Fish dying all of a sudden .. Not sure why..

[kteters]

Hello. I have 2 fish that look like they are about to die any moment now, but I’m looking for input/advice on what might’ve happened/how to prevent it from getting worse.
What I have: 32 gal Fluval. Current parameters: ph 7.4 (I know it’s low, more on that later), ammonia 0, nitrite 0, nitrate 20. I just did a 30% water change and have not retested since. Salinity 1.025. The tank is 7 months old. I’ve had 2 clownfish, one striped blenny, one mandaand one purple fire fish for the whole time. Also, some hermit crabs and snails.
1. 3 weeks ago I noticed the striped blenny rubbing his belly on the rocks near where he sleeps. I had to relocate my work from home setup temporarily which left me right next to this tank, so I was able to watch the tank more often. I figured maybe he always did that and I just never noticed because I’m not constantly watching the tank like I did that week. I checked him for ick and monitored his other behavior and everything else was normal.
2. 1 weeks ago I got a Valentino puffer. He acclimated for 30 mins before going in the tank and did great at first. he started picking at the snails a little but didn’t kill any.
3. Afraid that the puffer would wipe out my snails/clean up crew, this past weekend (2 days ago) I got 2 bumble bee snails and 2 hermit crabs. I acclimated them for 30 minutes.
Yesterday I noticed the puffer was “sleeping” vertical up against the rock. He did this for a little portion of the day and then swam around normally. This morning he was doing the same thing but his face is super dark/brown now. And he hasn’t moved from that spot all day. Breathing heavy and generally just looks awful.
Also today, my purple fire fish started laying on the sand breathing heavy. Now she’s doing a combination of that fast jittery swim thing and then lays on the sand. She looks like she’s going to die any minute now.
Everything else appears to be acting normal. The striped blenny is swimming around normal (still occasionally rubbing his belly on the rock) and the clownfish are acting normal, and the mandarin is normal too.
if you’ve made it this far, what do you think the cause could be?
My first thought was the new snails and crabs brought some nasty disease in. But thinking back to the blenny’s behavior 3 weeks ago I wonder if it’s some type of parasite?

like I said, the fire fish is about to die any moment now, the puffer is kind of still hanging in there.. in an effort to not lose anyone else, does anyone have any suggestions on how to treat this? Even if I’m not even sure what I’m treating?

I did a 30% water change today. Should I keep doing them daily? Any medicine I can put in the tank?
Thanks in advance!

 

[fishski13]

Could be some kind of disease going around the tank but I also noticed your salinity is really high which could cause your fish stress like the heavy breathing you described. 1.035 is quite high as most people run tanks between 1.023-1.026 depending on coral and fish.

 

[kteters]

Could be some kind of disease going around the tank but I also noticed your salinity is really high which could cause your fish stress like the heavy breathing you described. 1.035 is quite high as most people run tanks between 1.023-1.026 depending on coral and fish.

Woops! That was a very unfortunate typo. The salinity is 1.025.

 

[vetteguy53081]

Hello. I have 2 fish that look like they are about to die any moment now, but I’m looking for input/advice on what might’ve happened/how to prevent it from getting worse.
What I have: 32 gal Fluval. Current parameters: ph 7.4 (I know it’s low, more on that later), ammonia 0, nitrite 0, nitrate 20. I just did a 30% water change and have not retested since. Salinity 1.025. The tank is 7 months old. I’ve had 2 clownfish, one striped blenny, one mandaand one purple fire fish for the whole time. Also, some hermit crabs and snails.
1. 3 weeks ago I noticed the striped blenny rubbing his belly on the rocks near where he sleeps. I had to relocate my work from home setup temporarily which left me right next to this tank, so I was able to watch the tank more often. I figured maybe he always did that and I just never noticed because I’m not constantly watching the tank like I did that week. I checked him for ick and monitored his other behavior and everything else was normal.
2. 1 weeks ago I got a Valentino puffer. He acclimated for 30 mins before going in the tank and did great at first. he started picking at the snails a little but didn’t kill any.
3. Afraid that the puffer would wipe out my snails/clean up crew, this past weekend (2 days ago) I got 2 bumble bee snails and 2 hermit crabs. I acclimated them for 30 minutes.
Yesterday I noticed the puffer was “sleeping” vertical up against the rock. He did this for a little portion of the day and then swam around normally. This morning he was doing the same thing but his face is super dark/brown now. And he hasn’t moved from that spot all day. Breathing heavy and generally just looks awful.
Also today, my purple fire fish started laying on the sand breathing heavy. Now she’s doing a combination of that fast jittery swim thing and then lays on the sand. She looks like she’s going to die any minute now.
Everything else appears to be acting normal. The striped blenny is swimming around normal (still occasionally rubbing his belly on the rock) and the clownfish are acting normal, and the mandarin is normal too.
if you’ve made it this far, what do you think the cause could be?
My first thought was the new snails and crabs brought some nasty disease in. But thinking back to the blenny’s behavior 3 weeks ago I wonder if it’s some type of parasite?

like I said, the fire fish is about to die any moment now, the puffer is kind of still hanging in there.. in an effort to not lose anyone else, does anyone have any suggestions on how to treat this? Even if I’m not even sure what I’m treating?

I did a 30% water change today. Should I keep doing them daily? Any medicine I can put in the tank?
Thanks in advance!

Other than proper acclimation needed for valentini puffer, I suspect water quality issue. What test kit(s) are you using ?
I suspect ammonia and even nitrate are higher than shown.
Fish also looks thin- what were you feeding it ?
Does belly look bloated ?
Increase oxygen since youve done water change already using an air stone.

 

[Nemosis]

It's difficult to diagnose fish related issues other than marine ich with a vague description without seeing for myself, but my most educated guess, based on what you mentioned would be velvet. Ich has a life cycle in which it will go through several stages before infecting fish and causing possible death. Velvet however, can infect an entire tank upon introduction. It is in my opinion one of the 3 deadliest diseases to introduce to any tank. It can be treated if caught early but results aren't guaranteed. I would suggest dipping in freshwater for temporary relief then move to a hospital tank for a more aggressive treatment. Sorry you're having to go through this. Best of luck to you and your fish. Again, this is only an educated guess.

 

[vetteguy53081]

It's difficult to diagnose fish related issues other than marine ich with a vague description without seeing for myself, but my most educated guess, based on what you mentioned would be velvet. Ich has a life cycle in which it will go through several stages before infecting fish and causing possible death. Velvet however, can infect an entire tank upon introduction. It is in my opinion one of the 3 deadliest diseases to introduce to any tank. It can be treated if caught early but results aren't guaranteed. I would suggest dipping in freshwater for temporary relief then move to a hospital tank for a more aggressive treatment. Sorry you're having to go through this. Best of luck to you and your fish. Again, this is only an educated guess.

Velvet not likely- fish would be breathing heavy, lethargic behavior, swimming in path of flow rather than just laying there but rather scratching body against objects and fins may even be clamped.
Freshwater dip may further stress this fish although it is adaptable to freshwater

 

[Jay Hemdal]

Hello. I have 2 fish that look like they are about to die any moment now, but I’m looking for input/advice on what might’ve happened/how to prevent it from getting worse.
What I have: 32 gal Fluval. Current parameters: ph 7.4 (I know it’s low, more on that later), ammonia 0, nitrite 0, nitrate 20. I just did a 30% water change and have not retested since. Salinity 1.025. The tank is 7 months old. I’ve had 2 clownfish, one striped blenny, one mandaand one purple fire fish for the whole time. Also, some hermit crabs and snails.
1. 3 weeks ago I noticed the striped blenny rubbing his belly on the rocks near where he sleeps. I had to relocate my work from home setup temporarily which left me right next to this tank, so I was able to watch the tank more often. I figured maybe he always did that and I just never noticed because I’m not constantly watching the tank like I did that week. I checked him for ick and monitored his other behavior and everything else was normal.
2. 1 weeks ago I got a Valentino puffer. He acclimated for 30 mins before going in the tank and did great at first. he started picking at the snails a little but didn’t kill any.
3. Afraid that the puffer would wipe out my snails/clean up crew, this past weekend (2 days ago) I got 2 bumble bee snails and 2 hermit crabs. I acclimated them for 30 minutes.
Yesterday I noticed the puffer was “sleeping” vertical up against the rock. He did this for a little portion of the day and then swam around normally. This morning he was doing the same thing but his face is super dark/brown now. And he hasn’t moved from that spot all day. Breathing heavy and generally just looks awful.
Also today, my purple fire fish started laying on the sand breathing heavy. Now she’s doing a combination of that fast jittery swim thing and then lays on the sand. She looks like she’s going to die any minute now.
Everything else appears to be acting normal. The striped blenny is swimming around normal (still occasionally rubbing his belly on the rock) and the clownfish are acting normal, and the mandarin is normal too.
if you’ve made it this far, what do you think the cause could be?
My first thought was the new snails and crabs brought some nasty disease in. But thinking back to the blenny’s behavior 3 weeks ago I wonder if it’s some type of parasite?

like I said, the fire fish is about to die any moment now, the puffer is kind of still hanging in there.. in an effort to not lose anyone else, does anyone have any suggestions on how to treat this? Even if I’m not even sure what I’m treating?

I did a 30% water change today. Should I keep doing them daily? Any medicine I can put in the tank?
Thanks in advance!

I couldn't see any breathing on the puffer) it was pointed away from the camera) but if you are seeing rapid breathing and listlessness, then it is typically a water quality issue or a gill disease. If you've ruled out water issues, then a gill disease is most likely. The trouble is, that can be from three causes: Velvet, gill flukes or bacterial gill disease (in roughly descending order of probability). I can't tell you which it could be. One thing your could try is to give the puffer a 5 minute freshwater dip. If it improves the next day, then you can rule out bacterial issues. Then, if the other fish aren't breathing fast, I would guess gill flukes. Dosing the tank with Prazipro will help with that. If the other fish are showing symptoms, it gets worse - that could be flukes OR velvet. Velvet kills very quickly. The treatment for that is copper in a treatment tank.

Jay

 

[Nemosis]

Velvet not likely- fish would be breathing heavy, lethargic behavior, swimming in path of flow rather than just laying there but rather scratching body against objects and fins may even be clamped.
Freshwater dip may further stress this fish although it is adaptable to freshwater

Just realized he has a puffer. I have 2 clowns which tolerated a fresh water dip without issue. Thank you for that correction.