Multiple fish refusing to eat and dying, HELP!

[mccanei]

A few months back my tomato clown stopped eating, became lethargic, withered away to skin and bones and eventually died. I assumed he was stressed out becasue I had small tank that was being out grown with other fish. Since then I bought a 145 gallon to accomodate the growing fish ( 4" Koran angel, 5"Dogface puffer, 2.5" Niger trigger, and 5" lunare wrasse). Shortly before the upgrade, my lunare wrasse started to show the same symptoms. Now in the large tank, cycled with bio spira for three weeks, he has still showed no signs of eating, does not move very often, when he does he swims poorly, and looks malnurished . There are no other clear symptoms. I have offered him various types of food, most recently with a garlic apettite stimulant, to no avail. I am also noticing my trigger following this same path, while newly added fish ( yellow tang, and half and half dwarf angel seem perfectly healthy and hungry) I am utterly confused... My tank does not have the grounding device, and my water quality has been nearly perfect from the start. It is kind of disturbing because the fish act as if they want to eat but, aren't able to eat when they get to the food... Oh yeah, I have been feeding the affected fish mysis shrimp twice a day.
I almost forgot the fish tend to get a very high respiratory rate.
Does anyone have any idea what is happening to my fish?
If so what is the best solution?

 

[scsinet]

I know you say your water params are okay, but can you list them? Sounds to me like you have declining water quality, or something else that is having a cumulative effect on the system. I doubt it's stray voltage, I'd tend to think that would have a sudden effect.
What do you dose?
Do you dose anything that you don't test for?
PH/Temp/Ammonia/Nitrite/Nitrate/Phosphate/Alk
How often are your water changes?
How much do you change?
What is your source water?
What do you feed besides Mysis?
How often are you adding these new fish?

 

[lion_crazz]

Yep, answer these questions first and post your water parameters. We can go from there.

 

[mccanei]

[I]What do you dose If I am understanding this correctly I have not added any medications yet, my LFS thought it was an acclimation thing, where the fish would eventually eat. He is actively swimming around, but only to escape pestering from my dwarf angel. Now I notice white marks on him and his respiration is through the roof.
Do you dose anything that you don't test for? ?
PH/Temp/Ammonia/Nitrite/Nitrate/Phosphate/Alk Ph 8.4-8.5 AM 0 Temp 79 Nitrite .01
I don't test for phosphate, or alk
How often are your water changes? The tank is only 3 weeks old, so I have not made a water change yet
How much do you change? In the future 15%
What is your source water? Declohrinated tap water from Chiccago
What do you feed besides Mysis? Pieces of fresh shrimp, I tried live ghost shrimp, and herbivore minced lifeline( just recently) for my tang and angels
How often are you adding these new fish? One a week[/I]

 

[mccanei]

trying to post images but cna't figure out how. Does anyone have a clue?

 

[scsinet]

Ok, I see some stuff...
1. Your PH is too high. You should be running from 8.1 in the morning just before your lights come on to 8.3 at night just after they turn off.
2. Once the cycle is complete, which you indicate it is, you should be doing water changes weekly. If you do try to risk doing it monthly, you should be doing more like 30%. I change 10-15% of the water in each of my tanks weekly. Regardless, with your fish showing these symptoms, I'd be trying a 30-40% water change right away. When fish start to show problems, always suspect water quality first.
3. I do not see nitrates listed on your params. If you haven't done a water change in three weeks (especially since you cycled) and you haven't tested otherwise, your nitrates are very high on my suspect list. Do that water change today.
3. I wouldn't use tap water... ever. You really should consider switching to RO/DI water. Although dechlorinated tap water doesn't have chlorine in it, it could have a whole host of other things in it that could be causing this... phosphates, metals like lead and copper, flouride, etc.
4. Test for alk. Your alk may be off, causing the PH problem. Alk is not PH, but they are related.
5. By "Dose" I mean what additives are you putting into the water, not what medications you are using. Are you putting any additives in that you cannot test for?

 

[mccanei]

Thanks for the response... I was wondering if one could remove all those chemicals in the tap by letting the tap water aerate in buckets for a while? I am not currently adding anything to my 145 FOWLR aquarium. Are there "doses" you would reccomend adding to this aquarium, and for what reasons. Additionally, when you talk about the ph, are you saying it fluctuates throughout the cycle of the day?
As for my lunare wrasse... I am about to move him to my 37 gallon to offer him seclusion from my other fish who are beginning to pick on him... I would like to know if anyone has suggestions as what to treat the water the fish for? Are there supplents I can add to the water to increase its health? As for a diagnosis, should I conclude that long term exposure to tap water could be leading to the degredation of my fish?

 

[scsinet]

While chemicals in tap water may slowly subside by letting it sit, dissolved solids won't like heavy metals. Most

[hr]
aquarists won't even mess with tap water.
Yes, PH fluctuates some throughout the day, and depending on the setup, it will fuctuate to varying degrees, but if your pH is reaching 8.5, that's too high. Regardless, I doubt that's hurting your fish.
I am still sticking with nitrates as the suspects. Are you testing for them? Your fish don't sound diseased, they sound like they are reacting negatively to environmental conditions. You can't fix that with medication. Nitrates are a MAJOR part of your water quality. After you finish cycling, you end up with very high levels of nitrate which you address by a massive water change after you cycle but prior to adding fish. Since it sounds like you skipped that step, that's where I would begin.
If you have a nitrate test kit, test those nitrates before you do the change. That way, you aren't shooting blind at the problem. If you don't have the means to get a kit right away, then do the change for the sake of your livestock.
... oh, and I am not sure it's a good idea to move that wrasse to another populated tank. You didn't say if the 37 had other livestock in it, but if it does, and I am wrong and you do have a disease, you don't want to spread it.