fish keep dying

We have had our 125 gallon fish tank for 18 months and lost our first fish (lionfish) 4 months ago. Four weeks later we lost our wrasse; three weeks ago we lost our Foxface then tonight our Picasso Trigger died. All of our other fish seem healthy; none have suspicious markings. We initially thought our Lionfish ate himself to death (died very suddenly) then our wrasse died after 5 days of heavy breathing, decreased movement. Our Foxface behaved erratically for a day and then developed respiratory distress then died. Tonight our Picasso died after one day of difficulty breathing. We change our water every 2 weeks. Admittedly, we have had problems with increased nitrates and performed an extra water change. OUr nitrates after our water change this past weekend were lower (~30ppm). We decreased the amount of food we were feeding our fish since we had lost so many. Any thoughts?

We have a cold water filtration system to make our water for the changes and we warm the water prior to exchange. There is a lot of mildew in the tubing in the filter. Do you think that could have something to do with this?

 

Wow---The gasping seems like an oxygen issue. Do you have plenty of surface agitation?? Are the lids tight?? Have you changed anything lately? What kind of substrate are you using? Sand or Crushed coral?

 

Please fill out the ASAP form. Though it does sound like O2.

 

We really haven't changed anything lately. Our tank seems to be fitted the same (i.e. pumps working, lid fitting well, we have live rock and sand). Occasionally our protein skimmer is clogged and 2-3 weeks ago we had to unclog the air tube but now it is working well with a good amount collected.

If it is O2, how would we know?

 

do your fish come up to the surface a lot?

 

could be O2 problems...maybe add some extra powerheads. What is your pH at? Temp? ammonia etc.....

I would remove the lids...I did a while back and really saw a difference in everything. It brought my pH up. Plus you want to make sure that you have surface ripples on your tank surface. That will increase your oxygen.

There is a meter you can use to test your oxygen level, though I dont know if it is worth it or do I know much about it. However if you dont have surface aggitation then I bet your tank is low.

The other possibility is that your water parems are off. Seems a little cyclical to me...could be having ammonia spikes due to a fish dying causing your tank to cycle. Might want to take a water sample to a LFS and have your readings checked for accuracy. Tests can be off....

Also are you making sure your water is at the right temp, pH, SG when doing waterchanges? How are you mixing the water up? Salt dissolving etc......

Finally what other fish do you have...is there too much livestock?

I hope everything starts to turn around soon!

 

We have 2 powerheads in our tank. Our lids have large finger holes in them to grab them...that is what we should try removing?

We took a water sample in a few weeks ago and our numbers were off so we did 2 large water changes in a row. Now things seem better except for our nitrate.

Our water is pretty cold when it comes from the filtration system but we store the water for a couple of days in a plastic 30-gallon trash can and have a heater that we place in there with the lid on so temp is ~75 degress when we do the water exchange (although that has only been for the last 3 water changes b/c before I think the water was too cold. Our specific gravity in the tank is 1.023 and our water changes are right at that SG. We mix the water with one of our scrapers and make sure it is all dissolved.

We currently have a Niger Trigger, a Dog-faced Puffer, a Hawkfish and an angel.

 

Gasping is usually due to gill irritation. Ammonia or Nitrite Levels could be causing this. What are those levels at?
Could you please fill out this form:

Brief description of the problem.
A picture(s) will also help.
PARAMETERS (important)
Temperature:
PH:
Ammonia:
Nitrite:
Nitrate:
Salinity:
dKH/KH/Alkalinity:
Magnesium:
Calcium:
Phosphate:
Test kits you own:
Liquid or Strips:
Brand Name:
Are they Expired?:


Tank size?
Estimated total system?

Reef, fish only or, freshwater?

Current inhabitants? What and how many?
Clean up crew?

How long has your tank been set-up?

Substrate.
Type?
Depth?

Live rock?
How much?
Did you recently add some?

Filtration.
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?
Macro? What kind?

Lighting.
Lighting type?
Age of bulbs?

Feeding
What?
How much?
How often?

Water change schedule.
How much?
How often?
What salt brand?
Water source?

Additives/supplements used?

Do you have a ground probe?
What kind of flow does your tank have?

 

1+ o2 if u have a sump add a air stone if not add a sump but if u dont wanna do that u can add a air stone to the main dt ...wait i just read sumthing else ...how long do u let the water mix and are u mixing it in the tank or buckets