In need of seroius HELP! everything dies

[irocz02000]

Hi everyone, I'm so baffled I can't think straight... I'm ready to give up and throw in the towel, the only problem is my fish tank is build into my main wall, so in short I need some advice.
First off, I had a 46 gallon bow front tank, I had this tank for over a year and had very good luck with it, my fish and anomies were all happy and growing very nice, very healthy and well fed, now I got this tank built into my wall because I loved the fish world with saltwater, I added a few more fish, and tones of more rock, everything was great! all were very happy to have such a big tank.
125 gallon with sump pump and overflow box and a skimmer! did water tests and everything was right on, now one day I came home form work and saw one of my fish had ich, wow, so I took a trip to my local FS got the correct treatment and proceeded to medicate all fish, I had to get something that was reef safe so this was going to take about a month to get under control, well in short all fish died but 2 tangs and a eel, my anomies all made it but one, and the peppermint shrimp with the blue leg crabs are all alive, now what did die was my clown fish, goby powder blue tang and dory tang.
Very sad and confused I did a water change got rid of ich and tested the water, cleaned the filtration system and added new carbon to the Fluval filter, everything had calmed down the fish I had left all looked very healthy again Yay!
NOw.... my problem.... I ventured to my local FS to purchase a new fish, a goby to start! yay! figured I'd start small, well he died, hmmm then I purchased a sail fin and she died wow! then I purchased a dog face puffer, he died, a flounder.... died, it seems like everything I get just dies, what is going on???? why does everything I get die, I even bought a cleaner fish and it died, it seems like all the fish I get die within 3 days! I took the anemone out so it couldn't be them, I thought maybe they were stinging the fish, but this was not the case! I still have the two tangs so it can't be my water? wow I'm so confused, I thought maybe something in the sand, hmmm should I break the tank down and start over with new sand? HELP!!!! I'm going crazy!

 

[jstdv8]

I hate to be the tang police, but a 46 gallon is too small for any of those tangs, let alone multiple tangs. The tight space may have contributed to the fish not feeling comfortable and therefor got sick more easily.
Fish that die right away may not be being acclimated correctly as well.

 

[irocz02000]

no I had a 46 gallon, now I have a 125 gallon, I only had 3 tangs at one time!

 

[irocz02000]

sorry I'm so upset, my typing and my mind is going in different directions, I had a 125 gallon built into the wall, I acclimated my fish for a hour before adding them to the tank, and I did not use a net or use the FS water.

 

[lsboogie]

I would reccommend taking a sample of your water into your LFS and having them test it. I know that you still have some fish alive but its amazing what conditions fish (or humans) can get use to under prolonged exposure. Also check to make sure you don't have electricity in the tank, maybe look at your heaters and pumps and make sure the glass isn't cracked on a heater or that a hermit has chewed through a power cord.
Also, on the fish that died, how did their gills look? discolored? red? any other abnormalities?

 

[irocz02000]

well I think it might be a voltage leak, it just seem odd that they die after 3 days, I did move what I could catch to the 46 gallon for now, I'm going to do a voltage test next, I already took my water to the LFS and everything tested great! they said my water was excellent so it has to be the voltage prob, my tank is next to my kitchen so It might even be a faulty appliance.

 

[btldreef]

Okay, you have a sump setup AND a Fluval?
What did you use to treat the tank?
Mind posting a picture of the tank?
What are your parameters and have you had them double checked by another hobbyist?
Have all of the fish that you've had die recently come from the sane store?
A flounder is not right for your setup at all, nor was the puffer and the cleaner wrasse probably wasn't either.
What currently inhabits the tank (fish and inverts)?
How long has this tank been set up?
As someone who's battled ich, you really should quarantine all new fish before putting them in the 125.
How exactly are you acclimating the fish?
What type of water do you use?
What do you feed and how often?

 

[btldreef]

well I think it might be a voltage leak, it just seem odd that they die after 3 days, I did move what I could catch to the 46 gallon for now, I'm going to do a voltage test next, I already took my water to the LFS and everything tested great! they said my water was excellent so it has to be the voltage prob, my tank is next to my kitchen so It might even be a faulty appliance.
The only way electric would be getting into the tank is by faulty equipment in the tank, it wouldn't matter what appliance in the kitchen needs to be repaired.
Is the same fish store that's telling you that your water is great also the one you're buying these fish from?

 

[irocz02000]

well I'm doing a voltage test now, I already took the water to a LFS water is excellent they said, all I had in the tank was 2 tangs a goby, dogface puffer, flounder and eel, the new fish all died within 3 days, the puffer lasted 4 days, I only have the tangs now and the eel, they were what I started the tank with, I did have the anemone and the clown fish moved to the other tank with the coral,I did this before I added the puffer flounder and goby.... I'm putting the two tans and eel there too, until I can solve this problem! I did post pics of the tank! sorry talking in circles I'm just so upset over the puffer dying!!!!
I did notice that the condition of the fish were not good, it seems as if they were tore up, their fins were tore up and they seemed to be gasping for air! the puffers eyes got cloudy and then looked like they were sucked in it's head! I thought fungal so I put meds for it in.

 

[btldreef]

I don't see pictures.
What type of medication did you use?
What type of tangs, eel, etc? This is important as some species are more aggressive that others. Also, how big is each fish that you have and what size were the ones you added.
My first thought was/is aggression from your eel and the torn fins makes that idea stronger.
Again, is the LFS that is telling you that your water is perfect the same that sold you all or most of these fish? Is there another store (even *****) that can test it as well?
Are you testing yourself? What EXACTLY are your readings, how old are the kits and what brand are they?
Sorry to ask a lot of questions, but something is not adding up for me and it's important that we have all the facts presented so please answer the questions in all my posts.

 

[lsboogie]

After answering all of BTL's questions I would be curious as to if the 125g was new or used? What was used to clean the tank if it was used? ich can be brought on easily to tangs due to stress (so I have read, I am in no means an expert) so there is definately something they don't like. I don't know how bleach effects standard water testing but I'm wondering if something residual was in the tank.
I know you're frustrated and I offer my condolences. It sucks. I'm sorry.

 

[jstdv8]

Hows your water movement on the surface? Is is rolling around making lots of waves? Or is it still?

 

[irocz02000]

it's moving pretty good.. I got a really good pump to pump up to 300 gallons so the movement is good! still leaning towards the voltage, I was told by direct tv I had no ground in my house, they installed a outlet for my satalight because I kept getting power surge's and the satalight would burn out because of this, so I have my tank running off that plug!

 

[irocz02000]

guess I should of check for voltage first huh, maybe if I had the tank running off that plug I'd still have the dogface puffer and the other fish!

 

[irocz02000]

oh and bleach don't leave a residue it don't affect the fish, if it is rinsed out good, but no the tank was new! I'll keep all of you updated on my progress, but right now, I'm so upset I can just cry, oh wait I have cried over this, what a learning experience this has been!!!!

 

[btldreef]

I'm sorry that you're frustrated but we can't really help you if you don't answer the questions that I presented, ALL of them.
Again, if you have a bad outlet, bad appliance, etc, this will NOT result in stray voltage in your tank. A piece of equipment in the tank such as a powerhead, pump for the skmmer, return pump or heater would be producing it through a cracked wire. If there is stray voltage in your tank, you can usually feel it by just sticking your hand in, you'll feel a little stinging. If you do feel this, start unplugging your equipment 1 by 1 until you stop getting shocked and you'll find which piece of equipment is doing this.
I, for one, do not believe it to be stray voltage.
As for the bleach issue, if it's not used correctly it can leave residue (soak into) the silicone and be an issue.

 

[irocz02000]

sorry I haven't been online today, I've been testing my water and trying to fix my problem, after doing the test for stray voltage I have found that when my tank is plugged into the outlet under the tank I have 30 voltage in my water, I plugged the tank into another outlet that I know has a good ground and I got 1 voltage in the water, so could this be the problem?

 

[irocz02000]

oh and for the bleach, I don't use bleach in my tanks, nor any kind of soap, I know that none of that is good for any fish!

 

[irocz02000]

Update... I had a new plug ran just for the tank, I also added a better pump for more air flow, my fish seemed happier so this leads me to believe that 30 v of stray voltage was killing my fish, I still have the two tangent the eel and a tester fish, I added a pink spotted benny and she is doing good! So check for stay voltage be for adding fish to a new tank! Thanks everyone for all your help.