What is wrong with my fish??? (1 Viewer)

[DonnieKim]

Last night my oriental sweet lips started swimming in place, he did that for awhile then would become vertical then go to the bottom and sit. He died tonight. My flame angel hid all day, now tonight is doing the same thing as the sweet lips. They were both moved to a qt. They both seemed healthy and were eating well until yesterday. The water is good except for the calcium is high. Any ideas on what it could be and how to treat it?

Thanks
Kim

 

[rhane71]

are you using a skimmer on your tank? what kind of equipment are you running? how old is the tank? What temp is the tank? more info please. It has to be something simple. I have seen that happen when the oxygen was being depleted in a tank, like during a power outage. they stop moving and sit there waiting to die. Its really sad...

abran

 

[djreef]

Everything like Abran said - we need more info, and DON'T BUY SWEETLIPS!!!!!! They are a ticking time bomb that should be left in the ocean with Parrotfish, Anampses, and cleaner wrasses.

DJ
= 8-->{I>

 

[DonnieKim]

Running a Seaclone 150 Skimmer, Maxi-jet powerhead, and an external TetraTec PF500 BioFilter on a FOWLR tank. All of my water parameters are as follows:
pH-7.8
Ammonia-0
Nitrites-0
Nitrates-0
Temp 77 - 80
Tank also has 2 airstones for extra aeration

Tank is aproximately 4 months old
No signs of Ich or any external Parasites

Have started garlic treatments and dosed tank with RXP which is supposed to be safe for most inverts

 

[Guest]

What critters do you have in there? How long have they all been in there??

 

[DonnieKim]

2 starfish
2 peppermint shrimp
1 blue leg hermit
2 red leg hermits
2 turbos
2 emeralds
1 niger trigger 3"
1 picasso trigger 1"
1 spotted puffer 1"
1 4 stripe damsel 1"
1 blue devil damsel 1"
1 blue fin damsel 1"
1 domino damsel 1"
2 chromis 1" each
1 snowflake eel 10"

4 assorted anemones
1 purple rod gorgonian

Eel and Niger trigger have been in tank for months, all inverts have been in tank for months.

40 lbs of Fiji, and 10 lbs of Marshal
Crushed coral sub


55 gal tank

Thanks Yall for the help!

 

[Guest]

You have quite a lot of fish, let alone inverts, for such a young tank.

I would bet that you have some over crowding issues.

 

[DonnieKim]

All of the fish are so small, they have plenty of hiding places that I dont think overcrowding is the problem. I know we need to add more LR and will as soon as we can.

 

[DonnieKim]

Sidenote to overcrowding issues:
Livestock Donnie and I have taken back that well meaning family and friends have given us for bday and anniv gifts.LOL
yellow tang
big box puffer
lionfish
big green starfish
long spined urchin
scopas tang
naso tang (huge)
tomato clown
V-tail grouper
LOL

 

[Guest]

But your tank is still too young for so many fish. You are almost at your max amount of fish considering that two of those fish are going to get huge (at least 6 inches in length).

How long did it take to cycle and when did you add these fish. Under normal conditions a tank that size would take at least a month, maybe two, to cycle completely. IMO

I am surprise that 10 lbs of crushed coral completely covers the bottom of your tank, but I suppose that in your case a bare bottim would be okay considering the triggers, eel and puffer are all messy eaters. I am not familiar with TetraTex, but I would be surprised if will be able to handle a tank that size. You will definitely need more live rock for added biological filtration, which ideally you are looking to need to add between 40 and 50 more pounds.

I am not sure on the lighting you have, but it is possible that your tank isn't ready for an anemone. From the sounds of it, your tank doesn't have enough current to support a gorgonian with just a HOB filter and a powerhead. Gorgonians need a good water flow to filter the water.

Also, you need to be careful with the fish you are mixing. Huma (Picasso) are aggressive and will likely pick on smaller fish as they grow, if not careful. Your Niger is more docile, and reef safe. If you are going to go with a FOWLR, you might want to reconsider adding any more inverts like cnidarians or crustaceans, for the trigger, puffer and eel will eventually make a meal of them all, especially as they age.

At this point you might not be able to add any more fish since blue devils are NOTORIOUS for killing it tank mates, large or small.

 

[DonnieKim]

How long did it take to cycle and when did you add these fish. Under normal conditions a tank that size would take at least a month, maybe two, to cycle completely. IMO

The tank cycled for 4 weeks



I am surprise that 10 lbs of crushed coral completely covers the bottom of your tank, but I suppose that in your case a bare bottim would be okay considering the triggers, eel and puffer are all messy eaters. I am not familiar with TetraTex, but I would be surprised if will be able to handle a tank that size. You will definitely need more live rock for added biological filtration, which ideally you are looking to need to add between 40 and 50 more pounds.

40lbs figi lr
10lbs marshall island lr
3" cc sub

I am not sure on the lighting you have, but it is possible that your tank isn't ready for an anemone. From the sounds of it, your tank doesn't have enough current to support a gorgonian with just a HOB filter and a powerhead. Gorgonians need a good water flow to filter the water.

24" of NO 50/50 & 48" flourscents

Also, you need to be careful with the fish you are mixing. Huma (Picasso) are aggressive and will likely pick on smaller fish as they grow, if not careful. Your Niger is more docile, and reef safe. If you are going to go with a FOWLR, you might want to reconsider adding any more inverts like cnidarians or crustaceans, for the trigger, puffer and eel will eventually make a meal of them all, especially as they age.

Donnie is in the process of setting up a Reef tank so some of these will be moved.


At this point you might not be able to add any more fish since blue devils are NOTORIOUS for killing it tank mates, large or small.

We will not be adding ANYTHING to this tank. We want to keep everything healthy and happy until the other tank is ready.

[shadow=olive:860dcdd062][/shadow:860dcdd062][shadow=olive:860dcdd062][/shadow:860dcdd062][glow=olive:860dcdd062][/glow:860dcdd062][glow=#444444:860dcdd062][/glow:860dcdd062]

 

[incysor]

Perhaps a bacterial infection involving the swim bladder? Honestly it would just be a wild guess. I haven't kept either of these fish. Although I've had other pygmy angels and I've never seen one sit still for very long, much less float and sink.

What kind of anemones do you have? The only ones that I know of that will do ok under NO lights are the galveston jetty anemones, and MABYE corkscrew anemones. Pretty much all the others require quite a bit more light than what's over your tank.

Good luck man.

 

[DonnieKim]

they are mostly corkscrew anemones and a rock flower anemone that I bought before I was aware that more intense lighting was required for these, yet it has done well so far. I am in the market for some more adequate lighting, just waiting on funds.

Thanks Incysor for your constructive observation. It does'nt look good now my smal picasso trigger is showing signs of listlessness and is lodged in some rock and breathing kinda hard. Appears to be going the route of the others.

I am thinking about getting some Kick Ich even though it doesnt appear to be ich.

 

[cparka23]

first, (in my opinion) you are very overcrowded regardless of fish sizes, and mixing damsels isn't going to be nice for long (mainly that devil damsel). i know they're all small (save for the eel), but that is a ton of fish. you should consider the needs of the more territorial fishes before purchasing. It is not only about hiding places. Triggers and most angelfish need room. Simply offering hiding places in rockwork and asking them to live an unnatural lifestyle will make them more susceptible to an infection or whatever malady.

also, i wouldn't put anything in the tank that isn't meant to treat the specific symptoms. it can affect your tank in ways that might not be immediately obvious. if you can quarantine, then i'd add a small dosage of a more general antibiotic.

 

[djreef]

If everything is in line chemically - you have a pathogenic problem. One of the newer fish has brought something in that now infects the others. I would suspect the sweetlips, since these guys don't do worth a crap in captivity. My best guess would be to agree with incysor and say that it's some sort of bacterial disorder. Your big problem now is that you can't medicate the system - this will create even more chaos than there is already. If you're going to be adding fish, as you would with a new system, you need a quarantine tank. For two reasons, firstly to remove sick fish from the system, for hospitalizing (is that even a word?), second to quarantine & assess new fish coming in. Also I'd invest in a couple of cheap powerheads and get that water moving. Circulation is so vitally important to systemic health. You may be in the process of learning a valuable lesson here, concerning stocking a new system. Most folks go into this thinking like they do when they stock freshwater. Unfortunately, that's what drives most out of this hobby. Ours is a culture of patience. I think Mike Paletta summed it up perfectly, when he said that "only bad things happen fast in a reef setup". You may have to step back from this and do a little reassessment when this eventually breaks. We'll be here to help you pick up after. Peace.

DJ
= 8-->{I>

 

[DonnieKim]

Well thanks again, and you're partially right I do have a freshwater mentality, which I'm in the process of changing, and I have recently gotten a quarantine tank, and no I'm not going to dose the system!
And I have reassessed the situation and I'm going to proceed more slowly in the acquistion of new additions, and in the future ALL will be quarantined.


cparka23 or whoever ,,,,,,,,,What would you recommend as a general antibiotic?

Thanks
Donnie

 

[djreef]

I've had pretty good luck with nitrofurazone. Maracyn, Maracyn II & Triple Sulfa are pretty good all around antibiotics, as well. Be sure you do not run carbon, or polypad during the med phase (no chemical filtration). Keep the flow high, rum a back filter + powerheads. And, definitely watch the water quality while you're medicating. You may need to do several large water changes a week to keep the water in line. Good luck.

DJ
= 8-->{I>

 

[DonnieKim]

Everything like Abran said - we need more info, and DON'T BUY SWEETLIPS!!!!!! They are a ticking time bomb that should be left in the ocean with Parrotfish, Anampses, and cleaner wrasses.

DJ
= 8-->{I>

DJ,

I was wondering if you could give me more info about sweetlips. Does this apply to all types of sweetlips or just the oriental? I recently saw a beautiful harlequin sweetlips at the lfs that I would love to have, but I remembered what you said about them. I looked them up on several sites that said they were great for beginners and easy to keep (I learned the hard way not to trust most of that info LOL). If you have time I would love to know more about that type of fish.

Thanks
Kim

 

[DonnieKim]

I was PMing DJ, wonder why it posted. Jeez, I think I have finally lost it.


Kim

 

[cparka23]

just curious, did you manage things alright with your sick fish? hope everything else is doing ok.