Whats going on in there?

[scu ba]

I resently lost all my fish exsept for my snowflake eel. And know my cc starfish has something wrong with it. It first started when my blue jaw trigger started getting a bunch of white spots on him but they fall off so i figured it wasnt ick. then my lion would get it and in the moring it would be all gone. I read on these forum that it was poor water quality so i was working on it, with water changes. Then about 2 weeks went by and and my bjt is full of off -colored white spots and dies 36 hours later. Two days pass by and my lion dies. Three days after the lion goes my foxface gets white spots on him so i do a water change a put in some stress coat. The next morning the the white spots are gone but he has pits where it looks like the whites ate up his skin. 36 hours later he is dies. All the fish that deid eat and act perfect until the last 10 hours and lhen go down hill real fast. All throw this my sfe, hermit crabs brisle star, and cc are all doing fine. Now this morning my cc is getting it or something. Does anyone know whats happening? I have a 55 gal, nitrite 0, alka 180, ph 8.4, nitrate were at 40 then went to 80 and then went down to 40. Thank you in advance!!

 

[sepulatian]

Originally Posted by scu ba
I resently lost all my fish exsept for my snowflake eel. And know my cc starfish has something wrong with it. It first started when my blue jaw trigger started getting a bunch of white spots on him but they fall off so i figured it wasnt ick. then my lion would get it and in the moring it would be all gone. I read on these forum that it was poor water quality so i was working on it, with water changes. Then about 2 weeks went by and and my bjt is full of off -colored white spots and dies 36 hours later. Two days pass by and my lion dies. Three days after the lion goes my foxface gets white spots on him so i do a water change a put in some stress coat. The next morning the the white spots are gone but he has pits where it looks like the whites ate up his skin. 36 hours later he is dies. All the fish that deid eat and act perfect until the last 10 hours and lhen go down hill real fast. All throw this my sfe, hermit crabs brisle star, and cc are all doing fine. Now this morning my cc is getting it or something. Does anyone know whats happening? I have a 55 gal, nitrite 0, alka 180, ph 8.4, nitrate were at 40 then went to 80 and then went down to 40. Thank you in advance!!
Do you have pics of these off white spots? Did it look like ich? Ich will fall off of a fish with a high immune system.

 

[scu ba]

I could take any pictures where the spots showed up in the pictures i was using my camera phone, but i did soak their food in garlic. What do you thick i should do? I dont want to buy another fish just to use it for a test and have it suffer and die. The water i used was from a pubilic well that was aged for 24 hours. And i have been using bottled (ro, carbon filtered, etc.) water ever since it started. Thanks again

 

[lion_crazz]

If I had to guess, this is probably occuring due to poor water quality. Your nitrates is too high at 80, and even at 40, for a delicate animal like a starfish. Though chocolate chips are easy and hardy, they can still be delicate, in my opinion.
I am sure Ophiura will be over soon, so she will be able to provide her expertise.

 

[ophiura]

Simply, the skin is being burned off or dying. What is your ammonia? I need more specifics about the tank, but clearly you have some major major issues in there, and this is just another sign of it. What water changes do you do? Do you buffer? Do you put in additives? What is the temperature? How old is this tank?

 

[scu ba]

I change the 5 gallons of water every week. I only used aquasafe water conditioner by Tetra Aqua and used strss coat before the foxface died. I havent used anything else. Ammonia is a 0 but i remember the foxface was breathing real heavy. The tank has been up and running for about 5.5 mounths now. And i never put any buffer in there. Thanks

 

[ophiura]

What is your specific gravity?
What is the temperature?
Filtration, lighting?
How long did you have these animals before they died? How long have you had this star?
There is something hugely wrong here. Definitely do not add anything else to this tank.
Any painting, cleaning or anything else going on near this tank?

 

[scu ba]

Specific gravity 1.022
76 degrees
402 hegan powerhead
ramona skimmer
Bjt 4mouths
Lion 3 mouths
Foxface 3 mths
cc 4.5 mths
clean the glass with windex with the canopy on but i also spray the back of the tank with it and the canopy is open in the back. And im definitely do not adding anything else to this tank until i fix the problem. Thank you

 

[beth]

The SG is too low. What are you using to measure salinity? Never spray anything in the vicinity of the tank. Spray a power towel away from tank, then clean glass. However, its not likely the windex is the problem here.
What is your pH? What kind of sand are you using?

 

[scu ba]

Im using the Coralife Deep six Hydrometer for testing the SG. PH is has been 8.4. Im also using crushed coral. We just noticed little tiny creatures running around the bottom, fast little things about the size of a hermit crabs toe. Thanks again everyone!!

 

[scu ba]

Here is a picture of one of those little things on my starfish. This morning there was about four of them on him. Will stop parasites help my tank? Thanks again!

 

[scu ba]

bump

 

[beth]

That looks like a copepod. Nothing to be concerned with. Just natural tank fauna.