Help unexplained fish dying

[l84fisn1]

From the beginning, we started a 55 gallon saltwater tank approximately 5 months ago. Our tank currently has roughly 50 to 60 lbs of white and live rock, as well as live sand, 1 Penguin 150 and 1 Penquin 200 filters.

Water has tested properly and was tested last Friday.

We first purchased 2 damsels, 2 peppermint shrimp, and a brittle starfish; one of the damsels died the first week. We had the water tested and thought was the tank was not finished cycling.

Through cycling we had one damsel alive along with shrimp and starfish. Then we added 3 Chromis a couple of weeks later when the nitrites came down.

Then we purchased a brown starfish a couple of weeks after we added the Chromis, from a different dealer.

But after we added the second brown starfish the first damsel we purchased died in about 2 weeks, he was in the tank maybe 3 months. I suspected the shrimp because they appear aggressive to the soft coral when I introduced them to the tank. Once the tank started coming together we added 5 or 6 different soft corals that are doing very well.

Within a week of one of the damsel dying, we had a chromis die, both deaths occurred at night when the fish went into the rocks and the lights were off. Again I suspected shrimp.

A week later another chromis died, so I removed the shrimp and brought them to the dealer I purchased them from, they thought there was no way the fish were being attacked. They have never heard of this happening.

They said that adding a couple of fish would keep the shrimp hidden and in-check. So they had a beautiful pair of Clownfish that we purchased 2 Saturdays ago and then we lost the last damsel at the end of last week.

So far it appeared the fish were being beat up at night in the rocks so I set up a night light.

Sunday I set a shrimp trap to catch the two shrimp because we only had only the 2 clowns and all the other fish have died at this point. We captured one and went to dinner, the lights were off and it had gotten dark when we came back, it appeared the clowns were not acting normal and would not eat. So I removed them and put them in a separate tank and they were dead Monday morning.

At this point I am not sure of the problem with the water within parameters? Salt 1.024

The one shrimp that was in the tank at the time
A crab that was in the live sand at the time of purchase
Or a Parasite that came from the little brown starfish, which was from a dealer we do not usually purchase from.

At this point everything has died except the 2 shrimp and 2 starfish. I need help?

 

[Kristin1234]

Those fish look like they have infection of some sort. That or some major aggression. Or both. Your tank cycled for t months or this all occured during a 5 month period?

Damsels, Chromis and clowns are all aggressive fish. But that wouldn't explain why the last fish standing is dying as well. Unless they were pretty beat up.

What are your water parameters?

 

[Kristin1234]

Can you get a pic of this parasite on the brown starfish?

 

[pegasus]

Was there any unusual behavior from the fish before they died? Did they glance off of the rocks and/or sand? The clown looks like it's covered with Ick, but I can't tell about the chromis. It's badly beaten, and while it would be unusual to beat itself to death, it could account for all the bruising. If it is Ick, it would stress the fish to the point that their immunity systems would shut down. I would suggest leaving the tank void of fish for about 6 weeks to make sure any parasite(s) or infections don't survive. Since inverts don't host parasites, it will be okay to leave them in the tank. Keep the filters running as normal. After 6 weeks, you should stock the tank slowly, as the natural filtration of the system will have lessened due to the lack of a food source (ie: fish food, fish pee and poop, etc.). Add a small fish or two, and monitor them for a few weeks. If all goes well, add another. Stock slowly so the beneficial bacteria has time to populate to meet the added load. Patience is key. Be sure to keep an eye on Ammonia, Nitrite, and Nitrate after stocking new fish. As always, quarantine new fish in a separate tank for a couple of weeks or so, to make sure they are healthy before adding them to the main tank. It's better to have a sick fish die in quarantine than to die in your main tank after it has infected all the other fish...

 

[l84fisn1]

Yes the chromis looked to be beaten badly and I though ick on the clowns, this is what was unusual, the clowns looked perfectly normal, then we came back they didn't look to want to swim and looked erratic when they did, it did not appear normal. I thought attack but it looked different.

As for the starfish it appears normal on bugs on it.

 

[l84fisn1]

Yes the chromis looked to be beaten badly and I though ick on the clowns, this is what was unusual, the clowns looked perfectly normal, then we came back they didn't look to want to swim and looked erratic when they did, it did not appear normal. I thought attack but it looked different.

As for the starfish it appears normal on bugs on it.

 

[l84fisn1]

Also I had the water tested on Friday last week, everything was normal according to my saltwater aquarium store, where I try to make all my purchases. They test salt, nitrates, nitrites, among other things.

 

[pegasus]

Looks like a typical knobby sea star. The bruises on the clownfish could have easily been caused by it "scratching" on the rocks. Ich is very irritating to fish, and you'll often see them glancing off the rocks or sand in attempts to rub the parasite off. It's very stressful to fish, and fish with weakened immunity systems are vulnerable to death from something as small as Ick parasites.

 

[beth]

The chromis suffered from aggression. The clownfish may have had brooklynella, judging from the picture. Take a look and see if this looks familiar.

Diseased Fish (Pictures)

 

[l84fisn1]

Thank you for you help! It sounds to me like we need to wait 6 weeks to reintroduce fish one at a time and when I do remove the shrimp to confirm they are not the culprit.

With having this issue, would it be safe to continue to add coral?

 

[mr. limpid]

I know you have a 55 gal tank, but now a days if you don't have a quarantine tank you are playing Russian roulette with diseases. You say you have inverts and corals in your tank, so you will never be able to treat your display, which is not advised, but can be done with care. My suggestion is get a sponge filter one size larger than QT tank add this to your display tank now so it will cycle then use in in QT tank, this tank can be taken down and put up as needed if you keep the sponge filter in your display tank. Yes you can add coral as long as your water quality is perfect. Note coral and inverts do not care ick as long as they are in fishless tanks for 6 weeks.

 

[l84fisn1]

What do you think of Rally Ruby Reef products? They are supposed to be reef safe or is patience the way to go?

 

[beth]

No, I would not waste time with that medication. Unfortunately you need a quarantine tank.

 

[l84fisn1]

Thank you, I really appreciate all information!

 

[beth]

How is that clownfish?

 

[pegasus]

How is that clownfish?

Post #1, last line: "At this point everything has died except the 2 shrimp and 2 starfish. I need help?"

 

[l84fisn1]

Actually I quarantined both clowns Sunday night, the little guy was dead by morning and the larger female died later Monday. Unfortunately we are fish-less and I needed to find out what was killing the fish or why it was happening before introducing more fish just to die.

 

[beth]

I would suggest you leave your tank fishless for six week, including the QT you used to place the fish in. The chromis very much looked like aggression. The clown, maybe brook along with a bacterial infection. Try buying fish from a different store. When you get fish again, be sure to QT for at least 3 weeks, doing daily observations with a magnifying glass.

 

[1.023]

From the beginning, we started a 55 gallon saltwater tank approximately 5 months ago. Our tank currently has roughly 50 to 60 lbs of white and live rock, as well as live sand, 1 Penguin 150 and 1 Penquin 200 filters.

Water has tested properly and was tested last Friday.

We first purchased 2 damsels, 2 peppermint shrimp, and a brittle starfish; one of the damsels died the first week. We had the water tested and thought was the tank was not finished cycling.

Through cycling we had one damsel alive along with shrimp and starfish. Then we added 3 Chromis a couple of weeks later when the nitrites came down.

Then we purchased a brown starfish a couple of weeks after we added the Chromis, from a different dealer.

But after we added the second brown starfish the first damsel we purchased died in about 2 weeks, he was in the tank maybe 3 months. I suspected the shrimp because they appear aggressive to the soft coral when I introduced them to the tank. Once the tank started coming together we added 5 or 6 different soft corals that are doing very well.

Within a week of one of the damsel dying, we had a chromis die, both deaths occurred at night when the fish went into the rocks and the lights were off. Again I suspected shrimp.

A week later another chromis died, so I removed the shrimp and brought them to the dealer I purchased them from, they thought there was no way the fish were being attacked. They have never heard of this happening.

They said that adding a couple of fish would keep the shrimp hidden and in-check. So they had a beautiful pair of Clownfish that we purchased 2 Saturdays ago and then we lost the last damsel at the end of last week.

So far it appeared the fish were being beat up at night in the rocks so I set up a night light.

Sunday I set a shrimp trap to catch the two shrimp because we only had only the 2 clowns and all the other fish have died at this point. We captured one and went to dinner, the lights were off and it had gotten dark when we came back, it appeared the clowns were not acting normal and would not eat. So I removed them and put them in a separate tank and they were dead Monday morning.

At this point I am not sure of the problem with the water within parameters? Salt 1.024

The one shrimp that was in the tank at the time
A crab that was in the live sand at the time of purchase
Or a Parasite that came from the little brown starfish, which was from a dealer we do not usually purchase from.

At this point everything has died except the 2 shrimp and 2 starfish. I need help?

Let me first say your peppermint shrimp are harmless unless something is already dead/near dead, only then will they feast! They may annoy corals looking for mucus to eat, but generally won't hurt them.

Also, make sure you have the proper intensity lighting for the corals you are keeping! Research their lighting intensity requirements, which is usually very, very high, unless you are keeping low-light polyps/mushrooms. You didn't specify if your corals died, but I'm guessing they did after reading your last line.

TBH I think you just had a case of plain old "new tank syndrome."

Remove any corals that you think are dying or will die. (if that hasn't been done already). I recommend no medications, and yes, patience. First you should let the tank sit for a few weeks with no fish at all to let the current parasite load die down. Some people say 4 weeks at 80F, some up to 6 or 8 weeks. Keep the water between 79F and 80F, the salinity at 1.023, keep the water circulating as brisk as possible, keep the lights on a normal daily cycle. Always keep tempature, salinity, and light cycle the same, always as stable as possible.

I would recommend you have at least 100lbs of pre-cured live rock in your tank in total....the white rock does not count toward that total... and a basic small wet/dry filter filled with bio media/bio balls in it rated for your 55 gallon tanks or higher. It is a lot, but the nitrification abilities of both those things will make this hobby much easier if you plan to stick with it for a while..

Keep the penguins as circulation/aeration if you wish.

If you cant afford the wet/dry, add more live rock! If you cant afford the live rock, add the wet/dry! Then purchase a large bottle of live nitrifying bacteria made for marine aquariums and dose it all at once. You can add the live rock and filtration and nitrifying bacteria right away, you don't have to wait for the 6 weeks waiting period, unless you really want to. The sooner the better.

Then after you have all your new live rock and wet/dry filter set up and running, and after your 4 to 8 weeks have passed, buy one tough damselfish by itself alone. The toughest damsel is usually the Domino 3 spot. (which you can freshwater dip before adding to your tank (4 minutes is good enough) read up on short freshwater dips and/or quarantine tanks).

In the mean time, get to know and enjoy your invertebrates! Peppermint shrimp will eventually get used to you and even take food from your fingers. Hand feed your starfish. Don't worry about fish for a while. Maybe add a few more small inverts to keep things busy until the waiting time has passed. As time passes, if you have good lighting, green algae will start to cover some of your glass and white rock and even parts of live rock, maybe some a brown, maybe some maroon colored. Then add a few algae eating turbo snails. All signs your tank is maturing properly. I leave the back glass of my tank unscraped to let the natural algae grow.

Then...... keep that one damsel for about a month alone and let things chill. After that month is up, you can start researching for other tough species to add. Never add more than one or two fish at a time after that, waiting a few weeks in between additions. The Domino will get mean, and you might choose to trade him/her in eventually. It is always best to quarantine/freshwater dip new arrivals before adding to your main display.

The stronger the nitrification ability of your tank, via lots of live rock, good wet/dry filter with good flow, live sand, the stronger the lighting, the better the water quality for the fish = less chance for stress and disease.

Anymore questions, post again!

 

[pegasus]

Welcome to the forum 1.023! After reading your post, it sounds like you're an experienced "veteran". It's always good to get fresh input from fellow hobbyists. Good advice!