Losing fish

[zellink]

Hi all,

Having some issues with my fairly new tank which has been running for about 3 months.

I've got 1 emerald crab, 2 clowns, 8 snails and an anthias.

I bought the anthias as a pair and one in my opinion was being overly aggressive to the other one, subsequently one died which I thought would happen. They were bought together and only in the tank 7 days before it died. Annoyed but I guess it could happen.

About 10 days ago I bought a Royal Gramma that was shy at first but feeding perfectly and seemed to be getting on fine.

Well today I found them on the bottom of the sand dead. I can only assume attacked by something else in the tank.

I have a 250 G2 tank and aside from the deaths everything seems to be running very well and the other fish are eating very well and getting bigger.

Although it's very gutting, is this just something I have to accept might happen? Is there anyway to avoid it in future purchases or have I just been unlucky?

I test every other day since losing the anthias and today readings are:

Salinity: 1.025
8.5 KH
8.2 PH
0.08 phosphate
6 nitrate

 

[Fish Fan]

I'm sorry to hear about your losses.

I think it may help if you could let us know a little more about your tank, like how did you setup your tank (dry rock/sand or live rock/sand), and how did you initially cycle the tank. A pic of the tank itself is often helpful too.

 

[Mohawk Mafia]

Man, that sucks and I feel your pain. I lost 6 fish in less than 2 days to Velvet. Did the QT & fallowed the DT. Only thing to survive was my original Storm Clown, he is a BEAST. From the pictures there it looks like aggression of some kind, but not totally sure though as my first tank is only at the 4 month mark.

Keep us posted to what you find out

Ryan

 

[zellink]

Cycled using red sea mature kit.

Nothing was live.

I'm comfortable the cycle completed fine after 3 weeks. Was reading 0 ammonia, 0 nitrite for a while before adding anything.

I've been adding a fish every 2 weeks.

 

[Fish Fan]

Your setup looks good, three weeks seems like a reasonable cycle.

Do you think you could have a disease of some kind? I'm not a fish disease expert, maybe what's on that Anthias is a parasite and not from fish aggression. Anthias are typically pretty peaceful fish.

 

[Mr. Mojo Rising]

How do you oxygenate the water? The surface is very flat, if you have no skimmer it might be oxygen shortage. Even with a skimmer, I feel better to point a powerhead at the surface (it avoids oil and debris buildup on the surface)

If you don't QT, then it could be disease.

 

[zellink]

How do you oxygenate the water? The surface is very flat, if you have no skimmer it might be oxygen shortage. Even with a skimmer, I feel better to point a powerhead at the surface (it avoids oil and debris buildup on the surface)

If you don't QT, then it could be disease.

Hard to tell from the photo but one of the power heads point up, my return pump is also on 70% and causes a fair bit of surface agitation.

Also running the RS skimmer that is doing its job quite well.

 

[zellink]

Your setup looks good, three weeks seems like a reasonable cycle.

Do you think you could have a disease of some kind? I'm not a fish disease expert, maybe what's on that Anthias is a parasite and not from fish aggression. Anthias are typically pretty peaceful fish.

I'd like to think not.

All fish have been purchased from my local LFS which is quite reputable who quarantine for 7 days before being sold.

I did see the anthias being overly aggressive to the other to the point it was scared to come out during feeding so assumed it has been an ******* to the gramma as well.

The clowns are doing perfectly and have nearly tripled in size, look healthy as does the living anthias.

 

[Fish Fan]

I am glad to hear that your clowns and remaining Anthias are doing well!

Unfortunately, 7 days isn't really a full quarantine. I follow the Reef2Reef approved method to quarantine new fish, and it's a 74 day procedure:

https://www.reef2reef.com/threads/current-quarantine-protocol.825055/

Not too many LFS's are doing that kind of a full QT, so unfortunately your fish could still have come from the LFS with parasites.

 

[TheLegendaryBarlowe072]

If you think it’s aggression that’s killing your fish, you may want to look into getting a clear hang on isolation/acclamation box. Sometimes called a breeder box. QT as normal to watch for diseases, but after put the new fish in the display in the box for a week or so. Let’s the other fish get used to the new addition without be able to bully it. And let’s the new fish watch and see where the territories are in the tank and maybe spy out a safe hiding place. Doesn’t always stop aggression but it can help.

If you still notice aggression you can rearrange your rock work when you add a new fish. That can help as well but it’s a pain