Need help found all my fish dead!!!!

Discussion in 'ASAP' started by jesse94954, Oct 28, 2009.

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  1. jesse94954

    jesse94954 Fire Worm

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    Hi there everyone I am new to this forum, but I need some help.

    I have a 55 gallon tank with about 50-75 pounds of live rock and 2 inches of crushed coral for the bed. As far as filtration I have two canisters filters one rated for 100 gallon the other for 40 gallon.The tank has been up for about 2 months as of now, when I started with the tank I helped it cycle with a clown fish from my established 24 gallon tank. After it cycled I added in 2 emerald crabs, 3 weeks after that I transferred in my blue hippo tang, mandarin goby, cleaner shrimp, two sexy shrimp, bubble tip anemone and a bunch of corals from the 24 gallon (The fish are all no more the 1 ½ inches long). After about a week and a half we bought a Spotted Unicorn Tang and two peppermint shrimp to help with our small Aiptasia Anemone issue.

    Since the tank was set up and finished it's cycle I make a habit of testing the water weekly to every two weeks. The water quality always tests perfect. Recently I noticed that I had an out of control Algae (green hair algae) outbreak. So I went to my local fish store to talk to them about a possible solution and they showed me a Sea Heare Slug/Snail that they said would help with my algae issue. So I paid the $8 bucks to rent him for a few days and bought a yellow tang as well.

    When I got home I acclimated them both to my tank and after the appropriate amount of time introduced them both. About 2 days later my wife came and told me that the Yellow tang we had just purchased had died. I didn't think much of it because the place that we purchased the tang from didn't always have the healthiest of fish. So we took the fish back and were able to trade it for a carpet anemone. We came home acclimated the anemone placed it in the tank and noticed that after a few hours that it wasn't looking very good. We decided to give it the night to allow it to get used to its surroundings but by the next day it had only gotten worse. We decided to take it back before it died in hopes to trade it for another fish or at least get our money back. As a side note we did get our water tested each time that we went in starting with the day we got the Yellow tang.
    By the time that we got the carpet anemone back it had died (it is a 15 minute drive from our house to the store.) The store was willing to give us a credit and we decided on a Blonde Naso Tang which we left at the store till the next day. While we were at the store I was speaking with the owner who was talking to me about the slug that I was renting, he then mentioned that it is a possibility when the Sea Heare dies it may emits a toxin that can kill things in my tank.
    So when I got home that night I checked on the slug and it was still alive so I decided to leave it in the tank and return it the next day. The next morning everything in the tank looked fine, the slug was up on a rock and all the fish were swimming around fine. My wife left to go and pick up the Naso Tang and when she got home (about an hour later) she noticed that our hippo tang was dead. She removed the hippo, couldn’t find the unicorn and noticed the mandarin was still swimming around so she acclimated the Naso and introduced him to the tank. About 2 minutes after introducing him to the tank she found the unicorn tang dead and watched as the mandarin passed as well. Quickly she removed the Naso before it died but noticed some weird behavior from the tang upon removing it. Such as the fact that it went from swimming curiously in the tank to hiding and then swimming toward the top of the tank in a drunken fashion.
    Once the Naso was out my wife started removing the dead fish and noticed that the slug had died too, yet there was no visible emitted toxin. In all the research that we did on the possibilities of what might happen if the sea heare died we came back with no real definitive answers. The weird thing is that all my fish died yet all the corals, invertebrates and even a bubble anemone we had was still alive.
    We got the water tested just to be sure and there was nothing wrong with it…So might anyone have an idea of why else all my fish might have died and everything else survived? Or would anyone have any info on the Sea Heare Slug/Snail? And if the slug is toxic how would I go about removing the toxin from the water? I did a 50% water change that same day but am worried to put my Naso in there after losing everything else. What should I do??
    Sorry about the long story just thought I should be detailed. Thanks!!
     
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  3. swagger87

    swagger87 Zoanthid

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    IMO those tangs had no business being in that tank. Also a sea hare and anemone can both be very dangerous to a new unestablished tank.
    Im thinking that the huge bioload introduced all a within a few weeks did not help.
    You should never continue to add livestock one after the other whilst they continue to die.

    How long did you allow your tank to cycle?
    Try to fill out this form as best you can. Just copy and paste.
    http://www.3reef.com/forums/asap/asap-please-start-here-54456.html
    Pictures of the tank could also help.
     
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  4. WuWu

    WuWu Feather Star

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    i had somthing happen like that when i first started it turned out to be an o2 issue
     
  5. jesse94954

    jesse94954 Fire Worm

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    The tank cycled for about 3 weeks.

    It is possiable that it may be a bio overlaod but I got the water tested at two differant places the day the fish all died and they said everything was fine in regards to the water and all the levels. They thought it was some kind of possible toxin issue, not a bio issue.
     
    Last edited: Oct 28, 2009
  6. bigdaddyreefer

    bigdaddyreefer Spanish Shawl Nudibranch

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    It does sound like an oxygen problem. Having all of those tangs in there, which I understand to be o2 hogs, probably depleted your oxygen supply. Or, perhaps your ammonia levels spiked after the first fish died. Either way, you should look into getting a protein skimmer on that tank. And as was said above, tangs really need a bigger space than 55 gals.

    As far as that green hair algae goes you need to look into eliminating the source of the algae. A protein skimmer will help get rid of it, but other things may be afoot as well. How much are you feeding (and of what)? How old are the bulbs in your lighting system?
     
  7. jesse94954

    jesse94954 Fire Worm

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    :p
    Yeah that is another possability, but inregards to the sizes the tangs were all very small. THe hippo was a bit bigger then a quarter, the unicorn was a bit bigger then a half dollar as was the yellow tang when I put it in the tank. They were all babies and we were only going to have them in there for a short time until we got our larger 135 gallon tank.

    If it is an O2 problem what is the best way to solve it? I have two power heads circulating the water.....

    THe light is brand new high light..........Metal halogen

    I was feeding them a stirp of sea weed daily and frozen food every other day. When I did feedings I did it with a syringe and made sure ot do my best not to over feed them.
     
    Last edited: Oct 28, 2009
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  9. swagger87

    swagger87 Zoanthid

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    Having that ASAP form filled may help us out.
     
  10. jesse94954

    jesse94954 Fire Worm

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    Location:
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    Sorry i dont have the parameters for water test

    Brief description of the problem. DEAD FISH

    Was told by two stores the water was great no issues sorry don’t have the #

    PARAMETERS (important)
    Temperature:82 to 84
    PH:
    Ammonia:
    Nitrite:
    Nitrate:
    Salinity:
    dKH/KH/Alkalinity:
    Magnesium:
    Calcium:
    Phosphate:
    Test kits you own:
    Liquid or Strips: liquid
    Brand Name:
    Are they Expired?:


    Tank size? 55
    Estimated total system? 2 month

    Reef, fish only or, freshwater? Reef/fish

    Current inhabitants? What and how many?
    Clean up crew? 5 turbo snails two emerald crabs two peppermint shrimps two sexy shrimp all still alive

    How long has your tank been set-up? 2 and ½ month

    Substrate.
    Type?
    Depth?

    Live rock? Yes
    How much? 50/75 lbs
    Did you recently add some? No

    Filtration. Two canister filter one rated for 100 gallong and other one rated for 40 gallon
    Type?
    Protein skimmer?
    Do you wet or dry skim?
    Maintenance schedule for filtration?
    Drilled tank/hang on back overflow?
    Sump/refugium. What's in it and how much? n/a
    Macro? What kind?

    Lighting. 442 watt metal high
    Lighting type? Odyssey
    Age of bulbs? Month old

    Feeding every other day
    What? Formula one/2 brine shrimps
    How much? Feed em with a syringe only what they can eat never left any extra food in the tank
    How often?

    Water change schedule. Was planning to do a water change before everything died
    How much?
    How often?
    What salt brand?
    Water source?

    Additives/supplements used? Marine ph buffer and marine calcium

    Do you have a ground probe? no
    What kind of flow does your tank have? Two power heads on each side of the tank canister filter out lit also work a power head so total of 4
    Any additional info you would like to share.... Including anything different that you have done/not done.

    Let's get to the bottom of this. Any of the above info that is questionable to you is pertinent to keeping a happy/healthy tank/wall
     
  11. iLLwiLL

    iLLwiLL Sailfin Tang

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    WOW, where to start, what went wrong in my eyes is . . .

    Your tank was stocked WAY too fast

    Your tank was grosely overstocked for such a young tank with fish that would have outgrown your next planned upgrade of a 135 (like the the naso)

    no skimmer?

    no sump?

    Canister filters and crushed coral can cause a lot of problems in a saltwater tank, how often are you cleaning the canisters?

    Anemones shouldn't be anywhere near a tank under a year old unless in the hands of an expert

    Tank is too young to ever hope to self-sustain a mandarin with enough pods without adding more in every couple weeks

    Buying a yellow tang for an already WAY overstocked 55 gallon is only going to make things worse with the added bio-load and O2 consumption. should have went with an algae blenny or something else more suited to your tank size

    You diddnt have your own test kits (if i'm reading your post right), get some quality test kits (not strips)

    Nothing was quarantined before it went into your main display so who knows what could have hitch hiked in there.

    What are the tank temps, what do you have for lighting? Whats the SG? get some carbon running in there if you dont already asap if you think the sea hares toxins are present. I would let that tank sit fishless for at least a month only feeding the corals every so often to let it balance out a little. then start adding 1 fish at a time per week.

    ~Will.
     
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  12. mocarski

    mocarski Bristle Worm

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    Location:
    Pennsylvania
    Took my tank longer to finish it's cycle than yours has been set up.

    Please listen to all of the good advice already posted. If you don't slow down you will spend a fortune and probably leave the hobby in frustration

    What you can't test about your water that could cause problems is far more than you can test so regardless of how perfect you think your water is it isn't.

    I wouldn't add another thing to your tank for at least anothe month to let everything stabilize and then start with something small and then wait a while like two months to make sure everything is okay before adding anything else
     
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