Please Please Help...all Fish Dead

[shark_bait]

I have a JBJ 24NC and I have lost all my fish. The coral in my tank are not looking great either but are alive. The snails and hermit crabs seem fine. I have tried putting new fish in and they die within in 48 hours...sometimes as soon as 12 hours. I have had all the tests done with both home equipment and professional equipment at two seperate LFS and nitrates, nitrites, amonia, salinty, PH are all "perfect". The LFS and I are both at a loss as to what is causing the deaths. We've examined the dead fish and there is no signs of color loss or parasites...they look to be healthy. The one thing I notice is prior to dying the fish seem to be breathing heavy and just sit on the bottom. However, upon transferring them to the tank, and yes I have gone through the full acclimation process, they are swimming around and eating. Usually overnight they take a turn for the worst. I just recently did a 12 gallon water change in hopes of diluting whatever it is that is creating the problem but it did not help. This has gone on for the last 3 months now and I'm at a complete loss, and ready to break down the tank.
One thing I did notice over the last three months was a sprouting of tiny, 1 inch or less, worms. There are two kinds, one that comes out after dark and wiggles around suspended in the water, and one that cralls on the glass, live rock, and sand and appears to have millions of tiny legs similar to a centipede. I assume that the smaller ones suspended in the water are larvae eventually turning into the larger ones, but again that is just a suspicion. I've done research and have talked to several people and all seems to lead to the suspicion that they are harmless. However, these started appearing just shortly after the fish started dying.
Three things I can think of have created this...
-lack of oxygen
-the tiny worms
-pollution
Please help if any of you can give me advice.

 

[katiev]

Those centipede-things are bristle worms, and they will not hurt your tank. Do the other ones live in the sand? Then they are probably just flat worms. How old is the tank, and how long did you wait before putting fish in? Do you think it's possible that any household cleaners or air fresheners got in the tank? If you post your params and equipment in the tank such as powerheads, then maybe someone can pinpoint what is happening.
Maybe some pictures of the tank and setup would help, too.

 

[fishgeek01]

stray voltage... do you have anything that kicks on periodically, or maybe your heater is malfunctioning. May not be everytime it kicks on, but may be some of the times... Would cause many problems for fish, especially considering the laterline in fish is an electro receptor as far as I am told. Just a thought, not sure how much science is in this answer

 

[catawaba]

Temperature of the tank?

 

[gwh57]

If the snails and hermit crabs are ok then I think you can eliminate the stray voltage issue.

What have you tested for?

 

[shark_bait]

The tank is 2 years old, and has the standard JBJ 24 equipment with the addition of a modified hood to allow an extra light strip. The tank's temperature is right on target at 76 degrees. Again, all the levels are good...pH, am, ni, na, phosphates, salinity. There is no heater in the tank. I did some work on the hood, and noticed a screw was missing...assuming it fell in the tank. Could this be the cause of all the problems?

 

[rbaldino]

Originally Posted by shark_bait
The tank is 2 years old, and has the standard JBJ 24 equipment with the addition of a modified hood to allow an extra light strip. The tank's temperature is right on target at 76 degrees. Again, all the levels are good...pH, am, ni, na, phosphates, salinity. There is no heater in the tank. I did some work on the hood, and noticed a screw was missing...assuming it fell in the tank. Could this be the cause of all the problems?
If there's no heater in the tank, how do you maintain the temperature?

 

[gwh57]

I don't think you can maintain the same temp 24/7 without a heater. You also say the water chemistry is "good", but don't say what it is. Something is killing your fish and it is not easy to determine what is doing that without posting your water test results.

 

[ifirefight]

Originally Posted by gwh57
I don't think you can maintain the same temp 24/7 without a heater. You also say the water chemistry is "good", but don't say what it is. Something is killing your fish and it is not easy to determine what is doing that without posting your water test results.

That depends.. I live in south Florida,someone is always home at the house so the A/C is on 24/7 a constant 76 degrees,and when its cold..the wife cranks the heat up to 76... no flucuation in temp. Depending on your lighting,size of tank and other variables sure its possible to maintain the same water temp. Remember even IF the houses ambient temperature changes a little,it takes a while to change X-amount of water 1 degree either up or down.

 

[fallnhorse]

Originally Posted by ifirefight
That depends.. I live in south Florida,someone is always home at the house so the A/C is on 24/7 a constant 76 degrees,and when its cold..the wife cranks the heat up to 76... no flucuation in temp. Depending on your lighting,size of tank and other variables sure its possible to maintain the same water temp. Remember even IF the houses ambient temperature changes a little,it takes a while to change X-amount of water 1 degree either up or down.

$20 heat for the good european designed heater. Cheap insurance on a tank you can have thousand of $$$$ in.

 

[rbaldino]

Originally Posted by ifirefight
That depends.. I live in south Florida,someone is always home at the house so the A/C is on 24/7 a constant 76 degrees,and when its cold..the wife cranks the heat up to 76... no flucuation in temp. Depending on your lighting,size of tank and other variables sure its possible to maintain the same water temp. Remember even IF the houses ambient temperature changes a little,it takes a while to change X-amount of water 1 degree either up or down.
Take it from me, it doesn't take long for a tank to lose heat, especially something as small as a 24 gallon.

 

[ifirefight]

Originally Posted by fallnhorse
$20 heat for the good european designed heater. Cheap insurance on a tank you can have thousand of $$$$ in.

Im more worried about losing power in a hurricane,and having no A/C for a few weeks.... THEN I would need a chiller. Like I said ...it all depends on your particular situation.

 

[ophiura]

What is your alkalinity and calcium?

 

[ifirefight]

He did mention a screw was missing,and could have fell in the tank... I suppose that could cause some problem,,,not sure how big of a problem though

I would think it depends on the material the screw is made of.

 

[katiev]

You really do need to post exact tank parameters.
Ammonia
Nitrate
Nitrite
pH
Salinity
Calcium
Alkalinity

 

[spike_501]

how much cerculation do you have in the tank, without viewing your tank and seeing every variable it is hard to diagnose a problem but apparently co2 can build up in a tank at night especially if you have lots of algae but water movement especially at the top of the tank can help combat this. if you can take then carcasses of the fish to the LFS as you sadi you did, then i would doubt highly of a predator in the tank even worms or mantis shrimp. so really i would say that there is something in the water that shoudlnt be there or oxygen/temperature. let us know how its goes!