Tank issues

[Reef_Boy-88]

So i’m in a bit of a tough situation right now… Lately i have been getting new fish and all of the sudden they disappear dead. I had a powder brown tang, purple dottyback, mandarin goby, pearly jawfish, and a couple others that just end up dead somehow. I always make sure to try and pick out the healthiest fish i can to put in my tank. Recently i was out of town for 4 days for thanksgiving. I had left the tank off on a good note doing a large water change, feeding well and just making sure everything was perfect. Well once i came back from my trip i come to look at my tank and all that’s left of my powder brown was its skeleton . I was so confused because everything was good before I had left. Also noticed that my pearly jawfish is missing. (The other fish i mentioned before had died before this but thought i’d mention them). I was in shock finding this out and I don’t know what i’ve done wrong. My fish were doing so good before I left and all of the sudden things are going wrong. Water parameters are normal and everything i can think of is done the right way. So after i got everything taken care of frustrated I went to my LFS and got a purple dottyback. Had him in the tank for about 24 hours and then i see his body completely cut in half dead. I know this can’t be because if my pumps or anything so it has to be one of my fish that is the killer. I just don’t know what to do at this point as i have made a connection and love the fish in this aquarium and im trying to hard to make everything right and something seems to always go wrong at the worst times. In this tank at the moment I have a lunar wrasse about 3-4 inches, a 3 inch coral beauty, a 2 clownfish and some inverts. I don’t seem to see any aggression when i’m watching the tank between the fish they all seem peaceful so i don’t know what’s going on. I feed a variety of foods every day and at this point i don’t know what else to do. If one of my fish is killing the other I would have no idea to which fish it could be as they aren’t aggressive to each other that i can see and ive always tried to make sure that they are eating enough. My tank is a 60 gallon innovative marine. Somebody please help me out!

 

[Sleeping Giant]

pictures of the tank, any dead fish pictures, the water parameters you checked and the numbers you got, thanks it will help everyone help you

 

[fishywishy]

What other fish do you have in your tank right now? How are your invertebrates doing? If they’re doing well, it’s likely a fish disease going around or possibly an aggressive fish causing the issues, rather than a water quality problem.

 

[Reef_Boy-88]

What other fish do you have in your tank right now? How are your invertebrates doing? If they’re doing well, it’s likely a fish disease going around or possibly an aggressive fish causing the issues, rather than a water quality problem.

I only have a lunar wrasse, 2 clowns, and a coral beauty at the moment. The inverts are doing good and the fish don’t have any visible diseases so i’m not sure

 

[voelter76]

What types on invertebrates? That you know of?

 

[Reef_Boy-88]

What types on invertebrates? That you know of?

I have a cleaner shrimp, a few hermit crabs, and 2 emerald crabs

 

[fishywishy]

I only have a lunar wrasse, 2 clowns, and a coral beauty at the moment. The inverts are doing good and the fish don’t have any visible diseases so i’m not sure

Since your invertebrates are doing well, and I don’t believe any of those fish could kill a good-sized PBT, I’m leaning toward the possibility of some type of fish disease.

I would at your fish closely and see if you notice any symptoms like heavy breathing, sometimes its hard to see and you have to look closely.

 

[Mr. Mojo Rising]

That seems like a big bioload in that tank, what type of filtration do you have? Do you have a lot of rockwork? How is the water oxygenated? It will really help if we can see a pic of the tank. A Tang in that size tank is a red flag and it means trouble one way or another. And you mention "other fishes"......

 

[Reef_Boy-88]

That seems like a big bioload in that tank, what type of filtration do you have? Do you have a lot of rockwork? How is the water oxygenated? It will really help if we can see a pic of the tank. A Tang in that size tank is a red flag and it means trouble one way or another. And you mention "other fishes"......

It is an AIO tank so I use a media rack with a sponge, filter floss, and carbon. I also have a protein skimmer and filter socks. The tang was very small maybe 2 inches and my lfs said he would need an upgrade in the future and I was fine with that. I have a decent amount of rock work and the tank has 2 pretty large pumps that move the water around a lot. But a lot of those fish that i mentioned were ones that i’ve lost recently so not all of them were in the tank at one time. At the moment I have a lunar wrasse, 2 clowns, and a coral beauty.

 

[Tahoe61]

Did you use live rock? Could you have a Mantis Shrimp, an Octopus or a large hungry Serpent Star?

 

[BryanM]

pictures and parameters my friend. Pics under white light is best, and everyone that can help you here needs this information to do so.

 

[Reef_Boy-88]

Did you use live rock? Could you have a Mantis Shrimp, an Octopus or a large hungry Serpent Star?

I used dry rock but live sand. I have none of those animals in the tank

 

[Tahoe61]

So is this a 40 gal IM or a new IM 60 gallon? Either way it looks like and sounds like new tank syndrome. You're might be stocking your tanks too quickly, and the CUC is eating the remains.

 

[Reef_Boy-88]

So is this a 40 gal IM or a new IM 60 gallon? Either way it looks like and sounds like new tank syndrome. You're might be stocking your tanks too quickly, and the CUC is eating the remains.

60. But I only get usually 1 fish like every co open months so i can make sure my tank adjusts to it well and then sometimes something goes wrong. I’m kinda getting the feeling that one of the current fish is killing everyone

 

[Tahoe61]

How old is the 60 gallon? As near as I can tell you have added a lot of fish to either the 40 or the 60 in a short time period. It's anyone's guess as to what's happening if you do not quarantine new purchases, and then adding those fish to newer systems.

 

[Reef_Boy-88]

How old is the 60 gallon? As near as I can tell you have added a lot of fish to either the 40 or the 60 in a short time period. It's anyone's guess as to what's happening if you do not quarantine new purchases, and then adding those fish to newer systems.

It’s about year old in one month. My LFS says they quarantine the fish before selling so…