Loss of fish over a fairly long period

[Fry1992]

Hi all

Was wondering if anyone had any ideas on an issue with my tank
195L aqua one reef tank (weekly water changes of approx 10%)

3 Months ago my tank stock was 2 clowns, 3 chromis, 1 royal grammar, 1 mccoskers, 1 bangai cardinal and 1 midas blenny.

However over the last 3 months I have lost everything other than 2 clowns and 1 chromi. After every death I test the water and the parameters are always similar to the below. None of the fish show any signs of disease or bullying and I'm quite demoralised with not being able to work out the issues so if anyone has any advised please feel free to share. I'm not restocking until after Christmas as a precaution.

Ammonia - 0
Nitrate - between 5 and 10
Nitrite - 0
Carbonate - 40
Ph - 8.4
Calcium - test kit not working
Magnesium - 1230
Alkalinity- 6.7
Phosphate - 0.1
Salinity - 1.024

 

[vetteguy53081]

Hi all

Was wondering if anyone had any ideas on an issue with my tank
195L aqua one reef tank (weekly water changes of approx 10%)

3 Months ago my tank stock was 2 clowns, 3 chromis, 1 royal grammar, 1 mccoskers, 1 bangai cardinal and 1 midas blenny.

However over the last 3 months I have lost everything other than 2 clowns and 1 chromi. After every death I test the water and the parameters are always similar to the below. None of the fish show any signs of disease or bullying and I'm quite demoralised with not being able to work out the issues so if anyone has any advised please feel free to share. I'm not restocking until after Christmas as a precaution.

Ammonia - 0
Nitrate - between 5 and 10
Nitrite - 0
Carbonate - 40
Ph - 8.4
Calcium - test kit not working
Magnesium - 1230
Alkalinity- 6.7
Phosphate - 0.1
Salinity - 1.024

While the clowns are capable of hidden aggression, the water may very well be the issue and I suspect false readings and would encourage you to take a water sample to an LFS that does NOT use API tests and see what readings they come up with to compare with yours. Also disregard Nitrites which is Freshwater specific and unless sky high which is rare
Amy signs you saw such as elevated breathing, loss of appetite, sudden darting as examples prior to losses?

 

[Jay Hemdal]

Hi all

Was wondering if anyone had any ideas on an issue with my tank
195L aqua one reef tank (weekly water changes of approx 10%)

3 Months ago my tank stock was 2 clowns, 3 chromis, 1 royal grammar, 1 mccoskers, 1 bangai cardinal and 1 midas blenny.

However over the last 3 months I have lost everything other than 2 clowns and 1 chromi. After every death I test the water and the parameters are always similar to the below. None of the fish show any signs of disease or bullying and I'm quite demoralised with not being able to work out the issues so if anyone has any advised please feel free to share. I'm not restocking until after Christmas as a precaution.

Ammonia - 0
Nitrate - between 5 and 10
Nitrite - 0
Carbonate - 40
Ph - 8.4
Calcium - test kit not working
Magnesium - 1230
Alkalinity- 6.7
Phosphate - 0.1
Salinity - 1.024

One bit of missing information - does this tank also house invertebrates? If so, are they doing well? If so, it's unlikely to be a water quality issue, as only transient low dissolved oxygen will kill fish, but often leave all/most invertebrates alive.

If water quality issues are ruled out, then fish disease is the most likely culprit. For losses in fish, spread out over months, the disease issue is most likely flukes. A chronic fluke infection won't affect all fish equally, and the symptoms can be pretty subtle (slightly rapid breathing, or a generally slightly "tattered" look).

Another consideration may be that the fish losses are not all related. Chromis sometimes fight, Bangaii are prone to a specific viral disease, and Midas blennies are prone to gradual starvation.

A video of the tank and the remaining fish, taken under white lights, might offer us some other clues.

Jay

 

[Fry1992]

While the clowns are capable of hidden aggression, the water may very well be the issue and I suspect false readings and would encourage you to take a water sample to an LFS that does NOT use API tests and see what readings they come up with to compare with yours. Also disregard Nitrites which is Freshwater specific and unless sky high which is rare
Amy signs you saw such as elevated breathing, loss of appetite, sudden darting as examples prior to losses?

I test using mixture of salifert tests and a strip as a few of my saliferts have gone out of date.

So the mccoskers and bangaii both had curved spines the day prior to dying (they were the first 2 to go) the chromis were all fine the night before and then dead in the morning. The midas blenny was laying on the sandbed the day before. All died within 8 hours of showing any distress

 

[Fry1992]

One bit of missing information - does this tank also house invertebrates? If so, are they doing well? If so, it's unlikely to be a water quality issue, as only transient low dissolved oxygen will kill fish, but often leave all/most invertebrates alive.

If water quality issues are ruled out, then fish disease is the most likely culprit. For losses in fish, spread out over months, the disease issue is most likely flukes. A chronic fluke infection won't affect all fish equally, and the symptoms can be pretty subtle (slightly rapid breathing, or a generally slightly "tattered" look).

Another consideration may be that the fish losses are not all related. Chromis sometimes fight, Bangaii are prone to a specific viral disease, and Midas blennies are prone to gradual starvation.

A video of the tank and the remaining fish, taken under white lights, might offer us some other clues.

Jay

Hi Jay

Yes I have a Peppermint shrimp, tuxedo urchin, snails, hermit crab and emerald crab all which seem fine. I will do some research into flukes to see if that seems likely. Is that something I can treat just in case ? (Note I have corals also) i will do a video under white lights later today once the lights turn on

Thanks for the reply

 

[Jay Hemdal]

Hi Jay

Yes I have a Peppermint shrimp, tuxedo urchin, snails, hermit crab and emerald crab all which seem fine. I will do some research into flukes to see if that seems likely. Is that something I can treat just in case ? (Note I have corals also) i will do a video under white lights later today once the lights turn on

Thanks for the reply

Yes - praziquantal/prazipro can be used in a reef tank set up. You just dose it for the actual volume of your tank (or 85% of its rated volume if you don't know exactly). You also need to add aeration from a good air stone. Then, after 8 days, change 25% of the water and redose a second time. After another 8 days, you can do another water change.

 

[Fry1992]

Thanks Jay I actually have some Parazoryne from a while ago so I will give it a go. Skimmer off for 2 hours after adding correct or skimmer off the whole time ? I've also attached a video as requested. Fingers crossed this sorts it. Also please ignore the hair algae it's a result of the ugly period and I am slowly getting to grips with it.

 

[Jay Hemdal]

Thanks Jay I actually have some Parazoryne from a while ago so I will give it a go. Skimmer off for 2 hours after adding correct or skimmer off the whole time ? I've also attached a video as requested. Fingers crossed this sorts it. Also please ignore the hair algae it's a result of the ugly period and I am slowly getting to grips with it.

I've never used Parazoryne, as I won't use herbal "remedies" that don't have good references behind them. Herbal expellerants like garlic can reduce, but not eliminate metazoan parasites.

For praziquantel, you should still run the skimmer, but don't collect the skimmate - you need all the aeration you can get.

 

[vetteguy53081]

Thanks Jay I actually have some Parazoryne from a while ago so I will give it a go. Skimmer off for 2 hours after adding correct or skimmer off the whole time ? I've also attached a video as requested. Fingers crossed this sorts it. Also please ignore the hair algae it's a result of the ugly period and I am slowly getting to grips with it.

Dont use this but rather Sera Tremazole which is available in your country and is similar to Prazi here in the United states. An alternate would be Fluke Solv but may be harder to find

 

[Fry1992]

Ah my bad I got the names wrong as they're similar i will get one of the others ordered thanks for the help guys !