Mysterious Death

[aquaman30k]

Any reason you guys could think of that would cause 3 fish to die overnight? I ran tests on the water with nothing but flying colors and just for safe measures I had my lfs run backup tests. The tank is a 150 gal RR with great water flow, great lighting and a ground prob just for safe measures. Thanks for the help in advance,

Josh

[hermitage]

what kind of fish? Any of them venomous?

[LisaD]

Are there any fish left? If so, how are they doing and looking? How did the dead fish look (cloudy eyes, blood-streaked fins, etc.)?

[aquaman30k]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=10472510#post10472510 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by hermitage
what kind of fish? Any of them venomous?

The fish that died were a Flame Angelfish, Harlequin Tusk, and a Pseudochromis and no none of the fish were venomous.

I have had this problem in the past with many other types of fish as well.

[aquaman30k]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=10473799#post10473799 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by LisaD
Are there any fish left? If so, how are they doing and looking? How did the dead fish look (cloudy eyes, blood-streaked fins, etc.)?

There are a few fish left, however they seem to be stressed every night and I think last night my Black Saddleback Clownfish kicked the bucket since it was no where to be found. None of the fish seemed discolored or tore up like there was something picking on them. The night the 3 died the Flame Angel was laying on its side gasping for air and the Tusk was floundering around. The only normal one seemed to be the Pseudochromis which was hiding under a rock.

Thanks for the help,

Josh

[bigcheese007]

I had the exact same problem in my 72 gal. The only explanation I have is the water I was using.

[mst3kguy07]

Yes we lost at least 500$ dollars and all tests turned out fine. When I went to re-aquascape my tank i found an at least 4 inches wide stone crab that i have never seen before. A month before I found one of my green chromis completely cut in half like you would crab a wire and just cut it in half. But I found it took it up to Planet Reef and our tank is set. It is re-aquascaped and ready to go!

[aquaman30k]

I have an automatic float connected to my RO-DI unit and last I checked the tds report was in the realm of 1%. The death thing has happened in my last tank so the only thing I can think of is something that is in my tank. I will try to get together a few pics and a inventory to see if that may answer the question. Thanks for the responses guys,

Josh

[eskymick]

Maybe your PH is dropping like a rock at night. Get up early in the AM and test your PH.

[aquaman30k]

The pH is fluctuating so that could be the problem. On my ACJr it graphed a fluctuation between 8.5 down to 8.11. Usually it sits around 8.3 during the day and drops no lower than 8.11.

Is it possible for it to plum it really low one night and how low would it have had to drop for the pH to kill a few fish that night and then come back up to a normal 8.3 the next day?

[mst3kguy07]

That Ph is really high that could be your problem!

[SULLY736]

I have tested his water myself multiple times and came up with no problems. He has a titanium ground probe on his system as well which will rule out electricity. I am confused myself. He runs RODI water and has great parameters for the things you would normally test. If anyone has any ideas, i would be all ears myself because this makes absolutely no sense.

Jason

[ann83]

Did you test for oxygen? O2 can drop overnight, and with the deaths being at night... this could be compounded by higher salinity, and/or higher temp and it is summer.

[aquaman30k]

No I haven't. I don't have a test kit for O2 yet and my AC Jr doesn't measure it either. I will get a test kit and try that. Thank you.