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New Member
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Last Login: 2/28/2010 2:08:28 AM
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| I need help, badly. My reef tank just had a MASSIVE die out of every fish in there. 6 hours ago I added about 45 pounds of new rock that had been used in an old tank but dry for several months. I washed the rock before inserting it into the tank and then put the fish and coral back in. I just looked at the tank and all of my fish are dead. Ive lost a purple fire fin, two blue green chromis and my blue damsel is on his way out right now. I've no clue what has happened to my tank! My salt is at 1.027, (normal for the tank) my phosphate is at 1.0, my nitrites are .25 and nitrates 80. The temp has been a steady 75. Please help!
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*update*
death toll so far is two chromis, one purple firefin and one sixline wrasse. the damsel is in old water that was pulled out this afternoon before the rock add. ive pulled all the new rock and left the tank bare. In with the damsel is two peppermint shrimp, a horseshoe crab and all the coral. i hope i figure out all of this soon before i lose the entire tank...
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New Member
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Last Login: 1/24/2010 2:16:10 PM
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Could the old rock that had been dry for several month been exposed to something? Some kind of spray or something that would be poisonous to the fish?
Assuming the die-off is related to the addition of the old rock and not coincidental to it, my suggestion would be to remove and discard that old rock, tear down the tank, clean it and start anew.
You are lucky in that you lost nothing expensive or rare.
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New Member
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| I agree that it was nothing expensive or rare, but the fish had sentimental value. They were the first saltwater fish I've ever had, and I cared for them a lot. On the chemical side, I believe it was a mixture of the sand being stirred up while looking for my horseshoe and my sixline, and the new rock. The water smells toxic and the rock as well. Im going to hook the rock up to a protein skimmer in a 50g bucket to cure it more and im changing water now. All the coral and the inverts are alive, and i managed to save the blue damsel by putting him in old water with a heater and air stone.
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It sounds like you have things well in hand. I'd suggest at least three water changes of about 33% every day or every other day until the tank's toxicity is gone.
I do understand about your feelings of loss All I can say is you will learn to get over the death of a damsel or two. It's the fish that you wait a year for, keep for five months and then lose that'll get you. In my case, it was an Achilles tang a couple of months ago.
Best wishes.
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New Member
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| did about 5 washes on the sand last night until the smell went away and the water started coming out clean. added in all new water and salt and will be putting fish back in tonight after im sure everythings stable. thanks for the help guys.
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Do monitor ammonia, etc., as your tank is likely to re-cycle a bit.
Best wishes.
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| Well I got the tank back up and running, put the surviving fish and livestock back in and added a few new ones a few days ago. But now my damsel is being extremely aggressive towards the other fish. He's already caused the death of one tank mate and there is large spots of fin damage on the other three. Also noticing some polyp damage on my colony of kryptonite zoos. Does anyone have any suggestions for curbing this aggression? The rock setup is all new with plenty of territories for them to be able to coexist peacefully. He was never aggressive like this with any of his old tank mates, both larger and smaller. I'm sure part of it is the new mates are smaller so hes being dominant but I cant have him running around killing everyone either. Any suggestions would be greatly appreciative. Thanks
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Damselfish are evil. I would never recommend anyone buy them for tank cycling or because they're inexpensive. They become pugnacious, territorial, and downright mean, and add little to a tank overall. Any fish salesperson who recommends damsels to anyone for anything other than lionfish food is uneducated and under-experienced.
I am not a fan of fishless cycling, but I would never use damsels for that purpose, having learned the hard way. (Go with gobies!)
Having said my piece, I do have a few suggestions.
1. Remove the offending fish. Easier said than done in a tank full of rock work, I know. You can try feeding your fish from a net for the next few days and leaving that net in the tank at all times. Eventually, the fish may get used to the net being there and even accep food from it. Once they do, use it to spring a trap on the now-unsuspecting damsel.
2. Wait it out. The aggression may just stop. When you put your tank back in order, the damsel decided it was his tank and the other fish were trespassers. This may not last long as the damsel will "get used to" seeing the same fish around him all the time and figure out that it's their tank too.
3. Add more fish to the thank. If the damsel if busy harassing the fish you have, make him too busy to keep up the routine by adding a couple to a handful more fish. He can only chase so many fish for so long before tiring out. After a not-too-long a period of chasing he should settle down.
About two months ago, for no apparent reason, my purple tang started chasing my yellow tang around the tank mercilessly. This went on for three days, until the yellow tang had frayed fins, was cowering in a corner of the tank all the time, and had stopped eating. These fish had been living together for years with only the usual tail to tail "greetings" several times a day, but with no other aggression.
I decided to try the approach I laid out in #3, above. I went to the local fish store, bought three small yellow tangs, acclimated them in the display tank using an internal refugium for a couple of days, then released them after dark.
The purple tang immediately ceased to concentrate on the original yellow tang, chased the new ones for only a few minutes, than gave up completely on harassing any of them.
He did try the chase again a few days later, but it didn't last more than another day and by that time, all four yellow tangs were eating well and the fins on the original one were mostly healed.
Let us know what you try and how it works out.
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Hi, I am having the same problem, I have a Scopus Tang, spotted hawk fish, coral beauty angel, and a blue damsel. I added 5 fish to my tank two wks ago, and one by one, they ended up dead, but the original fish were still alive. Perplexed by this, I decided to get a Powder blue tang, same size as the other one..and a Niger Trigger large. Three day's went by, they seemed to be getting along fine..then my Powder Blue Tang ends up dead! And my Trigger is hiding and not eating today..I feel sick! Seven fish, and they all are dead, except the original four. I am not sure, which fish is killing the others, but I think it may be the Tang.?????
Kristie Maitland
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