xiangbalao38

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I'm running a 36 ELOS, all of my fish were fine for quite a while, the most recent additions to the tank were a toadstool and a Kenya tree. Last night my lubbock wrasse suddenly started swimming very slowly/ slanted. Woke up this morning and he was dead. My first clownfish is now doing the same thing, he keeps swimming next to the sump return near the top of the tank not really moving much. Any ideas on whats going on or what I can do? He seems to be moving his mouth fairly quickly. Relatively new to the hobby but my other clown looks perfectly fine.

pH is 7.5, ammonia and nitrites both at 0, nitrate under 5 ppm.

Thanks for the advice.
 

kevin315

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Any white spots on the fish? Same thing happened to me. The fish just died one at a time, so far I’m guessing it’s probably ich or some parasite, which, you should run the tank without fish for 3 months (?)
 

xiangbalao38

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No ich or anything on the fish. I opened up the wrasse when it died to check the gills and whatnot to see if maybe it had something odd inside, but nothing there either. I have a very aggressive gold damsel in the tank, I'm wondering if maybe he is starting to chase the others to exhaustion.

Tank doesn't seem to be having any issues, parameters are fairly consistent i've gone 2 weeks without a water change and the nitrates dont go above 5. Currently, there is 2 clowns (1mocha 1 davinci), 6 firefish, 2 chromis, 2 damsels, a lawnmower, and a 6 line in the tank.
 

Spartanwarrior

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usually sudden changes in fish health like this is some kind of water quality issue. I wouldn't rule out oxygen levels in your tank. especially now with heat on and windows closed, the co2 exchange in your tank decreases as it. try putting an air stone in your sump/display just to see if that perks them up. I don't think it has anything to do with the corals you added. with leathers are toxic if dying, they don't secrete toxins while healthy.
 

reefman

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ph 7.5 after the light on is a bit low, perhaps due to what spartanwarrior mention. 2 months old tank is still in my book fairly new(no3 cycle). the health of the new leathers n if any toxin was release is unknown so i would add some carbon n hold off on any new fish would be my suggeston.
 

Spartanwarrior

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ph 7.5 after the light on is a bit low, perhaps due to what spartanwarrior mention. 2 months old tank is still in my book fairly new(no3 cycle). the health of the new leathers n if any toxin was release is unknown so i would add some carbon n hold off on any new fish would be my suggeston.
Agreed that is a lot of fish for a 2month old tank to handle. PH is struggling so i'd almost guarantee is a gas exchange issue. Add that air stone
 

Spartanwarrior

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Thanks for the advice! Yea I've stopped adding fish, making some adjustments to my sump hoping to increase aeration before the airstone arrives.
You can point a powerhead up to the surface in your tank too and make sure the surface agitates for gas exchange. This should be at all times. I have a jebao on mine just for this purpose. PH raised over .5 just by doing this too
 

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