Continuing fish death

[chefthomasr]

So we moved here from Denver, CO with our 135 gallon tank about a month ago. It sucked.

 

Anyway we have reset the tank and according to all tests the water is perfect with all chemicals: ammonia, nitrites, nitrates, calcium, pH, dKH, and salinity. We have 250lbs of live tonga and fiji rock and 200lbs of live sand.

 

We have a 55 gallon refugium w/ caulerpa, mangroves and live sand that is chilled to 80degrees.

 

We never had many problems in Denver. But since we moved here we have had a fish die every week. We don't know what to do. The only thing different about the tank setup is we moved the live rock so there would be more open space in the middle.

 

Does anyone have any ideas? We've been to every local fish store that we know of in NoVa and they all couldn't care less. Thanks for any help anyone might have to offer.

[Charlie97L]

maybe ich? any spots on the fish?

[traveller7]

We never had many problems in Denver. But since we moved here we have had a fish die every week. We don't know what to do.

Were the fish moved with the tank, or were they new purchases?

Types of fish lost?

Types of fish currently in tank?

Any symptoms at all on fish lost(heavy breathing, discoloration, scratching,lack of appetite)?

 

Are the sand and live rock new or from Denver?

 

Type of water treatment used(RO, RO/DI, tapwater purifier, amquel, etc)? Most of our water systems use Chloramine.

[Gatortailale]

Welcome to the area!

 

Need more details - did you cycle tank before you added fish or just move tank & fish all in a few days and add fish right back into tank? Did you pack fish in buckets or have them shipped in from someone in CO?

[dhoch]

If I had to take a guess I would guess that you stirred up some bad stuff with the move... even if it didn't cycle and your fish paid the penalty.

 

Also did you do any water changes? What water did you use... Water in the east is heavily treated and can kill our critters.

 

Dave

[chefthomasr]

We moved the live rock, sand, and fish from denver. The fish from Denver are doing great though. The purchases we made here are the ones we are having trouble with.

 

We put the tank back together as soon as we got here and put in the fish and corals from Denver. We brought about 65 gallons of water from our old tank with us so we wouldn't lose all the microorganisms. We added more water that was treated with a water conditioner.

 

We waited about a week and started getting more fish (we had several casualties in the move). So far we lost a half-black angel, a flame angel, and a red sea sailfin. Left in the tank is a coral beauty, 2 watchman gobies, a fire goby, a pseudochromis, and a lawnmover blennie. We haven't seen any spots, everybody was super active, and eating. Their bodies don't have any scars on them as if they have been fighting...

 

I think thats answers all the questions. Thanks again for all your help.

[ReeferMan]

I actually recently had two of my fish die from my move as well. Granted I only moved 15 miles away and my sand didnt get mixed up that much but i had two tangs die this week. I checked my water parameters and have been doing water changes but for so reason they died. I think the problem I had was the fish were stressed and as soon as they got ick they were to weak and died. I saw a few spots on them but they never had a problem fighting it off before. I have noticed that on of the clams hasn't been fully opening for a few days now but besides that everything is happy.

[Sharkb8]

Did you move the rocks in water or dry? If dry - maybe die off. Did you remove all sand and then replace it when you got to your new home? If so, stirring up sand will also cause a small cycle. Where did you buy the fish? How are you treating the water when you replace it (water changes, evap. etc)? Maybe some chemicals went bad during the move?

[Gatortailale]

What local store did you buy from?

[chefthomasr]

We moved the rocks wet. We did take all the sand out of the tank and then put it back in. We thought it was done cycling though since the water was testing good.

 

We got the fish from 2 places: Wally's in Alexandria and SuperPets in Annandale. I was going to go to a place in Vienna and The Marine Scene in Herndon tonight to see if maybe they have any ideas.

[wolfman]

im not going to say anything, if you want my 2 cents never buy fish from wallys, and i have stop buy super pets a couple times and there fish have been looking rough try the marine scene or blue ribbon koi or fins and feathers.Go to places that can be trusted and the ppl at these places no about the fish. I mean it takes a hour in super pets to get help so good luck

[YBeNormal]

I stop by super pets on the way home from work at least once per week and I get waited on within minutes. I only buy crickets, worms, rosies for the snake and maybe emergency dry goods though. Their fish really are in bad shape, especially the SW tanks and the coral looks even worse. They remove dead fish regularly though so most folks never notice how bad it is. Just my two cents.

[chefthomasr]

So it sounds like the consensus is the fish were probably not doing that great when I bought them huh? Yeah I was definately pissed that they were more than happy to help me when I wanted to buy something but then when I went back when the fish died and they were assholes... I suspected they were probably doing bad when we brought them home. But I wanted to get some local folks advice. Well live and learn. I will try the places you suggested. Thanks for your help!!

[dzekunoi]

So it sounds like the consensus is the fish were probably not doing that great when I bought them huh? Yeah I was definately pissed that they were more than happy to help me when I wanted to buy something but then when I went back when the fish died and they were assholes... I suspected they were probably doing bad when we brought them home. But I wanted to get some local folks advice. Well live and learn. I will try the places you suggested. Thanks for your help!!

Yes some places are BAD.

Did you QT?

[rocko918]

So it sounds like the consensus is the fish were probably not doing that great when I bought them huh? Yeah I was definately pissed that they were more than happy to help me when I wanted to buy something but then when I went back when the fish died and they were assholes... I suspected they were probably doing bad when we brought them home. But I wanted to get some local folks advice. Well live and learn. I will try the places you suggested. Thanks for your help!!

 

 

That could have been the reason but also i would have waited alot longer before i put fish back in the system. I think your tank had a mini cycle and that might have stressed the fish out even more. Waiting a week from such a big move was not long enough. I would do some water changes, test and retest. Let the system settle down, then buy 1 or 2 fish. see how they do.