acute genocide

exnisstech

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im starting to come to the conclusion it might be velvet. i just didnt think it would happen that fast though.
This is exactly why I refuse to buy fish kept in low salinity. Store owners say it prevents disease. IME it suppresses disease then when you get the fish into normal salinity the disease rears its ugly head. I had the exact same thing happen a few years ago. Bought a fish in low salinity and after a few days velvet started killing fish in my tank. I managed to save a few but lost many. I no longer purchase fish unless they are in a tank with coral or inverts or both.
 
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amyxagl

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A couple things I thought of.

1. It seems unclear whether whatever killed the Chromis also killed the original fish - since the history is completely different - as I (and others) have said - the death of the most recent fish does not match the pattern of the other fish deaths (at least to my understanding of your post). The new Chromis died practically immediately, whereas the other fish died after days (or longer) - correct me if I'm wrong. This is more consistent with a disease brought in by the tang which spread to the others (again if I'm reading it correctly?)
2. The most recent death really does not make sense to be a disease - and I agree with @Jay Hemdal that the most likely thing is the rapid salinity change (or something else that was markedly different between the 2 tanks). I'm curious if you had checked your other parameters besides salinity before adding the chromis. Are you absolutely sure that the tests you're using to measure salinity, etc. are accurate (i.e. could your salinity be higher?). As already answered - since the running assumption is that the first fish died from a disease - you should not add more fish until at least a 6 week fallow period
3. As far as toxins, I don't know what exactly about your plastic could have caused the problem, it would surprise me if this is the problem. But - since this is at least a slight concern - have you considered running a good quality activated carbon?

One last comment - and I'm not trying to be critical - some of the issues here are very hard to 'tease out' - in part because you didn't follow a set quarantine protocol - which I would recommend for the future.
In the original post, the deaths of the original fish happened within 12 hours (with the exception of the tomini which was 36 hours. so its still super rapid which is why I was at a loss. it WAS pointing to velvet being that one of the fastest disease but although I didn't have pics, I did look at the fish and didn't see any spots. i know now velvet can occur without certain symptoms i.e. sugar spots.

I agree the recent chromis seemed to die way too fast. less than 6 hours would point to a toxin but wasn't sure about that with the inverts and coral. I also wasn't sure if an ICP test would catch a toxin other than like heavy metals. I assumed the heavy metals or the 3d printed parts wouldn't leach that much in such a short time span to kill the fish.

I went back today to the store (i was retuning a par meter i rented) and gave them an update on the chromis, a few of the experienced employees were starting to doubt velvet based on pics and speed. One of them thought outside the box a little more and suggested a voltage leak into the water. this was based on the fact i have a power outage and the way it killed everyone so fast but inverts not having issues. he was saying it might have been enough to shut down the fishes immune system but not high enough to shock the inverts.

I have a voltage reader at work I will bring back tomorrow to test. I haven't felt being shocked or tingling when i put my hand in the tank but then again I don't know how grounded I am with the floor being wood. not sure if i want to hold a grounded wire in the outlet and stick my hand in the tank.

As far as params they measure as of yesterday before chromis:
temp 77-78
sg 1.025
ph 7.9-8.1
alk 9.4
cal 437
mg 1296
nitrate 11.4
nitrite 0
ammonia 0
phos .02
orp 250-310

flow rate 400 gph
200 is a passthru and the other 200 goes to a 36w UV.
i run ozone at night for an hour
no carbon
 
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amyxagl

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That's great, sending some poor little fish on a suicide mission when you have already determined something significant is wrong with your tank and have barely done anything to correct it back to a suitable environment yet. The title of your thread fits perfect with the theme here.

Perhaps you should research fallow period again when tanks get hit with disease. During this period you can also verify water chemistry, confirm filtration is adequate, check other equipment for stray voltage, confirm 0 TDS in RODI, send sample out for lab analysis, QT any surviving fish, etc...etc...etc... and don't ask for any more volunteers for a suicide mission until you have done your part.
Thanks for your contribution to finding the issue. your comments are noted.

but seriously did you read every post in this thread?
Confused Thinking GIF

been keeping fish coral and inverts in this tank for 6 months so half of your rant was just ruled out already. I had talked about icp test but wasn't sure if a toxin was the issue. 50$ is more than some free chromis.

The only thing I didn't think of (or anyone on here talked about) was the voltage which is what someone mentioned today at the LFS after the chromis went within 6 hours. I will be testing this theory when I have my voltage meter from work tomorrow.

To be fair, I came on here to find out and am well prepared to do a fallow period. I typically do formalin dips with my fish but ran out and didn't realize it at the time. Voltage stray wasn't a thought considering all equipment is new and was going through process of elimination. most likely to least likely

If it is voltage stray then I would've waited 2 months for nothing and solved nothing. Someone had to help clean up Chernobyl.
 
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amyxagl

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This is exactly why I refuse to buy fish kept in low salinity. Store owners say it prevents disease. IME it suppresses disease then when you get the fish into normal salinity the disease rears its ugly head. I had the exact same thing happen a few years ago. Bought a fish in low salinity and after a few days velvet started killing fish in my tank. I managed to save a few but lost many. I no longer purchase fish unless they are in a tank with coral or inverts or both.
all the LFS keep their fish separate from the coral with exceptions of maybe wrasses, inverts, dragonettes. theres one store that has fish with their coral as well as separate but they charge extra to get them b.c the time it takes to get them from their display tanks and hitting the coral.
 

exnisstech

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all the LFS keep their fish separate from the coral with exceptions of maybe wrasses, inverts, dragonettes. theres one store that has fish with their coral as well as separate but they charge extra to get them b.c the time it takes to get them from their display tanks and hitting the coral.
That's too bad. I have 4 lfs and one has seperate tanks with fish only and they do run copper but I have not confirmed at therapeutic levels but the salinity is 1.025 so I will by from them. One other all tanks have fish and coral with inverts so I buy there.
Maybe ask your lfs owner why they keep low salinity in the fish only tanks. If they say it is to prevent disease then they are misinformed or lying IMO

This is a quote from @Jay Hemdal on the subject whom I trust more than lfs owner.

So many stores use this "pseudo-hyposalinity". It does NOT cure ich or Brooklynella, just suppresses it. It actually makes Amyloodinium/velvet and Uronema risks higher. It does eliminate Neobenedenia flukes if the fish are held in it long enough.

Why is it done? It saves on salt costs and keeps some diseases at bay until the fish can be sold. It also reduces osmotic stress in the fish. Trouble is, if the customers don't handle these fish properly through acclimation, lots of fish die.

There is another type of store that maintains sub-treatment levels of copper. That is also an issue.

I've seen stores do both - ugh..

Post #91 in the thread below

 

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Thanks for your contribution to finding the issue. your comments are noted.

but seriously did you read every post in this thread?
Confused Thinking GIF

been keeping fish coral and inverts in this tank for 6 months so half of your rant was just ruled out already. I had talked about icp test but wasn't sure if a toxin was the issue. 50$ is more than some free chromis.

The only thing I didn't think of (or anyone on here talked about) was the voltage which is what someone mentioned today at the LFS after the chromis went within 6 hours. I will be testing this theory when I have my voltage meter from work tomorrow.

To be fair, I came on here to find out and am well prepared to do a fallow period. I typically do formalin dips with my fish but ran out and didn't realize it at the time. Voltage stray wasn't a thought considering all equipment is new and was going through process of elimination. most likely to least likely

If it is voltage stray then I would've waited 2 months for nothing and solved nothing. Someone had to help clean up Chernobyl.
Well geez, everything in my tank is dying really fast let's wait a few days and throw 3 fish in there and see what happens....really considerate hobbyist with a high moral standards for the well being of his animals.

Did you even notice I mentioned voltage before you even thought about that from your LFS.

Stick your hand in the water. If it tingles it's voltage. It's not going to light you up.
 
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amyxagl

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That's too bad. I have 4 lfs and one has seperate tanks with fish only and they do run copper but I have not confirmed at therapeutic levels but the salinity is 1.025 so I will by from them. One other all tanks have fish and coral with inverts so I buy there.
Maybe ask your lfs owner why they keep low salinity in the fish only tanks. If they say it is to prevent disease then they are misinformed or lying IMO

This is a quote from @Jay Hemdal on the subject whom I trust more than lfs owner.



Post #91 in the thread below

this is all good info. i will be cautious in the future with this info. probably setup a qt. being relatively new with marine fish outside the nano world of clowns and gobies, ive been going for the cheaper and hardy fish. anything over $100 is a no go right now. if i did venture to the $300 fish, for sure i would be doing the qt route.

i tend to stick with them only because the other 3 that i tend to drive to have dirty tanks, ich, dead fish floating around or havent had great success with their fish. could be that they were wild caught rather than aquacultured. these other places are a little cheaper with their prices.

there is a couple other stores but its about an hour to hour and half drive one way. most the time im dealing with someone who doesnt know their systems numbers or has little experience in the hobby at all these other places.
 
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amyxagl

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Well geez, everything in my tank is dying really fast let's wait a few days and throw 3 fish in there and see what happens....really considerate hobbyist with a high moral standards for the well being of his animals.

Did you even notice I mentioned voltage before you even thought about that from your LFS.

Stick your hand in the water. If it tingles it's voltage. It's not going to light you up.
did you mention the voltage today or before?

edit: in another post today i said i havent felt any tingle/vibration from voltage which is why i didnt think it was that initially. but again wasnt sure if im grounded with wooden floors
 

exnisstech

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did you mention the voltage today or before?

edit: in another post today i said i havent felt any tingle/vibration from voltage which is why i didnt think it was that initially. but again wasnt sure if im grounded with wooden floors
Stray voltage is a red herring and doesn't harm fish anyway. Also confirmed by Jay H (love having him on staff here) and myself. I had 50 volts in a tank and didn't know it untill I stuck my hand in the tank while standing on a chair. Yep I jerked and fell off lol. Fish and coral were all perfectly fine becuase they aren't grounded.
 

exnisstech

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they why did you mention stray voltage if it doesnt harm the fish?
edit: sorry thought you were lavey29
Many people believe it does. It's one of those things that's been repeated so many times it becomes internet fact. It also helps people to explain unexplained deaths.
 

Jay Hemdal

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i was considering an icp test because of that. not sure if icp would catch a toxin. never done one before.
ICP will only catch elements that are out of balance (like heavy metals or salts). It won’t give any information on organic toxins.
 

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so your vote is fish death by velvet in 5 hours? just curious. ill still check voltage/amps in the tank tomorrow
Did I miss it - what was the salinity of the store’s tank that had the green chromis on it compared to yours? Death in hours is either the fish were already sick when you got them, or it was an acclimation /stress issue.

Velvet kills fast, but not that fast.
 
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amyxagl

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Many people believe it does. It's one of those things that's been repeated so many times it becomes internet fact. It also helps people to explain unexplained deaths.
gotcha. yeah ive read it and symptoms seemed to match.
ICP will only catch elements that are out of balance (like heavy metals or salts). It won’t give any information on organic toxins.
this is why i didnt jump straight to getting icp test when disease is still an option.
is there a way to test for organic toxins? or remove them other than massive water changes? i figured carbon/ozone would take care of that
also would there be an organic toxin that only affects fish?
 
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Did I miss it - what was the salinity of the store’s tank that had the green chromis on it compared to yours? Death in hours is either the fish were already sick when you got them, or it was an acclimation /stress issue.

Velvet kills fast, but not that fast.
yeah i mentioned it on previous page. no worries.
store 1.021
mine 1.025

drip acclimate for an hour. they seemed fine for the first 3 or 4 hours. then one started acting up then died around 4.5 hours in. The others started acting up around 4-5 hour mark before death in 30 mins of that.
 

Jay Hemdal

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gotcha. yeah ive read it and symptoms seemed to match.

this is why i didnt jump straight to getting icp test when disease is still an option.
is there a way to test for organic toxins? or remove them other than massive water changes? i figured carbon/ozone would take care of that
also would there be an organic toxin that only affects fish?
Most toxins affect invertebrates, especially corals, before fish. These are best removed by first identifying and eliminating the source, and then big water changes (both carbon and ozone are limited in what they neutralize, but water changes work for all toxins.
 

ISpeakForTheSeas

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would there be an organic toxin that only affects fish?
I'm not super knowledgeable on the chemistry side of things yet, but carbon does help with some toxins, IIRC ozone does as well, but - to answer this part - there are definitely toxins that impact fish more than inverts; they're called ichthyotoxins.

Holothurin (the toxin from sea cucumbers) is one example and Ostracitoxin/Pahutoxin (the toxin from boxfish and cowfish) is another.
 

HAVE YOU EVER KEPT A RARE/UNCOMMON FISH, CORAL, OR INVERT? SHOW IT OFF IN THE THREAD!

  • Yes!

    Votes: 32 45.7%
  • Not yet, but I have one that I want to buy in mind!

    Votes: 9 12.9%
  • No.

    Votes: 26 37.1%
  • Other (please explain).

    Votes: 3 4.3%
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