A bit of a alarming issue....

[ZJedi945]

I recently upgraded to a 120g tank from a 65g. For years the worst thing I had in the 65 was a bit of algae from time to time.... not a big deal. Fast forward to today and I now have 3 fish and a cleaner shrimp. (not counting crabs and snails, sorry too many of those) Within the last week or so I have lost 6 fish, a 6 inch blue hippo, 2 clowns, a yellow tang, and 2 chromis. I have been battling a algae outbreak that occurred about a 2 weeks after the upgrade, a sea hare has really been helping this. As of yesterday morning here were my levels.

Ph is about 8.2........ No3 is between 20-50...... No2 is .05...... Ammonia is 0.

I have 4 theories at this point.

1 The rock that I added was not completely cured that I bought from a LFS and causing high levels of NO3. Thus causing stress in the fish opening them up to some sort of parasite that came from the rock as well.

1.5 After I noticed that I had a "ick" or something along those lines I added a cleaner wrasse to help the other fish out. Is he picking them to death? I DOUBT THIS ONE... but made me wonder about him today seeing him picking like crazy on a chromis.

2 My RODI system membranes need to be replaced BUT I am running no higher than 7-10 TDS. Even though I am burning through Resin like it going out of style.

3 The rock I bought has a predator living in it.

All I know is I need help on this one. Most of the people have been saying it's the rock and get it out of there. So [HASHTAG]#Reefsquad[/HASHTAG] or anyone else let me know what you all think.

 

[Paul B]

I don't know what killed your fish as I can't see it from here or know what they looked like when you found them dead. I do know that it was not your rock as uncured rock would have made the water cloudy (unless of course there was insecticide or anthrax on the rock)
Your membranes did not kill your fish because even if you used tap water, that would just possibly cause algae, not fish death and I would doubt a predator as any predator small enough for you to not notice would not eat a 6" hippo tang and a yellow tang along with those other fish in a week.
The cleaner shrimp is silly and in no way would have helped with ich or anything else, but they are interesting and nice to have.
I am "guessing" parasites but as I said, I can't see them.
Any metal poisoning or other poisons would also have killed the shrimp and crabs.

 

[ZJedi945]

Well the hippo and the clowns had to be removed from the tank. I bet everything else was eaten by the clean up crew.

 

[melypr1985]

After I noticed that I had a "ick" or something along those lines I added a cleaner wrasse to help the other fish out. Is he picking them to death? I DOUBT THIS ONE... but made me wonder about him today seeing him picking like crazy on a chromis.

The cleaner wrasse will not eat the ick off the fish. He's now exposed to ick and needs to be treated for it along with the rest of your fish. He's simply cleaning off dead skin cells and maybe extra mucus. He could eat things like flukes, but not something under the skin like ick. I also think your right, he's not picking them to death.

The rock that I added was not completely cured that I bought from a LFS and causing high levels of NO3. Thus causing stress in the fish opening them up to some sort of parasite that came from the rock as well.

This is very possible. However, I'd like to know if you moved the old rock and sand over with the new. Stirring up all the junk in the rocks and sand bed can cause a mini cycle which can cause stress in the fish. While you have them out of the tank I would suggest treating them for ick and leaving the display fallow for 76 days. This will let it finish it's mini cycle and clear it of ick in the process.

 

[ZJedi945]

The old sand was thrown out. I used 180 pounds of new Bimini pink. I did bring the old rock over, I didn't think that would have been an issue at all.

 

[melypr1985]

The old sand was thrown out. I used 180 pounds of new Bimini pink. I did bring the old rock over, I didn't think that would have been an issue at all.

It might not have been normally, but with nitrite present in the water it leads me to believe the move caused a mini cycle. That's not really the most important thing happening here. The fish have a parasite and need to be treated for it (and the tank go fallow) to have it go away.

 

[domination2580]

The old sand was thrown out. I used 180 pounds of new Bimini pink. I did bring the old rock over, I didn't think that would have been an issue at all.

So, u added new sand. Right there tells me there is a possibility that you are going through a mini cycle since some sands have silicates in them. Also when you took out the old sand you took a decent chunk of your bacteria population out with it. Yes they will be on the rocks but sand is another good spot for bacteria to grow. Hence you don't have the bacteria population to convert everything down right away. Which would then mean poor water parameters...which would have led to more succeptive parameters for a disease to outbreak in your tank. Could be ich, could be velvet, a cleaner shrimp like melypr said is just picking at the dead skin where either ich or velvet has attatched itself to the fish. In this case your going to have to qt ALL fish and treat with copper or cp. Either way it will kill velvet and ich. And the tank will have to go fallow for a minimum of 76 days.

 

[jsker]

How long has this system been setup?

 

[ZJedi945]

How long has this system been setup?

Oh about a month now.

 

[ZJedi945]

I am tempted to just do this.... pretty much drop a nuke on the tank. Mr. Saltwater Tank: 235 One in the chamber

 

[jsker]

Oh about a month now.

A friend of mine here on R2R pretty much had the same issue with switching from a 45 to a 72, Lost his fish and then went into a 72 day follow just to make sure. The move stressed the fish and Ick broke out and the fish passed. I have read here that other members have had success with transferring tanks.

This is only my opinion from what I have pulled from most transfers is, the more successful transfers happen when a tank is setup and fully cycled before transferring the fish.
Again this is my opinion only Fish can be transferred with success for the reason there needs to be a bio load established with the system. The more fish added at once stress the bio load and the stress the fish. If I were to attempt a transfer like this I would make sure that the fish immune system would be as high as I could get them using vitamins, amino acid it the food and even a touch of vitamin C in the water. I would also use some of not all of the existing tanks water since there is established bacteria in the water that the fish needs.

It is pretty much a bummer that this happen and chalk this one as experience.

 

[tripdad]

Ok, don't drop the bomb, just slow down a little on your journey. Read up on the nitrogen cycle basics. From your readings it looks like your just now getting near the end of a tank cycle. No3 at your levels will not normally kill fish but that NO3 came from somewhere. If it came thru a cycle then you had high Ammonia, and that will stress fish. Stressed fish can allow long dormant pathogens to blow up on you. Just slow down, let the tank cycle the rest of the way, 2-3 months is not unheard of for a big tank to process all the waste and grow a good bacteria bed. Your going to be fine with a little patience. Good luck and happy reefing.

 

[ZJedi945]

@tripdad and @jsker - It just upsets me a tad that everything I tried to find out about upgrading a tank said at the worst I would have a mini cycle and that would be gone in a few days. The only thing I am sort of worried about now is the chance of this pest to pop up again. I am tempted to try and use some Dr Tims but at the same time why.

I guess I will have some time to pick some new fish. That's good right

At least I have a cleaner shrimp, a starfish and a ton of crabs to watch.

 

[jsker]

@tripdad and @jsker - It just upsets me a tad that everything I tried to find out about upgrading a tank said at the worst I would have a mini cycle and that would be gone in a few days. The only thing I am sort of worried about now is the chance of this pest to pop up again. I am tempted to try and use some Dr Tims but at the same time why.

I guess I will have some time to pick some new fish. That's good right

At least I have a cleaner shrimp, a star fist and a ton of crabs to watch.

I lost 5 fish back in November 2015 and I was bummed for a bit, I am glad you are looking at the bright side of things. If you have questions in the future feel free to reach out, and I will be the first to tell you I do not know and I will bring in the reefsquad and then you can always get different opinions and make your own decisions. I am like @Paul B old school and I will say Paul know more than I through experience and he know his stuff When you want the reefsquad thoughts put a hashtag in front of reefsquad and we will come out of the back ground to help very quickly.

 

[ZJedi945]

I lost 5 fish back in November 2015 and I was bummed for a bit, I am glad you are looking at the bright side of things. If you have questions in the future feel free to reach out, and I will be the first to tell you I do not know and I will bring in the reefsquad and then you can always get different opinions and make your own decisions. I am like @Paul B old school and I will say Paul know more than I through experience and he know his stuff When you want the reefsquad thoughts put a hashtag in front of reefsquad and we will come out of the back ground to help very quickly.

That's exactly why I used it today. That hashtag does come in handy for sure! Like Jim, the LA fish guy says "Keep moving forward" In instances like this it is also great to have a community like this around. Seriously thank you all I was about to drop that nuke at 2pm or so today. Now it will be sitting and waiting for the day I can add some fish. Though... during that time can I add inverts?

 

[tripdad]

Glad you didn't nuke the tank. Go slow with the inverts, many of them ARE sensitive to nitrate levels. If you decide to add them use a long drip acclimation period to do so. It's always good to search info on potential purchases to find out any special needs or sensitivities.

 

[Brew12]

That's exactly why I used it today. That hashtag does come in handy for sure! Like Jim, the LA fish guy says "Keep moving forward" In instances like this it is also great to have a community like this around. Seriously thank you all I was about to drop that nuke at 2pm or so today. Now it will be sitting and waiting for the day I can add some fish. Though... during that time can I add inverts?

I'm very inexperienced so take it for what it is worth. I am just now getting ready to start up my first aquarium and have been researching like crazy to find out how to maintain proper quarantine procedures starting from the initial set up.
I have come to the conclusion that it is almost impossible to add inverts without putting your tank at risk. Unfortunately, you never know what is in the water that the inverts came with. For my first aquarium (which should be set up in a few weeks) I am going to start my cycle and add a CuC a few weeks after the cycle starts. I will then wait the full 76 days to break the ich cycle prior to adding any fish to the tank. My thoughts are that if you really want to have an air tight quarantine process you shouldn't add any fish/inverts/algae to your tank during your fallow period. Yes, it is a fairly low risk when adding inverts imo, but it is still a risk.