Random fish deaths

[JPR1212]

Hey everyone

I just wanted to see if anyone has any idea of what is going on with my tank. I tested parameters today with nitrate 25ppm nitrite zero ammonia zero and phosphates .04 ppm. All my parameters look good. I even checked copper to make sure there’s nothing in the tank and that read out as zero across the board. The reason I checked copper is because I have had issues in one of my tanks with copper and just wanted to double check that there was no copper in this tank as well. All these tests have been with Hanna checkers. But randomly I saw my powder blue darting around two nights ago then I woke up yesterday morning and saw it dead. Then my one Spot Fox face did the same thing and died overnight last night, and I saw it this morning. All live stock in this tank now are wrasses and chromis. There was no form of bullying to ever in this tank. There are no diseases, such as ich or anything in this tank. So I’m so lost as to what is going on. Especially with the weird behavior. So any ideas would be greatly appreciated.

 

[strich]

> Then my one Spot Fox face did the same thing
Do you mean doing random darting around? IE some out of place behavior?

If you see this again, try to take video of it and upload it to YouTube to post on this forum - There are people here who can help diagnose potential issues.

 

[Mr. Mojo Rising]

Do you mix your own water?

 

[JPR1212]

Do you mix your own water?

Yes I do. I use Red Sea coral pro salt and have a 4 stage rodi unit

 

[Mark Goode]

Night time deaths suggest possible lack of oxygen to me.

 

[JPR1212]

> Then my one Spot Fox face did the same thing
Do you mean doing random darting around? IE some out of place behavior?

If you see this again, try to take video of it and upload it to YouTube to post on this forum - There are people here who can help diagnose potential issues.

Hey yes he just randomly one night started darting around for no reason. Some weird behavior I never saw them do before. If it happens again I will take a video. It’s just so random and I have no idea what’s going on. All other fish are breathing normal and acting normal

 

[JPR1212]

Night time deaths suggest possible lack of oxygen to me.

I have pretty good water agitation and I have a skimmer that runs 24/7 and a refuge light that runs on opposite times of display lights. Is that still a possibility?

 

[Lavey29]

I have pretty good water agitation and I have a skimmer that runs 24/7 and a refuge light that runs on opposite times of display lights. Is that still a possibility?

What size is the tank? How long has it been running? How long have the fish been in?

 

[JPR1212]

100 gal been running a little over a year. I have 5 chromis 3 wrasses and 2 gobies. They’ve all been in the tank for probably around 10 months including the powder blue and foxface

 

[Lavey29]

100 gal been running a little over a year. I have 5 chromis 3 wrasses and 2 gobies. They’ve all been in the tank for probably around 10 months including the powder blue and foxface

So 100g is like 75g with rocks. Tank is to small for some of those fish and now after 10 months they have grown and have limited swim space so they go into major stress mode which compromises their immune systems and they end up dying .

 

[JPR1212]

So 100g is like 75g with rocks. Tank is to small for some of those fish and now after 10 months they have grown and have limited swim space so they go into major stress mode which compromises their immune systems and they end up dying .

The powder blue and foxface were 3 inches

 

[JPR1212]

The chromis are all 2” and gobies don’t leave the sand bed. Also very limited rock in there as to provide ample swimming room as I planned to get a bigger tank as all the inhabitants got bigger

 

[Lavey29]

The powder blue and foxface were 3 inches

The darting around erratically sure sounds like fish stress if you are confident no disease entered the tank.

 

[Lavey29]

The chromis are all 2” and gobies don’t leave the sand bed. Also very limited rock in there as to provide ample swimming room as I planned to get a bigger tank as all the inhabitants got bigger

Is it a 6 ft tank?

 

[JPR1212]

Understood I just don’t see how they could’ve been stressed. I don’t know maybe I’m wrong but they just had so much room in the tank it almost made them look like the chromis

 

[vetteguy53081]

Hey everyone

I just wanted to see if anyone has any idea of what is going on with my tank. I tested parameters today with nitrate 25ppm nitrite zero ammonia zero and phosphates .04 ppm. All my parameters look good. I even checked copper to make sure there’s nothing in the tank and that read out as zero across the board. The reason I checked copper is because I have had issues in one of my tanks with copper and just wanted to double check that there was no copper in this tank as well. All these tests have been with Hanna checkers. But randomly I saw my powder blue darting around two nights ago then I woke up yesterday morning and saw it dead. Then my one Spot Fox face did the same thing and died overnight last night, and I saw it this morning. All live stock in this tank now are wrasses and chromis. There was no form of bullying to ever in this tank. There are no diseases, such as ich or anything in this tank. So I’m so lost as to what is going on. Especially with the weird behavior. So any ideas would be greatly appreciated.

Disregard nitrites which apply to freshwater. I suspect you are using API master kit. I urge you to take a water sample to an LFS that does not use API kits and see what readings they come up with and for comparison.
Darting around suggest flukes. Other signs will be itching, scratching, loss of appetite, elevated breathing as examples.

 

[Lavey29]

Understood I just don’t see how they could’ve been stressed. I don’t know maybe I’m wrong but they just had so much room in the tank it almost made them look like the chromis

I'm just speculating of course but if your filtration and water chemistry is good, no stray voltage or disease then in my opinion it's just the tank environment. I tried a white tail early on in my 65g and over the course of several weeks I could see the tank size was causing major stress to the fish. This just opens them up to problems because their immune systems weaken.

 

[JPR1212]

I'm just speculating of course but if your filtration and water chemistry is good, no stray voltage or disease then in my opinion it's just the tank environment. I tried a white tail early on in my 65g and over the course of several weeks I could see the tank size was causing major stress to the fish. This just opens them up to problems because their immune systems weaken.

Yea maybe you’re right. I have chaeto and a reefmat with carbon and gfo. I’ve successfully grown Acros in this tank. I just imagine that if there was anything wrong I would’ve noticed immediately by how sensitive everything is parameter wise. But yea like I said you may be right and I could just be straight up wrong. I’ve always liked tangs any suggestions for smaller ones that may do better?

 

[Lavey29]

Yea maybe you’re right. I have chaeto and a reefmat with carbon and gfo. I’ve successfully grown Acros in this tank. I just imagine that if there was anything wrong I would’ve noticed immediately by how sensitive everything is parameter wise. But yea like I said you may be right and I could just be straight up wrong. I’ve always liked tangs any suggestions for smaller ones that may do better?

Especially since the other fish are showing no signs of distress. Your tank is big enough for a white tail or tomini. Could probably do a biota yellow there also.

I would keep double checking all potential areas of concern though as mentioned above, flukes, 02 level at night, etc...

 

[JPR1212]

Is there a way to check 02 level?