Lost all fish

[brsdr32]

I have lost all of my fish in a week and a half. My pH is 8.2, but it was 8.0 last week. My salinity is normal and I had my water tested at a local shop and she said everything was normal except for the pH was a little off. I have good lighting and live rock that is aquacultured. Can anyone help and offer some solutions as to what could be going on. I have lost over 100 dollars worth of fish.

 

[salty cheese]

How long has the tank been setup? How long were the fish in it?
What did the lfs test for?What do they consider normal for test results? Did you add all the fish at once or over time? Did you quarantine them before adding them to your display? What kind of filtration do you have?:notsure:
Welcome to the board.

 

[brsdr32]

The tank has been set up for almost 2 months now. We went through the nitrate/ammonia cycle and nothing happened there. We only had 2 damsels during that process. We traded those fish for some clowns and a fire angel. WE only had 5 fish in a 55 gallon tank with the biggest fish 4 inches long, a royal gramma. The test was for pH, salinity, ammonia, nitrates, nitrites. We added 3 fish at once and the other 2 were added at different times. We have a standard filtration with a protein skimmer.

 

[leona]

Was your temp normal also?

 

[brsdr32]

The water temp is usually around 82-86, it has fell to 78 once, but that didn't kill any fish

 

[msd2]

Temp could be the problem, you dont want wid e swings like that. Do you have a heater? Also did you add all the fish at once? How long did it take for the fish to all perish? 1 hour or 12 makes a difference in what could be the problem. What symptoms did the show prior to death?

 

[brsdr32]

I do have a heater. The wild swings was an accident and it is an average. It ususally stays around 82. The low was 78 right when i added the new fish, the high was when i 1st got my new lighting system. The fish showed no signs that I know of. One evening they are fine and eating, the next day they are dead. I lost one fish a day for 4 days. I never lost more than one fish at a time. The only fish that showed signs was a flame angel that wasn't eating.

 

[msd2]

Originally posted by brsdr32
I do have a heater. The wild swings was an accident and it is an average. It ususally stays around 82. The low was 78 right when i added the new fish, the high was when i 1st got my new lighting system. The fish showed no signs that I know of. One evening they are fine and eating, the next day they are dead. I lost one fish a day for 4 days. I never lost more than one fish at a time. The only fish that showed signs was a flame angel that wasn't eating.
Water change? contaminate entered the tank that way maybe? painting? exterminator. Im kinda searching here. maybe something leeched into the system. No signs of disease?
How often are you testing your water levels for ates, its, ph?
LOL there has to be an explaination. Where do you store your fish supplies?

 

[msd2]

Im off the cuff guess is that an incompatible compound has come in contact with the tank. Which eventually led to the mortality of the animals. Could be something as simple as when your house was is cleaned, a spray could inadvertanetly got in the water.
Many cleaners wouldnt show up on any tests you normally would do for a tank thus go undetected. Personally I would do a 50 percent water change then a few days later do it again. I woudl also run carbon during the process, changed out every few days. Then start with damsels, see how they react. I also would examine where I keep the fish supplies to see if something is in there that is questionable, and probably throw out the buckets and tubing. But thats just me.
do u have snails/crabs etc? are they still alive? And when u said u went through the ate/am cycle and 'nothing there' what do u mean? it never showed up?
lol sorry for all the questions, there are just so many variables to eliminate!

 

[brsdr32]

I don't mind the questions, that is the only way to find out what is going on.
I have one snail that i just got 3 days ago and he is fine so far. I have 4 hermit crabs and they are all fine. I have live rock with Xmas Tree worms and they are fine. I have a clam that is fine too.
I have been real careful not to use any household cleaners near the tank, i have a 72 gallon fresh water tank right beside the salt water tank and we haven't had any trouble out of that tank in over a year.
I test the pH about every week and the -ates i have only tested once, since i've lost my fish.
Could it be a combo of pH, salinity, and temp all going at once. Wouldn't that also kill the invertabrates?

 

[vyperone]

I have to agree with msd2 on the outside source of your problem. My tank has had all of the changes you mentioned and I have not lost anything... yet.
Be extremely careful of using anything foreign. I worry more about what I may accidentally put in my tank as opposed to my ph, salinity, alk, etc. I have found over time that so long as we don't have a large swing in parameters, then all is usually good. With that said, what I do worry about is things like washing my hands with dish detergent then sticking them in the tank. Or may using a utensil or brush that someone thought would make a good toilet bowl cleaner. I don't use any glass cleaners or chemicals around my tank either. Its a clean dry cloth to wipe the glass. I'm careful not to dip the towel in the water so as not to allow any detergents to seep from the towel to the water... I think you get my point...

 

[brsdr32]

I have done a lot of research today about the temp. I think i have narrowed it down to the temp. I have a heater that has a knob that is very sensitive. I had a drop in temp about 7 degrees looking back on things. I didnt' let it adjust over a period of time , it was accidently adjusted quick. I think this could have done it, what do you think?

 

[rossim]

The swing in temp could definitely be a suspect. Is this the same time the fish died? I was thinking that something like copper could have been in your tank, but I think that the corals would have died as well.

 

[msd2]

Originally posted by brsdr32
I have done a lot of research today about the temp. I think i have narrowed it down to the temp. I have a heater that has a knob that is very sensitive. I had a drop in temp about 7 degrees looking back on things. I didnt' let it adjust over a period of time , it was accidently adjusted quick. I think this could have done it, what do you think?
Possible, how long was the last time you had the temp changes? It strikes me as odd that the fish would die 4 days later instead of a day or two.

 

[brsdr32]

I didn't pay attention to the temp when the 1st fish died, that was my mistake and I guess i paid for it. I know that when the last 2 died, the temp was down to 78. It had a high end of 87 approx. 2 weeks ago when we had all fish. I wasn't checking the temp on a regular basis, one more mistake of mine. All fish died within 4 days of each other except for our flame angel who wasn't eating. I put a new damsel in today and so far my temp is 82 and hasn't changed since 4 p.m., it is now 9:40 p.m. My pH is 8.2 and the salinity is ok also.

 

[ratpack]

for me it is just a massive suicide:yes:
j/k sorry for the lost of your fish. but hey that the way must of us learn. by the hard way