Urgent help needed suffering great losses

amalick said:
This is a form of poisoning or chemical imbalance, that doesnt affect fish already in the tank because there are fish in there for months that are doing fine, but only new entrants die within hours. Tangs die within 24 hours and other species either survive or die over a very long period of time.

At first I thought it was my introduction regime, but it cant be that because I drip new fish for hours before they are introduction. Its not a sudden swing in parameters between QT and DT because I checked that as well.

After 17 years in this hobby I am stumped and about to throw in the towel which is very sad.
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Firstly, very sorry to hear about your losses, I can only imagine what you are going through. :(

Secondly, how are you feeding your foods? Are you defrosting frozens directly in your tank or throwing in live food liquid and sundry into the tank?
Reason why I ask this is because I have read stories about frozen foods containing harmful bacteria. When you initially add the foods without defrosting you add these bacteria to the tank. Fish that are already in the tank build up a resistance to them over time whereas any new additions cannot handle them and end up dying.
How old are your uv lamps? (On phone so can't check thread properly).

Speculation but Could be a possibility?
I hope you get to the bottom of this issue soon!
 
Dude, firstly, really sorry about your situation, that sucks big time! A lot of the guys here, no offense to anyone, seem to be missing your statement that whatever it is that's causing the fish to die, is only affecting newly introduced fish and the fox which was has been in there for four months is not affected. I started reading your thread a while back and just had a thought now, may be a stupid one and a shot in the dark but could the fox not be attacking new inmates with its poisonous spines? I'm not a fundi here and I'm learning everyday, but maybe try move the fox out and see what happens? What do you have to loose? Hope I'm making sense, just my thoughts...
 
tekkengal said:
Firstly, very sorry to hear about your losses, I can only imagine what you are going through. :(

Secondly, how are you feeding your foods? Are you defrosting frozens directly in your tank or throwing in live food liquid and sundry into the tank?
Reason why I ask this is because I have read stories about frozen foods containing harmful bacteria. When you initially add the foods without defrosting you add these bacteria to the tank. Fish that are already in the tank build up a resistance to them over time whereas any new additions cannot handle them and end up dying.
How old are your uv lamps? (On phone so can't check thread properly).

Speculation but Could be a possibility?
I hope you get to the bottom of this issue soon!
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Don't feed frozen foods.

You might be onto something with the UV lamp. It is very old probably 2 years. Its the one thing I did not switch off. Only strange thing is that its doesnt only run at night. But then again, maybe it just compounds at night. I will put it off right now. The affluent flowing out through the UV lamp goes through carbon, and that has not been replaced in a while either.
 
gMAN said:
Dude, firstly, really sorry about your situation, that sucks big time! A lot of the guys here, no offense to anyone, seem to be missing your statement that whatever it is that's causing the fish to die, is only affecting newly introduced fish and the fox which was has been in there for four months is not affected. I started reading your thread a while back and just had a thought now, may be a stupid one and a shot in the dark but could the fox not be attacking new inmates with its poisonous spines? I'm not a fundi here and I'm learning everyday, but maybe try move the fox out and see what happens? What do you have to loose? Hope I'm making sense, just my thoughts...
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Doubt its the fox face. Its an unusually shy fish and there are no visble wounds on any of the fish that died. Trust me, I examined them like I was doing an autopsy


Going to be a real bitch to catch it. I will keep trying other remedies and as a last resort remove him.
 
Hey man, Really sorry about your losses. Do you not think it would be a better option to get one of the sponsors out to your place to test everything? It seems you've lost a lot of $ in live stock and I'm sure they would be able to test all your equipment to see what the problem is? Just an option....
 
@amalick
Really sorry to hear about your position
I had the same problem a while back and experienced die off on 2 occasions , tried everything and nothing seemed to work , eventually put it down to a skimmer that was under performing and eventually replaced it , this I am sure is not your problem

1 idea I do have , would it not be an idea to introduce ozone to your system .

I know from past discussions a lot of people don't like it , but it may assist in killing off anything that you may have in your water, be it a bad bacteria or anything that may have gotten Ito the tank.
It will assist in oxidizing your water and disinfecting it

I see you mentioned that you had removed it once apon a time, maybe it will assist in killing off anything that may be causing the issue

No fundi here - just an idea
 
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DeanT said:
@amalick
Really sorry to hear about your position
I had the same problem a while back and experienced die off on 2 occasions , tried everything and nothing seemed to work , eventually put it down to a skimmer that was under performing and eventually replaced it , this I am sure is not your problem

1 idea I do have , would it not be an idea to introduce ozone to your system .

I know from past discussions a lot of people don't like it , but it may assist in killing off anything that you may have in your water, be it a bad bacteria or anything that may have gotten Ito the tank.
It will assist in oxidizing your water and disinfecting it

I see you mentioned that you had removed it once apon a time, maybe it will assist in killing off anything that may be causing the issue

No fundi here - just an idea
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Truth be told, im not that happy with my skimmer, I don't see much skimate and its a bitch to set.

I have removed ozone because Im scared I may be overdosing
 
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I think try and get ozone in there ASAP
As a guideline, the ozone production should be between 5 and 15 mg/hr per 100 liter of aquarium water.
 
Sorry for your losses bud and chin up .... It will come right .... Just a quick question now that you mentioned autopsy .... Is there no vet that you can visit and do a proper cause of death ... Seems like if you can determine that it will be better than process of elimination .... If you know for sure on the reason of them dying it will be easier to solve your dilema .... What about where the extractor fan and skimmer are drawing their air from at night ... Are there no plants in that vicinity ... Remember old school .... About plants and their exchange of the gasses .... Still think an autopsy will bring us to a solution quickly ....
 
amalick said:
Don't feed frozen foods.

You might be onto something with the UV lamp. It is very old probably 2 years. Its the one thing I did not switch off. Only strange thing is that its doesnt only run at night. But then again, maybe it just compounds at night. I will put it off right now. The affluent flowing out through the UV lamp goes through carbon, and that has not been replaced in a while either.
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Agree with you on replacing the lamp and carbon, will definitely help if there is any bacterial or toxicity issues. :)

I would recommend that you also get a grounding probe just to be on the safe side that it is not a current that is causing this issue.

amalick said:
One pattern that I am able to determine is that this only happens between 1am and 6am at night and once the lights start coming on all death stops for those that were not affected overnight.
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Quick question: how did you observe this? (trying to eliminate the potential of a predator).
Also, is this also the time that the uv is off?
 
I had the same problem, Lost all my Fish the same way. Corals and 2 urchins are 100%. Still too scared to add any fish in the tank. Still mind boggles me as to what the problem is
 
Just a question. Do you think maybe one of your pumps or other equipment could be leaking stray voltage into your system?
 
Hi , just a few thing that come to mind that you can consider ...

Did a metal halide bulb break and the glass bulb fall into the tank ?
thinking of bulb gasses ect for poisoning...

Do you leave the / a magnet cleaner attacked to the tank ?
These are often not waterproof and the magnet rusts in the water...

have you tested voltage when all equipment that can switch on ...is on.
When testing the water for voltage move the probe around the equipment , i here that the current runs in the straightest line to the easiest path so you might be just testing in the wrong area?

Have you cut or broken allot of Cerlerpa in your tank ( Macro algea ) recently ?
the" blood " of cerlerpa is poisonous...

Do you use NSW could there have been red tide - or do you have strainer algae blooms that could be toxic or robbing the Oxygen - ive had a strange red clown that grew in the tank in a matter of hours that was visible every day at 4:00 ish...


Have you had a anemone get chopped up in the power heads - the stinging tenticles release the toxin into the water volume where it goes straight onto the gills ...
Did the maid or anyone else may be use your water change buckets for car was / laundry day and not tell you - washing chemicals into the tank when you used it last.

Do you use parraguard or any other med in the tank where there's a U.V light ?
the U.V breaks the bonds of medicines - possibly making a safe medication harmful ...

Charcoal id possibly the best thing to use if you suspecting a chemical poisoning , but i think its more in the line of :
Electricity leaking out and the large surface area of the tang picking it up - where do they hide at night and what equipment is near them that could leaking current.

Gill parasite:
dip the fish in Blue line - Safty stop for all external parasites - @R89.00
Its just a two part dip for 40 minuts ...

Or NSW algae blooms that poison or rob tank of 02
We have a oxygen test kit @ R99.00

May be something there jogs your memory to help - good luck
D

P.S
Have you change your R.O membranes lately - New membranes need to be "Rinsed for a few hours as they have "Preservatives" on them to keep them sterile ...
 
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OK looking at this issue,

I believe this is a case of poisoning. if there was issues with Oxygen I believe the symptoms would immediately surface and as been said Foxface is still alive....Saying that, foxfaces are extremely resilient.

I will go as far as saying as it could be a heavy metal poisoning(taking it one step further as suggested by @PerkyPets)

Steps I would follow

Check all impellors of each of your pumps any rusted equipment must be removed.
Don't dose anything - Why all the additives right now?
Any fumigation been done ?
Do you have a maid ? Does she spray any aerosols ?

Just some thoughts
 
williet said:
OK looking at this issue,

I believe this is a case of poisoning. if there was issues with Oxygen I believe the symptoms would immediately surface and as been said Foxface is still alive....Saying that, foxfaces are extremely resilient.

I will go as far as saying as it could be a heavy metal poisoning(taking it one step further as suggested by @PerkyPets)

Steps I would follow

Check all impellors of each of your pumps any rusted equipment must be removed.
Don't dose anything - Why all the additives right now?
Any fumigation been done ?
Do you have a maid ? Does she spray any aerosols ?

Just some thoughts
Click to expand...

Im starting to think heavy metal poisoning as well. Im trying to get hold of an iron test kit, but work takes preference right now so I cant exactly drive around during the week and none of the LFS in capetown seem to stock it. I think this test will eliminate the metal argument. If it is metal then the iron test will show it up, right ?

If the test comes back positive, i'm going to have to find the source. It may also be the source of the last crash as well.

Why are the corals not acting up ?
 
tekkengal said:
Agree with you on replacing the lamp and carbon, will definitely help if there is any bacterial or toxicity issues. :)

I would recommend that you also get a grounding probe just to be on the safe side that it is not a current that is causing this issue.


Quick question: how did you observe this? (trying to eliminate the potential of a predator).
Also, is this also the time that the uv is off?
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Not a predator, no live stock in that class.

The UV is on every 4 hours for 1 hour, so it has no discretion between day and night.

I observed this because the fish basically go sleep at night (after swimming around just fine during the day) and struggle to wake up or just die thereafter.
 
williet said:
OK looking at this issue,

I believe this is a case of poisoning. if there was issues with Oxygen I believe the symptoms would immediately surface and as been said Foxface is still alive....Saying that, foxfaces are extremely resilient.

I will go as far as saying as it could be a heavy metal poisoning(taking it one step further as suggested by @PerkyPets)

Steps I would follow

Check all impellors of each of your pumps any rusted equipment must be removed.
Don't dose anything - Why all the additives right now?
Any fumigation been done ?
Do you have a maid ? Does she spray any aerosols ?

Just some thoughts
Click to expand...


No fumigation

Maid doesn't spray aerosols in the tanks vercinity, i'm very pedantic about that
 
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