Fish Help!

[SkiptomyLou]

I have a 30g fish only tank. It has been running for about 4 months and is stocked as much as I want. A couple weeks ago my starfish died and about a week ago my Royal Gramma Basslet died and then my Margitate (sp?) Damsel. Now my clown is showing signs of dying and I don't know what to do.

I ran water tests - all come back totally normal and great for my tank. There is no sign of Ich or other disease on the fish. They have healthy appetites, in fact the Basslet ate a big meal the one night and the next morning she was dead.

I talked to the guy at my LFS and he said I should bring in a water sample for him to test with his kit to see what comes back but without a logical reason for the fish to be dying I can't treat with anything.

I don't want to sit back and watch my fish die! But I don't know what to do! HELP!

 

[incysor]

I have a 30g fish only tank. It has been running for about 4 months and is stocked as much as I want. A couple weeks ago my starfish died and about a week ago my Royal Gramma Basslet died and then my Margitate (sp?) Damsel. Now my clown is showing signs of dying and I don't know what to do.

I ran water tests - all come back totally normal and great for my tank. There is no sign of Ich or other disease on the fish. They have healthy appetites, in fact the Basslet ate a big meal the one night and the next morning she was dead.

I talked to the guy at my LFS and he said I should bring in a water sample for him to test with his kit to see what comes back but without a logical reason for the fish to be dying I can't treat with anything.

I don't want to sit back and watch my fish die! But I don't know what to do! HELP!

I'd take a sample of water into the LFS. What type of test kits are you using? How old are they?

Were there any obvious injury marks on the fish?

You said the clown is showing signs, but then say there's no sign of ich and it's eating. What are the signs that it's unhealthy?

B

 

[SkiptomyLou]

His behavior has totally changed - he's usually fun loving and out in the current but now is tucked near the substrate in a corner. This is very uncommon for him even when the light is off he's out swimming and having fun. The basslet showed signs of irregular behavior too before she died so this has me worried.

No injury marks on the fish - all 5 got along great... and then there were 3.

 

[incysor]

His behavior has totally changed - he's usually fun loving and out in the current but now is tucked near the substrate in a corner. This is very uncommon for him even when the light is off he's out swimming and having fun. The basslet showed signs of irregular behavior too before she died so this has me worried.

No injury marks on the fish - all 5 got along great... and then there were 3.

If there's no marks, no sign of the common parasites, my first guess would be that your water quality is off, and your test kits are bad.

Other problems that could cause this would be running a tank with glass tops, and no skimmer. This can lead to very low disolved oxygen concentrations. Have you checked the tanks temp lately? Have you checked at the end of the light cycle and beginning of the cycle to see if there's a large swing? Also stray voltage running through the water could be a cause. To fix that you'd just use a grounding probe.

Just trying to rule things out.

 

[djconn]

Good questions incysor. That is all I can think of as well.

It has to be a water quality issue IMO. With all that dieoff, Nitirites and Nitrates might be high??

I would do a hefty water change but that is just me.

Bummer. :cry:

 

[SkiptomyLou]

Thanks for all the help! We took the sample in to the LFS and found that my tests are off by HUGE amounts. Did a big water change. Have milked the nemo through another day. But going back to the LFS tonight to see where it is and get new tests.

 

[SkiptomyLou]

We lost nemo.

 

[djconn]

:cry:

 

[incysor]

That sucks....Sorry to hear it. Glad you finally figured out what the problem was though.

One thing that might help folks going through the same thing. When you're doing the massive water changes to try to correct a runaway problem, do it in small amounts. The fish and especially the inverts need time to acclimate to the new cleaner water, even though it's better for them they've acclimated over time to the crappy water in the tank, and they need time to adjust back to the good water as well.

B