on!!
Was the larger tank cycled?
I know it is hard to think about but if we can stop it...

 

[ghostiroc]

Took water to LFS, they said it was great. I dont remember the exact parameters the temp is good.... maybe it was just the stress of catching everyone? I mean I had to chase some of these guys down. Plus it wouldnt make sense why some died but the 5 that are left are thriving. Maybe they got beat up in the bucket....? temp is at 75 salinity is at 1.023 :notsure:

 

[ophiura]

I would really get a specific set of numbers...Ammonia, nitrite, nitrate, pH and alkalinity. I am definitely concerned that something is up. I mean some really tough fish died in this. Something is just not right, IMO :notsure: It is possible, in some cases, for some fish to survive and others not. Sure you chased them down, but consider their history...caught in the wild, shipped several thousands of miles in small bags, to a wholesaler, caught again, shipped again, to an LFS, caught again, acclimated again to y our tank. Really, just being caught in this situation would be relatively easy on them in comparison.
How long was the new tank running before these fish were added? What was the water source?

 

[hatessushi]

I wouldn't think it was the stress since even though you had to chase them down they were only going to a bucket and then a new tank. When I think of websites like this one that send fish all over the country. I'm sure they have to chase them down to catch them then put them in little bags with oxygen, packed into a styrofoam box with ice/heat pack and shipped now that has to be stressfull the way some of the shipper employees throw things around. It's amazing they can still live and thrive.

 

[ghostiroc]

i just finished testing Ammonia 0, Nitrite 0, Nitrate 0, PH 8.2, Alk normal I used all the other water from the 55gal that I took apart, I put all the dried coral in and i didnt bleach it or anything I used probably 50 gals RO water from the LFS and the rest was water from the tap that I mixed up, let heat up and had in a bucket for about 3 days I didnt change my filter media I thought if there was any bac in that then the new tank would need it, and lets see,... I took some of the crushed coral from the 55 put it in a mesh bag and let it hang in the tank since i switched out the substrate. from cc to seachems grey coast calcite. I let the tank sit for 3 days to heat up, clear up and everthing else. Then I acclimated fish and put them in. oh temp is 76 and sal is 1.023

 

[ghostiroc]

Add one Domino Damsel
RIP spot you will be missed!
Anyone got any ideas why this happened? All other fish look great swimming in the caves and all around they ate when i fed them this morning... They look happy. Not showing any indication that they are going to croak like the other ones.

 

[milomlo]

I am thinking since you changed out your substrate that maybe you didn't have enough bacteria and it started to cycle.
That is all I can think of. But of course above you say your ammonia and everything is 0. What about the saltmix - did you change?? IDK if that would hurt anything but I thought I'd ask. Just seems weird that all these fish died.

 

[hot883]

Have you always used TAP water? Where did you get the tank from? Used, new, did you clean it? If you did, with what?

 

[ophiura]

Was the tank rinsed with anything?
What are the symptoms the fish are showing?
How soon after addition to the tank did they start to die?

 

[ghostiroc]

Originally Posted by hot883
Have you always used TAP water? Where did you get the tank from? Used, new, did you clean it? If you did, with what?
I used very little tap water, and i didnt put them in it directly it was already mixed in with the rest of the RO water and the water from the other tank. I got the tank from the LFS, i did clean it with saltwater. It was brand new.

 

[ghostiroc]

Originally Posted by ophiura
Was the tank rinsed with anything?
What are the symptoms the fish are showing?
How soon after addition to the tank did they start to die?
No the tank was only cleaned and wiped down with a saltwater mix, which is what I used on the skimmer and everything else that I clean when I do water changes etc...
The fish that remain are showing no signs, they are eatting and swimming and all have good color. When I put them in the tank last night they all looked stressed like at the bottom, kinda like when you see them after getting stocked at the LFS down the bottom kinda scared looking and wanting to hide. Then 2 hours later I came down to check them and I found my first one dead it was the lavender tang. and then every few hours I came down and someone would be dead. Now all the ones that never came out of being stressed are dead and the rest seem peachy.
So I dont know whats up.. Thanks for everyones help though. I guess the secret of what killed everyone went to the grave with them.... I want to get some more fish but I guess I will wait a few weeks so I dont put anymore fish to their demise.

 

[ghostiroc]

Originally Posted by milomlo
I am thinking since you changed out your substrate that maybe you didn't have enough bacteria and it started to cycle.
That is all I can think of. But of course above you say your ammonia and everything is 0. What about the saltmix - did you change?? IDK if that would hurt anything but I thought I'd ask. Just seems weird that all these fish died.

The only thing I changed is the substrate. But I did what people recommended and even kept some of the CC in a sak and didnt change out the filter media and used some sw biozyme so I dont know whats up....

 

[poniegirl]

I'm sorry for your loss, we all know how painful..
How did you catch your fish to transfer them between tanks?
I do wonder about disturbing the substrate. I know I am concerned to bother it at all. I wonder what levels things live at and if the substrate has a die-off in such a circumstance?
Who were the surviving members?

 

[mikeyjer]

Do you have any live rock in there at all??? I really have to say there's insufficient bacteria within the tank. How did you acclimate them to the new tank??? I would start running carbon in the new tank right now....I would also do 20-25% water changes every other day.... :happyfish

 

[jojo_b]

...Was there enough circulation, to keep the water oxygenated?

 

[ophiura]

The problem is how quickly these fish died. Within a couple of hours.
IMO, that is not related to the biological filter, that is something more along the lines of a toxin of some sort in the tank.
Issues with the biological filter would take a couple of days, and there would be clear water parameter issues as well....that may develop in time...but something is still weird here :notsure: