what is this????????

[ca62296]

help me!
all of my fish are dying one by one with in the last 6 mo. i have lost about 8 fish, even a hearty panther grouper(which i thought could last thru anything.) it starts with pale coloring of the fish, then it leads to constant rubbing on everything, to not eating and then ending with losing of equilibrium(swimming sideways, and laying at the bottom) and at last, breathing fast and heavy until death.i am very distraut because all of my perameters are perfect,i test the water every week and i do a 20% water change every 2 weeks. what could this be? also, i now noticed that my yellow tang, which has also been rubbing now has these funny little pin-point black spots on his coat. they have multiplied within the last week. what is all of this??????

 

[coral beauty]

What kind of set up have you got,tank size,filtration,live rock,power heads or circulation,ect.....What water prams are you checking for and what are there readings?How long has your tank been established?I have kind of went thru the same problems when I first set up my tank,I had several problems to fix before i could be succesful,im just trying to see if you are in the same shape that I used to be in

 

[ca62296]

set up:
55 gal. tank
crushed coral substrate
MAGNUM 350 filtration system
WHISPER 4 power filter
fish: (whats left)
2 perculia clowns
1 saddle back clown
1 yellow tang
1 blue head wrasse
2 haitian aneomes
1 star serpent
6 hermit crabs
10 astro snails
perameters are great, ammonmia-o ,nitrates-40,ph-7.8,nitrites-0
salinity in the "green". i do 20% water changes every 2-3 weeks.

 

[ocellaris_keeper]

Your PH is low - should be between 8.2-8.4 (mine is 8.0) but 7.8 is too low. I doubt that this is your only problem.
I would suggest that if you aren't already to go to Reverse Osmosis water (can get it at Safeway) if you're not using it already.
I would also suggest you try 10% water changes weekly and get a protien skimmer.
A 5 gallon water change weekly and a cheap (SeaClone) skimmer might help.

 

[bhav_88]

Well, your tang has "Black Ich"... I believe they are actually small worms, not crustations, but I could be wrong. It sounds as if your fish are succumbing to parasites of some sort.

 

[ca62296]

woah- just checked the ph and is a low 7.8, so i just put in "sea buffer", ph booster. will check the ph each day and add the stuff till it goes back up and will check into a protein skimmer.thanx for the advice!

 

[peasly1]

not for nothing but I had a blue headfed wrasse and it abused everything in the tank.raise the ph, and the salinity in the green I dont get..how about some numbers..good luck

 

[pstanley]

I agree with Bhav...if your Tang has black ich then chances are all of the fish are probably dieing from the same thing.