What happened?

[4kevnbekc]

I really hope I do not get much flack about my question, I will admit that my husband and I are new to the whole SWF thing, and have only had an established tank for 2 months now.
It is a 55 gallon tank with live rock, live sand and (as of yesterday) a bunch of really cool fish. We know the whole rule as to how many fish to gallon tank, so we have been careful not to overcrowd. We had a Copper-banded Butterfly (loved to munch on the apstacia) a very small dwarf lionfish, a yellow tang, a Huma Huma Trigger and a domino damsel. Everyone was getting along great, except for the tang and the butterfly, but that was not a problem....
We noticed that the butterfly was cut by the tang and started to get a small fungal infection. Another fish also seemed to have a "fuzz" on him as well, so we were advised by local fish store to treat the entire tank. We had just gone through asmall ich problem and after treating the whole tank, everyone looked great.
Needless to say this morning, I awoke to find a graveyard of fish. Very upset. The only one who seem to be hanging on is the trigger (for which I am greatful, he is my favorite) and the damsel. Every other fish in our tank (with exception of chocolate chip star and feather dusters) passed away. The meds we were given were reef safe (no copper) and everything seemed fine last night.
Our sality level was 1.022, ph was a tiny bit low, but nothing alarming, nitrates, nitrites and ammonia checked out fine as well.
My question...and please be nice....I am relatively new to this....been reading alot and taking advice from a local fish store....is....What The Heck Happened To All Our Fish? Could it have been "toxic tank syndrome"? :help:
I am very upset because we thought we finally had our tank where we wanted it to be.
After all of this occured, we did a major water change (over half) and will have to sit back and wait to see how the surivivers do. So far so good. Redid the tank, salinity is fine, PH is fine, all the others check out as well.:notsure:
I am looking for some constructive criticism, please be nice and don't yell. I just read the post from the poor guy who had the overcrowded tank (29 gallon) and I am cringing while I am typing this because I am unsure of the possible backlash I may get.
I know there are a lot of knowledgable people on this board and since it seems as though our local fish store lead us wrong, I was hoping someone here might be able to shed some light on what may have happened.

 

[bigarn]

What was the medicine you used? No doubt it had something to do with it. Don't worry about getting "bashed" by members here, we all learn together and try to help each other out.

WELCOME TO THE BOARDS :happyfish

 

[4kevnbekc]

We were given and told to use PimaFix by our local fish store. It is supposed to rapidly treat fungal infections on body and fins, it is an antifungal remedy for fresh and saltwater aquarium fish. Guess that is what happens when you don't know enough and trust the "so-called" experts.
I hate to say it, but we can just chalk this up to a costly lesson.

 

[scott9311]

4kevnbekc... It does sound like it was the medication that did it, though I'm actually a bit surprised because the live rock and sand in your tank would have dilluted the effect it had on your fish. That's why they recommend putting any fish you medicate into a QT void of LR & LS. Was it possible that you overdosed?
You may want to try posting this in the "Disease & Treatment" forum. They may be of better help to you...

 

[4kevnbekc]

In actuality, I think we did not put the entire dosage into the tank since it was only a few fish that seemed to be showing any signs of anything. Not that it can be re-done, I can only learn from my mistake. Start over from scratch. Yes, SWF are great, and not too difficult to take care of once you are started and rolling, but I hate to have to restart everything.
BTW...on a GOOD note, my Trigger seems to have made a full recovery. It was touch-and-go this morning, but he is back in the tank swimming around like a champ. :cheer:
I will try copying and pasting my original post and posting it into the other forum. Thanks for all the help.

 

[katiebc]

Be careful witha big water change!!! Watch your amm,etc levels, it could mess your bio filter. You need to always QT sick fish, I know the hard way. Best of luck.
Just curious how big was your Huma? And did it do well the rest of the fish??

 

[4kevnbekc]

We tested our water once we did the change and surprisingly, everything checked out better than before.
As far as my Huma Huma goes, everyone asks that because of the assortment of fish that we have. When is comes to triggers, he must be one-of-a-kind. He is a real sweetheart, and has NEVER bothered anyone in our tank what-so-ever. He is only about 2-1/2 inches long right now, he is just a tiny little guy. Yes, once he starts to get bigger we plan on putting him in our bigger tank. But his temperment is amazing. Keep him fed and he is a doll. Even though we have only had him about a month he has already got that cool personaility.

 

[bigdogzack]

suggest watching your Humu pretty closely...when he/she becomes a teenager (just like humans ) its personality may change...

 

[4kevnbekc]

Yes, we have been told to keep an eye on him, and hopefully before he starts to get nasty and rebellious, we will have him moved into a tank with some of his own kind. We are getting a new tank set up (125 gallons) and will be able to put the nasty guys in there.
Who else can go along with the Trigger safely without too much trouble? Our trigger got along fine with the yellow tang that we had.