Help!!!!!!!!!!!

In the last 3-6 months, I have changed the way I do everything. I bought new lighting, a RO/DI, converted my wet/dry to a sump w/refug., do WEEKLY water changes, maintain a journal with weekly test results, etc..

In the past month or so my water is what I would consider perfect! 0 Nitrates, 0 Nitrites, 8.0 PH, etc...

I ordered a couple fish from Saltwaterfish.com the other day and added them to my tank. I used the drip method to acclimate them for over 2 hours. I did everything right and they looked like they were doing good. I added them on Friday. Today I went downstairs to feed the little guys and one of the new fish, a orange shoulder tang had lesions all over him and was breathing heavily. I looked around and found the second new fish, a powder brown tang dead behind the rock along with a Royal Gramma I have had for over a year that was healthy as an ox. He had no physically signs of illness or damage.

I ran a test of all my water and everything is still good. I was unable to test ammonia as I ran out of one of the chemicals when I tried so I need to get another kit for it.

Here is a picture of the Orange Shoulder. He is a gonner :-[

One thing I didn't do right is quarantine the new fish and I don't have a quarantine tank for this guy now either.:-/

Any ideas on whats up?? What should I do?? This is really taking the wind out of my sails with this hobby. All this effort to do it right and I am loosing:-[

 

looks to me as if one of your new fish brought a parasitic friend into the tank and it spread like wildfire....

 

YIKES! Karma for your loss. Thats why I QT my fish for 2-3 weeks along with a FW methylene blue dip. Don't add any fish to the tank for 2-3 months to hopefully let any parasites die out. Then add an inexpensive fish as a test subject for a few weeks. Don't get impatient. Good luck!

 

Agree.

Gresham (a mod here) can explain this better than I. However, most online fish are very stressed when you get them. It's because they land in Los Angeles, are immediately repackaged into single bags and shipped out to you. The company that you purchased the fish from never takes possession of the fish. In effect, that fish flew halfway across the world, was in a holding tank for a couple of hours and then shipped to you. That's why most online companies offer guarantees. It's cheaper for them to pay for dead fish than set up their own holding facilities.

 

ouch
that really sucks. sorry to hear

 

I just got home from work and finished fishing the orange shoulder tang out of the tank. All of my other fish are accounted for and appear healthy for the time being. Nitrates, etc.. are all in check. I need to order a new ammonia test kit though.

I will heed the above advice and give it a couple months before I try to restock. The death count stands at 3, two being tangs I REALLY liked and one being a fish I have had for some time. I have to debate if I am going to set up a small quarantine tank or not. I need one in case a fish I already have gets sick regardless, but when I stock my tank, its usually with 2-3 fish I order online and I don't see placing 2-3 tanks in a 20 gallon quarantine tank.

So I either got to roll the dice again or just look locally for fish and add them one at a time.

 

I do not plan to attempt to restock any fish for a couple months so the parasite will most likely be gone for good. I plan to pick up a quarantine tank in the very near future.

Let me ask you folks this. While I have no plans to stock any new fish for a couple months. What about corals and anemones?? Would they be as susceptible to said parasite as well?

 

corals should be ok if it was only a fish parasite. I would let tank go fallow for 3 months. Look in the paper for used tanks like a 30g long or a 55g. Even a 29g would be ok for 2 fish. With QT tanks you need to change the water every couple of days so waste build up does not become an issue.

 

It seems that everyone agrees that some parasite killed the fish. Granted that Jonathan is usually right, could we be missing some other cause?

You mentioned that you have coral and anemones. What are the other inhabitants of the tank? Do you have anything large enough to cause an injury to these fish?

 

Lesions and ragged fins could it possibly be that one of your established fish beat the crap out of the new fish and the sores are a possibly secondary fungal or bacteral infection from the wound.

Sorry for your losses.

What fish do you have left?