Fish Dying? advice needed

[bigredbox]

Hi everyone,

Need advice urgently, 5ft bow front marine tank, Gravity OK, water quality ok, set up for six months no problems.
Live coral, a couple of shrimps, hermits, sailfin survive but something has killed of everyone else. All show these symptoms...they go very quiet, hide then develope a black tinge to top of fish body, they gasp rapidly, then die.
One imperata showed no symptoms, he just swam on his side for a short while then died. No warning with this, very sudden after about two months of being fine.
I've lost damsels, clown, humbug fish and flame angel, the surviving sailfin did show symptoms but has now recovered.

I have treated the tank with Myxicin.

Would it be of any help to do a half water change? Any advice would be extremely helpful...what should I test for to determine exactly what the problem is. Would a protien skimmer help?

[Newt]

First, it would greatly help if we could have some actual numbers as for the different levels in your tank. Salinity, pH, Ammonia, Nitrates, Nitrites, Phosphates, Calcium, temp...etc.

Secondly, I think it was the wrong idea to actually medicate your fish without knowing what you are actually trying to treat, as a lot of times those medications are supposed to be used as a last ditch effort, and I hope that you medicated in a quarantine tank or some kind.

Do several water changes over the week, but not 50% I would suggest a water change of 10-20%, test your params, and then a day or two later another 10-20% water change.

A skimmer would definitely help.

If you can, try to take a picture of your fish, so we may be able to figure out what the "black tinge" is.

[Woodstock]

to Reef Sanctuary BigRedBox~

A bit more information is needed as JKReef suggested. If something like this ever happens again (which i hope it doesn't), take lots of pics of the affected fish and keep a log of your water parameters (I do this all the time ). Pictures paint a thousand words and knowing what type of water the fish are swimming, breathing, and drinking goes a looong way to help determine the problem.


You should be doing regular water changes; enough to keep your nitrAtes down below 10ppm. For a fish only tank, it is important to test the salinity (with a refractometer), temperature, PH, nitrAtes on a regular basis -- daily at first, then less frequently once you get to know your tank. Ammonia and Nitrite testing is USUALLY done during teh initial cycle of a tank but should be tested anytime there is a question regarding water quality or a possible sick fish. If you have corals, you should also test for calcium, alkalinity, phosphates and magnesium.

Definately purchase a skimmer; the biggest one you can . These help keep the water cleaner and remove nasties before they begin to rot/degrade in the water.

[Warnberg]

yeah dat stuff......

[rckmtl]

also, are you dosing any additives? (iodine, ect...) some can be toxic if accidentally overdosed.

Hope your fish make it, and welcome!

[cheeks69]

When was the last fish added to the tank ? Did you Quarantine any of your fish ? I couldn't find any info on Myxicin I hope it's not a copper based medication. IMO you should NEVER add medications to the display tank because especially if it's a reef inverts are very sensitive to these type of medications.

From the sounds of it you have possibly introduced Amyloodiniosis or "Marine Velvet" which is very deadly:

The signs of amyloodiniosis include respiratory difficulties, loss of appetite, swimming near the surface, scratching. As the gills are usually the primary site of infection, difficulty in breathing is the most common sign and may be the only sign before death. Heavy infections may also affect the skin, fins and eyes. The common name "marine velvet" comes from heavy infestations of the skin which may have a dusty appearance...

Treatment for of amyloodiniosis

Chemotherapy is the only effective treatment for Amyloodinium, with copper being the most widely used. Copper will not affect trophonts or tomonts but is toxic to the dinospores (Noga and Levy, 1995). Free copper should be kept at 0.12-0.15 mg/L for at least 14 days, although 21 days is better to be certain of killing all dinospores and to ensure that all trophonts have become tomonts and all tomonts have excysted. Copper cannot be used in the presence of invertebrates and treatment should be performed in a hospital tank void of any calcium carbonate substrate. The copper level needs to be tested regularly to ensure that sufficient concentrations are maintained. Copper is also toxic to the fish and care must be taken to avoid overdose.

Of all the copper medications available on the market, Cupramine by Seachem appears to be the safest. It is a complexed copper and is more stable that copper sulfate, copper citrate or chelated copper. As it is complexed, the total copper concentration should be maintained at 0.5 mg/L for three weeks.

Noga and Levy (1995) report on success with the use of chloroquine diphosphate (an antimalarial medicine). It was found to be very safe and effective in killing dinospores on excystment. It is non-toxic to fish, but very toxic to algae and many invertebrates, so, like copper, should only be used in an hospital tank. Treatment involves maintaining chloroquine diphosphate at 5-10 mg/L for 10 days.

http://www.petsforum.com/personal/tr...loodinium.html

[DaveK]

Originally Posted by cheeks69

... I couldn't find any info on Myxicin ...

I suspect the medication in question is Maracyn. The SW version of this medication is erythromycin.

Since it's an antibiotic, it could kill all the good bacteria in the system. I quite agree with the others, never ever medicate a reef system.

I also agree with cheeks69. This could be Marine Velvet, and is very serious.

As for a skimmer, I do consider them to be "highly desireable", but they will not solve a disease problem. However, a skimmer can greatly improve water quality, and this is a key factor in heathy fish.

[jcoopergd]

Cleaner water = Less stressed fish = Stronger Fish Immune System

j

[BoomerD]

It has been said, that if you keep the water, the water will keep the fish...

[nivek]

just to add to the above, did you change anything in the diet? contaminated live food or expired dry food?

[Sam]

G'day dude
this sounds like the issue I had with my fish,tank six months old and dying fish,blackening marks ineffective medication stressed out fish gasping for life.
Question:do you hear popping noises
or cracking noises?
do you have live rock?
assuming you do, you may have a Mantis shrimp!!!!!!!!!!!
regards Sam and Dave