sad times - fish wiped out

Cosine · 06-09-2007, 04:53 PM

Well all my fish got wiped out... even the ones that looked healthy.

I don't know what happened.

Well I had four fish a gramma and a wrasse I had for 2-3years and two clowns I had for 1mth. 50g softy tank.

The only things I've come up with are as follows:

1 - disease brought in by the clowns... although they looked fine until they died quickly (pefect to gone over night) and I had them in the tank for a month.

2 - low salinity... 2.021ish... I know that is low... and I shouldn't have let it drop but is that low enough to cause this to happen? All coral and snails are fine as well. Shouldn't salinity mess with inverts first??

3 - stray current... I couldn't feel a shock but one of my MJ seemed to have gotten gunked up (cleaning it now in vinegar)

I just tested Nitrates and they were 0.

So I'm not sure what to do. Right now I'm slowing bringing my salinity back to 1.024 and cleaning my powerheads.

But if it's a disease what should I do? Is there anything else I should check for?

I'd like to move my skimmer from this tank to another one as it's skimmer isn't producing... but I'm afraid of transfering something over. Should I just avoid this or do a cleaning in vinegar/water?

Any help with this would be greatly appreciated!

Thank you

Doug1 · 06-09-2007, 05:01 PM

Bummer Bill, the no symptoms thing is a mystery, but with clowns, maybe Brooklynella, not sure if thats something that would affect the other fish

Hopefully some better at fish diseases will chime in, sorry for the loss

Cosine · 06-09-2007, 05:09 PM

Thanks Doug

well the clowns seemed to have no symptoms. I could say their fins were whiteish and not clear but that might be normal for pink skunks I'm not sure.

The gramma did get sick before dieing though... His fins looked chewed up, he got sorta scratched looking with cloudy eyes.

The wrasse had what looked like small ich... a few tiny white specs near his back half... I really thought he'd fight off whatever it was since it really didn't seem like much. I was ready to tear the tank down to catch him if it showed any signs of getting worse... but he just suddenly died as well. He also had a chunk missing for his tail fin but I really thought that was from a clown as they fought a bit for the first few days.

Hope this helps clarify things for someone

dobejazz · 06-09-2007, 07:24 PM

Sorry for your loss

tim224dt had his entire tank (fish) wiped out pretty much overnight as well let me see if I can find the thread

http://thereeftank.com/forums/showthread.php?t=86192

Reef-Keeper · 06-09-2007, 07:45 PM

1.021 is not ALL THAT low, it is a little low, but not TO AWFUL bad.

there seems to be something going around ... a friend of mine just had a yellow eyed tang in QT die on him overnight. when i gave him this fish it was in excellent health and stayed great, even eating, up until one morning he got up and it was dead. he know has the sailfin that i gave him, at the same time, in a copper treatment tank for something that caused blackish colored spots to appear on it overnight. funny thing is ... the spots appeared the same night that the yellow eyed tang died. i had them both for almost 9 months before i gave them to him, and never had a problem with either fish. hmmmmmmm ...

BTW ... sorry for the losses.

reefermike1 · 06-09-2007, 08:00 PM

did u possibly spray anything around the tank lately??? maybe some glade air freshner, or anything like that??? ive heard of stuff like that happening. are there kids or pets or possibly a disgruntled wife that may have put something in it? its just that most diseases and other problems show symptoms for days before u lose the tank overnight.

MIO · 06-09-2007, 08:35 PM

Bummer

Tynan Rasmus · 06-09-2007, 11:22 PM

1.021 will not bother the fish at all. Did you have any cukes or nudies or antying similar in there that may have died?

kyrie_eleison · 06-09-2007, 11:42 PM

hmm,

That is bizarre. Especially if it's in a reef tank. Far as I'm aware, reef tanks are supposed to have near pristine water quality; I've heard of some people keeping their reef tank at about 1.021 so, you didn't do anything wrong per se. Of course, it's better to keep your reef tank at about 1.023 to 1.026 but nevertheless that is strange.

Ich takes time to kill although overnight casualties aren't unusual. They must have been in very bad condition. Sorry for your loss.

ChrisPrusha · 06-10-2007, 08:43 AM

I am so sorry, Bill. I can't imagine what did that.

Fly Guy · 06-10-2007, 08:59 AM

SO VERY sorry to hear of your troubles Bill.

jenajet · 06-10-2007, 09:04 AM

Sorry to hear of your loss. Agree, the sg didn't do it. Fowler tanks can be kept that low with no issue, it's reefs that need to be higher. Sounds if the clowns brought something in.

cath · 06-10-2007, 01:09 PM

Ouch! I'm sorry to hear about your losses

Loverotties · 06-10-2007, 07:50 PM

Sorry for your losses!

Tim224DT · 06-11-2007, 02:16 PM

Sorry for your loss, i know how you feel just stick in there it will get better trust me!

Tim