MELAFIX killed fish. (heard of it?)

[junbug1970]

I put Melafix in my tank this morning at 2:30 am. i followed the simple direction of 1 tea spoon for every 10 gal. I woke up this morning at 7:30 am and all of my fish is dead (flagfin angel, six bar angel, volitan lion and polky dot grouper) the only one barely alive is my snowflake eel.
at the same time i use the product biospheres (stress therapy). again i followed the strict direction on the bottle.
biosphere does not state anything on its bottle about mixing compatibility and melafix said it works well with a combanation of Aquarium Pharmaceuticals STRESS COAT.
the two meds treat different things according to its bottle, so i'm not sure if they might have the same stuff in it and overdose the tank.
Anyone ever heard of this happening to their tank?
this is the first time i use this product. when i first opened the bottle it carried a strong smell of a vicks vapor rub. is this normal or did i get a bad bottle of medicine. the exp date on the bottle itself is 04/06 and i just bought it last night.
please advice.
thanks

 

[junbug1970]

well, this tank has been up for about a 1.5 month and i've had my fish in there healthy and eating well for about 2.5 weeks.
the only reason i put these meds in because i see my six bar angel eyes is a bit cloudy and both of the angels grazes on the sand like they were itching.
I know some fish do that. like angels, tang and etc. i have my reef tank with tangs in there and they always do that often and it is normal from what i was told
i don't quarantine. i know i should, but i don't think it was the health of my fish that killed the whole tank in a matter of 6 hrs.
another interesting thing, my eel and or my grouper must have been puking, because i saw the dead guppies were on the sandy bottom. It must have been its stomach content, because i keep my tank rather clean and i just cleaned the sandy bottom few hours before i went to bed. and they all ate before the meds was placed in the tank

 

[stacyt]

I think there are a couple of issues that need to be addressed.
First off for a tank that is only 1.5 months old thats a lot of fish. Angels need a very established system, and good water quality. How did you cycle the tank? How much LR, and LS? What type of filtration? The Angels eyes are probably indicative of water quality problems. Have you tested the water? What are the results?
Also it sounds as though you're feeding live guppies. I suggest that you stop, and switch to frozen foods for your aggressive fish. Do a search in the aggressive forum, and you'll find lots of info on feeding.

 

[junbug1970]

i have manum 220 canister, penguin 250, and 600 gal rated 4'x12" wet and dry sump with 500 count bioballs, skimmer, 40lbs of LS.
i tested the water 2 days ago and ph 8.4, amonia .25, nitrite 0, nitrate 0. the water that was use was cycled from my refegium of my reef tank. I know my water condition is good.
i feed my fish. frozen, brine, krill,silverside, formula1, homemade food, and some marine flakes and marine a pellets.
once in a while i feed them rosie minnows and some guppies.
they always eat like a pig and healthy.

 

[stacyt]

Do you have any LR in the tank? Eels need some type of hiding place for them to feel comfortable. Also the angels will benefit from the LR as well. They need something to graze on durring the day.
Giving your fish freshwater feeders as a treat is a bad idea. Even in small amounts they are really bad for the fishes digestive system.
You said the tank was cycled using water from your reef, but what about your filtration? It sill takes time for your filtration system to develop bacteria. The ammonia at .25 is an indication that the tank water is out of parameters. The tank is still not ready to be that heavily stocked.

 

[junbug1970]

i don't have any LR, however i do have couple of decoration corals for my eel to hide and fish to graze on. and i just ordered 100# more of dead coral rocks from florida which it supposed to be here by tomorrow.
my canister and penguin filter was removed from the reef tank as well and replaced it with a refegium. as to the wet and dry and skimmer it is not quite setup and running yet.
my amonia fluctuates from 0.25 - 0. never had problem before. after water changes is made drops back down to normally 0.
i know for certain that this medications is what killed my fish not due to heavy load or bad water quality.
i just don't know which meds or is it because i mixed the two. what i dont understand is that ea bottle use to treat different things. the melafix was for cloudy eyes and such and the other is just a stress coat medications to replenish natural slime coat and to reduce stress. my fish wasn't stress, at least it doesnt act it. since they can't talk i can only see from any visible stress which was none that i can see.