My fish don’t move

[ek]

Hi! Yesterday the powder blue tang the coral beauty a clown and a butterfly were standing in one place they did not move as if the water was gel. I took all the tests the water was perfect. 2 hours later still not moving I made a 15% water change 2 hours later another 20% change, but the fish were still frozen in their place. The fish looked healthy except the orange butterfly was breathing rapidly. I put in some food and only the butterfly ate then went back to stand in its place. However this morning all of them were dead except the clown still in his place I made a 100% water change. The clown is swimming a bit more now. What happened? What went wrong? I had these fish for over 2 months they where wonderful to watch and fun to feed. Can I buy new fish or the same thing will happen?

 

[dyingfishys]

be patient, someone who can help you better will answer soon... Sometimes no one is on the board.... I don't know whats wrong, and I'm sorry about your fish..
Debbie

 

[beth]

I would say that you overstocked your NEW tank with fish & they died as a result.
Have you read a marine fish hobby book before setting up a tank??
No new fish for now....you just lost most of your fish and you're already ready to restock?! Leave your tank with the remaining fish in it and let it be for awhile. Maintain good water quality and do regular maintence. Perhap in a month, if all is well, you can add 1 fish.

 

[schroder_reef]

Wow, that was harsh.... EK, is it a new tank??? You said you had the fish for 2 months... How long before you put them in did you start your tank>??
Did you do water tests?? If so what are they? What is your salinity?? You said perfect, but you might as well post them here so people know..
I'm not good with diseases, but with more info, more people might help.
Ambie
[ December 28, 2001: Message edited by: schroder_reef ]

 

[beth]

True, he/she didn't say it was a new tank; I assumed that when EK said that all the fish were 2 mos...assuming Ek added fish all at once to a new tank.
In any case, new or old tank, you can't add all those fish at once, unless Ek has a very, very large tank.
It could also be poisoning. Check equiptment for leaks, anybody in the home smoke? Use bug spray? Cleaning chemicals, Etc.??

 

[ek]

THANKS FOR HELPING
I cycled the tank for 3 weeks with uncured lr then added 2 fish then another 2 I have wet dry filter good for 200gl plus a big sand filter a skimmer with an expensive UV. The water quality was perfect with a ph 8.5. However today I noticed the survivor clown is covered with white dust probably velvet. I added now rxp from kent and will live and learn.

 

[beth]

8.5 pH is way TOO high. If you are buffering then STOP. This could be the problem.
Hard to believe that uncurred LR can cycle in 3 weeks. How big is your tank??
Can you put the fish in a hospital tank? If you're dealing with velvet then immediate treatment is necessary. Rapid gilling/breathing is a main symptom of velvet. You will need to treat with copper.

 

[ek]

I never added any buffer I just have a lot of crushed coral. The live rock was half cured I got it on line.
I am upgrading my 55gl to 92gl corner can I take out the 45# lr and filter system and put it in the new 90gl tank? Or it will bring along the Velvet.
Eli

 

[beth]

You can add it to the new tank, just don't add fish to that tank for 2 mos. min. Velvet can live dormant for that long in rock and substrate.

 

[ek]

Is there any way to kill the velvet from live rock like copper. I don’t want to wait 2 months, I’d rather take out the live rock and cure it again