Coral Beauty suddely Died overnight after 6 days in QT

[JD117]

Hi all, I'm new to the forum but have a question!

As the title suggests, my coral beauty suddenly died whilst in QT.

It has been eating very well for 6 days and swimming around comfortably. It's also with a dartfish and black spot foxface as I'm treating them all together.

The QT tank is 120 litres and I have two water pumps to keep the water moving with some micro bubbles.

I tested two days ago and the parameters are:

Salinity 35ppt
Temperature 25 C
Nitrate <4
Ammonia 0
Phosphate 0

The only thing I haven't tested for is copper as I've been following the NT intrsutctions on this. As its untested I have thought this could be the cause, however, I've been slightly under dosing and I didn't think the copper would turn what seems to be a well eating fish into death overnight. Additionally, the foxface and dartfish are both still merry and eating.

The only major change i can think is that I did a water change just before I last tested and maybe that stressed the fish out, but the parameters were identical to the tank.

I've uploaded some photos (ignore the whitespot on the tail that was a bubble)

The only thing I could see is potentially fluke around the right eye?

Last question - if it is a disease, do I 'restart the QT countdown?

 

[vetteguy53081]

It’s possible that

Hi all, I'm new to the forum but have a question!

As the title suggests, my coral beauty suddenly died whilst in QT.

It has been eating very well for 6 days and swimming around comfortably. It's also with a dartfish and black spot foxface as I'm treating them all together.

The QT tank is 120 litres and I have two water pumps to keep the water moving with some micro bubbles.

I tested two days ago and the parameters are:

Salinity 35ppt
Temperature 25 C
Nitrate <4
Ammonia 0
Phosphate 0

The only thing I haven't tested for is copper as I've been following the NT intrsutctions on this. As its untested I have thought this could be the cause, however, I've been slightly under dosing and I didn't think the copper would turn what seems to be a well eating fish into death overnight. Additionally, the foxface and dartfish are both still merry and eating.

The only major change i can think is that I did a water change just before I last tested and maybe that stressed the fish out, but the parameters were identical to the tank.

I've uploaded some photos (ignore the whitespot on the tail that was a bubble)

The only thing I could see is potentially fluke around the right eye?

Last question - if it is a disease, do I 'restart the QT countdown?

It’s possible that the fish got stung from the rabbit as I also see evidence of fin nipping
Can’t see anything on the eye on my phone but flukes are more than one dot and could be velvet
Often hard to tell with a dead carcass

 

[threebuoys]

Very difficult to diagnose at this point.
Did the fish exhibit any symptoms during the time you had it?
Accurate dosing of copper and other medications is essential. Underdosing and the parasites are not eliminated, overdosing and toxicity can quickly kill.
Do you have any history on the fish? I assume you purchased from a local fish store. Do you know how long they had it in stock? Do you know if they had QT'd or treated the fish?
Was the fish that color the entire time you had it? Although color can vary from fish to fish, most coral beauties I've seen have more blue mixed with orange.

 

[Jay Hemdal]

Hi all, I'm new to the forum but have a question!

As the title suggests, my coral beauty suddenly died whilst in QT.

It has been eating very well for 6 days and swimming around comfortably. It's also with a dartfish and black spot foxface as I'm treating them all together.

The QT tank is 120 litres and I have two water pumps to keep the water moving with some micro bubbles.

I tested two days ago and the parameters are:

Salinity 35ppt
Temperature 25 C
Nitrate <4
Ammonia 0
Phosphate 0

The only thing I haven't tested for is copper as I've been following the NT intrsutctions on this. As its untested I have thought this could be the cause, however, I've been slightly under dosing and I didn't think the copper would turn what seems to be a well eating fish into death overnight. Additionally, the foxface and dartfish are both still merry and eating.

The only major change i can think is that I did a water change just before I last tested and maybe that stressed the fish out, but the parameters were identical to the tank.

I've uploaded some photos (ignore the whitespot on the tail that was a bubble)

The only thing I could see is potentially fluke around the right eye?

Last question - if it is a disease, do I 'restart the QT countdown?

Is the NT copper an ionic type? If so, you cannot dose that without an accurate test kit. Centropyge angels like this are sensitive to ionic copper .

Also, many coral beauties are still collected with cyanide and this causes massive losses, 40% and even higher in the first 40 days.

Jay

 

[JD117]

It’s possible that

It’s possible that the fish got stung from the rabbit as I also see evidence of fin nipping
Can’t see anything on the eye on my phone but flukes are more than one dot and could be velvet
Often hard to tell with a dead carcass

Good spot on the potential fin nipping!

 

[JD117]

Is the NT copper an ionic type? If so, you cannot dose that without an accurate test kit. Centropyge angels like this are sensitive to ionic copper .

Also, many coral beauties are still collected with cyanide and this causes massive losses, 40% and even higher in the first 40 days.

Jay

Thank you for the info Jay! I believe it is ionic so you could be right about testing. My LFS were quite relaxed about QT and didn't say testing was important. Only to follow the instructions, but I think I've learnt my lesson.

Does cyanide leave behind any evidence that I could potentially look for?

 

[JD117]

Very difficult to diagnose at this point.
Did the fish exhibit any symptoms during the time you had it?
Accurate dosing of copper and other medications is essential. Underdosing and the parasites are not eliminated, overdosing and toxicity can quickly kill.
Do you have any history on the fish? I assume you purchased from a local fish store. Do you know how long they had it in stock? Do you know if they had QT'd or treated the fish?
Was the fish that color the entire time you had it? Although color can vary from fish to fish, most coral beauties I've seen have more blue mixed with orange.

The fish was swimming around quite confidently and was eating very well.

I saw (what I think) was that same fish in the lfs around 8-9 days before i purchased and they were fine in there. They don't QT their fish but they do run copper in their system. Problem is I don't know whether its the right level or not.

And the fish was the same colour throughout. Can they change colour if they get ill?

 

[vetteguy53081]

Thank you for the info Jay! I believe it is ionic so you could be right about testing. My LFS were quite relaxed about QT and didn't say testing was important. Only to follow the instructions, but I think I've learnt my lesson.

Does cyanide leave behind any evidence that I could potentially look for?

Cyanide mainly behavioral issues such as lethargic behavior, no appetite, in a daze as examples
NT Labs mainly acriflavine

 

[Jay Hemdal]

Thank you for the info Jay! I believe it is ionic so you could be right about testing. My LFS were quite relaxed about QT and didn't say testing was important. Only to follow the instructions, but I think I've learnt my lesson.

Does cyanide leave behind any evidence that I could potentially look for?

Yes - ionic copper is rough on angels, that’s the main reason I switched back to coppersafe years ago.
Cyanide has variable symptoms, and no way to test for it. There is a risk for blaming all unknown fish deaths on its use, but some fish are more prone to dying from it - like angels. Most tangs on the other hand are caught in nets. It is mainly used in Indonesia and the Philippines.

Jay