freak fish death

[usafresq1]

Hey there all, I am kinda pissed. I did a water test last night and my water chemistry was picture perfect, I went to bed and woke up this morning to see my hermits and acouple hitch hiking crabs munching on all my damsels. All three were dead. I immeadiatly did another water chemistry check and everything was good. I've even taken my water to the Waikiki Aquarium so they could test my water and they said its alright. For the life of me I can't figure it out. *sigh* I think I am going to just let things run for awhile and then try another damsel or two. Its a ten gallon tank with a deep sand bed and about 20-30# of live rock. I don't use a protein skimmer but I do weekly water changes. Sorry for the ranting, I'm not sure if I'm posting for an explanation or just to get this off of my chest. I feel bad cause of the fish everything else in the tank is good though. Like I said I think I am just gonna let it run and see what comes of it.

~usafresq

 

[shalegac]

3 fish in a ten gallon is to many, espeacialy damsels. It's likey they killed each other.

 

[Anonymous]

Um, that is very unlikely. It's not as though each one had a gun and they all pulled the trigger at the same time. Besides, if there was an issue with aggression, the progression is always: dominant two of the three will harrass the third, third dies. Then, since sh!t rolls downhill the dominant fish would (assuming we haven't got a mated pair) continue to harrass the only fish left til it dies.

It has to be something else. What, exactly, tests did they run for you? If the issue was water quality we would usually expect the inverts to be the "canaries in the coalmine", so that doesn't make sense.

 

[Anonymous]

temp?

 

[Anonymous]

Two possibilities I can think of.

A malfunctioning heater that caused the temp to drop overnight.
or
Alkalinty or ph problems that caused the ph to drop overnight from buildup of CO2.

How did your alk check out?

 

[Anonymous]

Have you checked for stray voltage? I've found fish are much more susceptible than crustacea for some reason. Might have gotten a surge in tank that killed the damsels. Damsels are tough, I can't see anything but a wild ph or temperature change doing them in.

 

[madrefkepr]

how about bad food?

 

[Anonymous]

Why, did bad food kill you? :lol:

Ya know, techno, the stray voltage thing had crossed my mind, too. Maybe he should get a voltmeter and check for stray.

I am still picturing the damsels with tiny little guns in a shootout at O.K. Aquarium. Can't you, too? With tiny little hats, and tiny little gunslinger gunbelts, tiny little boots on their fins, with tiny little silver spurs that go jingle-jangle-jingle..

 

[madrefkepr]

Why, did bad food kill you

Almost, once upon a time. Spent 3 weeks in the hospital.

 

[usafresq1]

my temp is a constant 84 and the three fish left one another alone except for when competeing for food. The are no cracks in the heater, its brand new and if was faulty this would happened before. I asked some of the people who were hanging out in my room last night (threw a small party) and they said they saw a guy pouring alcohol in my tank thinking it would make the fish drunk. All the crabs and even some of the algae is dead. I think I am going to just do 100% water change, reseed with rock and sand and wait it out.

usafresq the pissed off and will never throw another party in his room again

 

[teeljay]

with a small tank and several fish, and no skimmer...would oxygenation be a problem?

 

[Marrowbone]

...they saw a guy pouring alcohol in my tank thinking it would make the fish drunk. ... usafresq the pissed off and will never throw another party in his room again

Boy, that stinks. That's gotta be the culprit, I would think any amount of alcohol in 10 gallons would be bad. Anyone know if it is specifically more toxic to fish and inverts or if would just be a plain old overdose? Isn't it technically a toxin anyway? Your plan for recovery sounds good, a huge water change ASAP.

You know, you don't realize how much people can be jerks until they are in your space... especially when partying.

 

[Anonymous]

I asked some of the people who were hanging out in my room last night (threw a small party) and they said they saw a guy pouring alcohol in my tank thinking it would make the fish drunk. All the crabs and even some of the algae is dead.

My God! What an A-hole! Ahh! I am so mad just reading that.

I can't believe some people have no respect for other living creatures, not to mention no respect for your stuff!
I am going to be ticked off all day just thinking about it.

 

[Anonymous]

I asked some of the people who were hanging out in my room last night (threw a small party) and they said they saw a guy pouring alcohol in my tank thinking it would make the fish drunk. All the crabs and even some of the algae is dead.

My God! What an A-hole! Ahh! I am so mad just reading that.

I can't believe some people have no respect for other living creatures, not to mention no respect for your stuff!
I am going to be ticked off all day just thinking about it.

Ya same here. WHen I was in college some guys down the hall had a little fw tank and somebody squirted lighter fluid onto the water surface and made a little aquarium-bonfire. 8O :roll:

 

[Anonymous]

JESUS CHRIST! Yeah, that'll do it! I once worked with a woman who won a prize in a science contest showing the toxicity of tobacco on fish, too. If some idiot even dumped in a cig butt that alone could easily kill them. Alcohol is indeed a toxin, something absolutely never encountered by aquatic animals, though it certainly is not uheard of with terrestrial animals (ripe fruit fermentation).

84F degrees is far too high a temp, though. You need to set that thermostat lower, and I would think in Hawai'i you would have little use for a heater (though temp stabilization is always necessary). Keep it at 80F, though personally I prefer between 75F-80F. There will be those who disagree with me, but there are many good reasons for this, oxygen saturation at higher temperatures being one of the big reasons to not have the tank temp so high. If you understand that saltwater has a lower oxygen saturation than fresh, and that the warmer the water is the less O2 it can hold, then it makes sense. Add to that the speeded up metabolisms of your denizens, then you will see that it's in their best interest to keep tank temps lower.

Stray voltage does not have to come from a broken heater by any means. Certain equipment such as powerheads are well known to leak voltage into a tank, though personally I have never seen it kill fish, just give me a cool tingly feeling. However, knowing now that alcohol was directly introduced into the system it's a moot point.

 

[usafresq1]

thanks for the responces, it means alot. I think even if my equipment was leaking electricity into my tank I wouldn't have done anything about it but keep putting my hand in and out of the tank for the cool tingly feeling :wink: just kidding

I still haven't found the guy but I got it narrowed down to acouple people. As soons as I find out there is going to be an ass beating.

Anyways, I will talk to you all later.
Thank you again

~usafresq

 

[Wrassman]

I agree with seamaiden, keeping your temp at 84 is pretty high. How much water movement is going in the tank? If you don't have a lot of gas exchange happening at the water's surface, the fish could have suffocated, especially at night. The oxygen content drops significantly at night anyway.

If's just a thought. Sorry about your loss.

 

[wombat1]

My drunken friends decided it would be a good idea to float an empty beer bottle in my tank the other night. Another time there was a coffee mug sitting on top of my open brain. :roll:

After a serious talking to about the fragility of corals whilst my size 14s were pressed against his throat, I don't think it will happen again. Sorry to hear about your loss and I hope you find the guy so you can land one on his jaw.

 

[Will C1]

thanks for the responces, it means alot. I think even if my equipment was leaking electricity into my tank I wouldn't have done anything about it but keep putting my hand in and out of the tank for the cool tingly feeling :wink: just kidding

I still haven't found the guy but I got it narrowed down to acouple people. As soons as I find out there is going to be an ass beating.

Anyways, I will talk to you all later.
Thank you again

~usafresq

if anything calls for a good ass stompin i think that qualifies. :wink:

 

[Anonymous]

I am still picturing the damsels with tiny little guns in a shootout at O.K. Aquarium. Can't you, too? With tiny little hats, and tiny little gunslinger gunbelts, tiny little boots on their fins, with tiny little silver spurs that go jingle-jangle-jingle..

Hmm I always pictured damsels as duking it out with zip guns , switchblades and broken bottles in a bad part of the tank but just my imagination I guess