Another Fish loss

[Naeusu]

I'm becoming quite sad these days ;.;

About 5 months ago when we got the six line wrasse I also got a tiny little Kole Tang. He was less than 2 inches and was bullied by the other fish at the store. I thought I could keep him in my 55 reef tank until he was big enough to go into the 135. He had grown to about 4 inches.

Today I came home and he was sucked up against the power head in my tank...when I removed him he was dead...He had been swimming fine and eating less than 8 hours prior to that...He had no visible trauma or discoloration.

the only change in the tank recently was that I dosed the tank 2 days ago with an additive to kill the cyanobacteria which was running rampant in my tank...My ammonia is a little elevated but not near enough to kill him and the other fish in the tank (with the exception of the wrasse who has disappeared and the onespot who is a (as always) freaking out about something) are doing very well.

 

[Annadvn]

Lots of the chemicals used to kill off cyanobacteria do so partly by reducing the amount of oxygen in the water. If you want to use chemicals to control the cyanobacteria (rather than finding the cause) its usually recommended to add an air stone to the tank during treatment.


I hope your other fish calm down soon, its always hard loosing a fish.

Anna

 

[Lucy]

I'm so sorry. I agree, it's tough losing fish.

 

[Naeusu]

Lots of the chemicals used to kill off cyanobacteria do so partly by reducing the amount of oxygen in the water. If you want to use chemicals to control the cyanobacteria (rather than finding the cause) its usually recommended to add an air stone to the tank during treatment.


I hope your other fish calm down soon, its always hard loosing a fish.

Anna

The remaining fish are doing much better today. I've had this cyano in my tank since I started it....in my inexperience I thought it was possibly a different form of corraline, until it started getting all nasty....

I've tried to figure out the cause but I never have. My water parameters are pristine (amm 0, nit 0, nitrate 0, phosphates 0) and i've used RO water with the best salt mix I can find. I've also had a protein skimmer for the majority of the tanks life. I've tried throwing crabs at it, snails at it, shrimp at it, everything non-chemical I could think of. I even had my LFS guy who services a number of tanks in the city all with great success come and look at my tank. He said that many people will spend months trying to find alternate ways but most will eventually go the chemical route because it works....It's taken me 6 months to come to the conclusion that I may not find the cause but if I let it take over my tank any longer it could pose serious harm by growing on my corals.

I spent over 20 minutes carefully going over the way to use the medication with him so that I wouldn't use it improperly. It's the same chemical he's used on his tanks and he had no fish loss whatsoever...I thought it was a safe chance but sometimes unfortunate things happen. Don't assume that I didn't try to find the cause just because I used a chemical remover.

 

[kloseo]

sorry for your loss

 

[Naeusu]

Thank you very much for all your sympathy....I asked the LFS about the fish loss and he said it was very strange...he said the medication should not have killed the fish but there have been freak accidents. Perhaps I over medicated the tank? Who knows....but the rest of the fish are all swimming and eating and the tank looks 100% better.

 

[locoyo386]

HI there, you will be surprise as to how fast raised ammonia levels can kill fish. Also note that with your tank established, the ammonia level could have been higher then you tested as there was already bacteria to asimilate it.

Not sure, but that could have been one reason the Tang died. Ther are very sensative to difference in water parameters, including oxygen level.

On a side note, what exactly do you have for water movement inside the tank. The 55's are kind of big and would need quite a bit of water movement towards the battom or subtrate to keep water circulating and not letting it settle with alomst no motion at all. That could be one reason why your cyano is showing in that amount.