In one day - all my fish died

Question
QUESTION: I have 200g tank and all was going great (6 months).  1 tang, 1 heniochius, 1 coral beauty, 1 royal gramma, 1 anthias.  On monday, added 1 naso tang, two clowns, and scotter blenny.  Thursday, 1 clown died.  I added 15 caps of Prime.  Friday night - all was good (Nitrite levels were 0). I checked in on fish on Saturday afternoon and Naso Tang and Royal Gramma were dead, Anthias was breathing heavy with no movement, and other fish were noticably stressed.  Changed 25% water and moved Heniouchius and Blue Tang to QT. Nitrates still 0.  Sunday morning, Blue Hippo tang and heniouchius were dead in QT.  On Tuesday, the remaining Clown died.  All that is left is Scotter Blenny.  I am heart broken and cannot understand what happened?  Any ideas?

ANSWER: Hey Craig,

Pleaes let me know more about your system.

How long has it been set up, what type of filtration/sump do you have, what type of skimmer, etc...

I would also like to know what your parameters are, along with your routine, how often do you add fresh water, and how often do you do water changes...

I really dont know at this point but do have a couple comments....

I would never add that many fish at one time...

You dont know if the place you got them from might have something going on at that time,or maybe from wherever they got the fish from...

Also, anyone of those fish could have had some problem that would affect all the other fish.

I try to limit anything i do to a few steps/process' as possible, to either identify what works or what dont..

If you have several factors at the same time, you wont know which factor was the culprit..

Also, I am suspecting that your tank might be relatively new,on the comment you made above about 'nitrite levels were 0'

You should not have had to check nitrites since you setup your tank.  Once the tank is cycled, you would not see or detect nitrites ever again...

Anyways, I look forward to hearing more info and trying to help.

Bill



---------- FOLLOW-UP ----------

QUESTION: Hi Bill,

Thanks for quick response.  Good pickup on new tank.  Here's some background.  My family and I moved into new house with the tank already set up. As you can guess, I am new to the hobby, but really enjoy it (more than ever expected).  Local fish professional helped me get started.  Filration system already set up when I moved in (two cannesters under the tank with a UV device.  No sump or protein skimmer).....no room based on the way original owner set up the tank and the built in cabinet.  

I try to do 10% water changes each week.  Last water change was two weeks ago, but I always check water quality every week (salinity, nitrite, nitrate, etc)....all was within expected ranges.  Feed twice a day by automatic feeder...with occasional sprinkling of additional food and dry algae on clip.  

Only thing different I did this week was:
- add the fish last monday
- kept the algae on clip for several days since it the new Naso tang was not eating (which I have since been told I should not have done)
- added the 15 caps of prime after the clown died on thursday (based on recommendation of my local guy).

Friday night..all was great - I was watching fish before I went to bed.  However, when I checked on fish around 1:00pm on saturday(had early soccer game with kids in morning), all the problems started (naso and gramma dead, anthias listless-breathing hard, etc.)...which is when I did water 25% change, move tang and henniochus to QT, etc.

Local guy and another fish person have no idea what happened.  Assume spike in amonia and/or contamination.  Local guy who sold me fish says the fish were quarentined and have not had problems with other fish he sold. He doesn't think it was disease.  All dead fish had no obvious signs of anything...looked normal.  

Needless to say, kids and I are heartbroken...very difficult time and I really hope to know what happened to prevent again.

I realize these things happen, and I am am trying not to beat myself up..but again, very difficult, especially as I am new to the hobby and feel terrible for the poor fish!

Thanks for any input.,
craig

ANSWER: hello,

dont beat yourself up.  I know it is sad.  I hate it, especially when i have to fish them out of th tank too.

The big lesson here is tonot add so many fish at one time.

BUt, without some water tests,which you could do still to determine the ammonia level we cant be sure..

BUT, when was the last time you cleaned the cannister filters?  The sponges, should be cleaned every two weks, and thrown out every two months.

No, bio balls,

It doesnt take much to put a sump in, it can be a small tank from walmart or petco...  doesnt need to be one of those premade 'wet dry' trickle things with baffles and compartments...

It will help in many ways, and let you take stuff out of your tank that you dont want to see, like thermometers, heaters, and junk...


Ireally dont think it was ammonia, as your tank is way too big for the amount of fish, and the time frame fromwhen you added them.

And, btw, I guarantee you, double your money back, that your local fish store did not quarantine thier fish!... Now, maybe the wholesaler that they got it from did, but that isnt quite the same thing..  or if it is, then the romans practiced safe sex too?!?

Anyways, without knowing what could be the source of the problem, i would run the tank with minimal bioload, and not buy anymore anything for a while...

What fish/livestock is left?

You can practice maintaing your tank, do repeated water changes, and develope a routine, and then when you are more comfortable, you can try again, but slower.  

Adding one or two fish at a time will help the family identify with the fish better, and watch/learn the different personality.


Anyways, please keep me posted.

bill




---------- FOLLOW-UP ----------

QUESTION: Hi Bill,

Just to close the loop.  The scooter blenny is the only fish to make it and it appears well.  Water seems fine and the polly filter I added to tank has not changed any color.  In the end, I guess I will never know what happened, but I will obviously take your good advice to add fish one at a time.  

A few last facts in case you have any final comments/thoughts:
1.)  Went back and checked dates.  My tank is about 9 months old (since I added the fish).  I have not added new fish for over 2 months, so it was stable....and as I said, all was going well before the crash.

2.)  The tank is drilled through the bottom for the canisters.  It is acrylic with a very wide top lip and no overflow so a sump could not be used, the entire tank would drain.  Also it is built in between two walls.  We could possibly add an overflow being the tank is acrylic but would be costly.

3.  Lastly, I have one power jet and one air pump in the tank.  Do you think I am getting enough circulation and ozygination?

Again, thanks for your input..I really appreciate you taking the time to respond and trying to help a "newbie" to the hobby.

Craig

Answer
Hey Craig,

Actually you can still add /impliment a sump.The same way the water drains to the cannister the water would drain tothe sump.

If the hole in hte bottom of the tank is connected to some type of 'stand pipe' That comes up tothe surface and has some type of teeth to let the water drain thru.

You can even get an overflow box from glass-holes.com

Just tell them where your hole is and and all that and they will work with you...

I would think you need more flow for corals if you go thyat route.

as for the fish, and your tank being stable for two months prior to adding them, actually can be a clue.

The 'biological filter' that we all have is 'balanced' to our own system and the amount of fish we each have.  The more fish the biological organisms we have, the less fish the less organisms

you had little amount of fish and little amount of biological orgainism  so you added a bunch of fish and you didnt have enough organisms to digest / process the detritus and ammonia,

your local fish store may have been correct in thier determiniation

Anyways, good luck and stay in touch


BTW: my forum is now up and running, please come check it out at

www.thelittleocean.com




Bill