Dying Fishes Please Help ME !!!

[chris251285]

iam chris frm malaysia,
i've a problem with the fishes i don't know wht happen to them they actually die one by one .....
at first one of them go swimming alone then i suspected something was wrong then i noticed tht they breath very hard and they seem to be kind like drunk . they can't swim properly and later died i really don't know wht is happening . please help me . i just got the fishes and the water is frm sea .
i hav another question is there such a thing as doctor fish or doctor shrimp ? please help me . Thanks

[phistio]

welcome chris...

it's hard to tell right off the bat what could be the demise of you fish. you say the water is natural sea water, but tell us more about your tank...

all the information you can tell us, the better...the more information we have the easier it will be for us to understand what's going on.

good luck! :wink:

[chris251285]

well i have a feew rocks tht i don't know wether it is live rock or not a hav a bubble coral a few clown btu iam not sure bout the rocks ...... but if i take out the rock it'll look very plain

[phistio]

how about lighting details, filtration used, water parameters (if known).

what are the specifics of your tank? :?

[Pineapple House]

1. How long did you aclamate the fish?
2. Which fish died?
3. How long was the ride home?
4. How were the fish at the LFS?
5. Anything strange about the other fish housed in the tanks that you bought your fish from?
6. What's your filtration?
7. How much liverock do you have?
8. What, and how much substrate?
9. What lighting?
10. How old is your tank?
11. What are other current inhabitants?
12. What is your water parimeters (Salinity, temp, nitrite, ammonia, pH, nitrate, etc...)
13. ANYTHING else you would like to add?

PH =)

[chris251285]

ok my filtertion is below the aquarium tht is water flowing down and a pump pum,ping up . th filter has cotton then bio rings and then some small coral stones . i not yet have a skimmer yet . i'll have it later . my water temp is around 30celcius . i don't know bout the ph and stuff the test kit here is pretty expensive tht is bout RM 3++ i don't hae such money yet and i've alredy spent RM 3++ on the fishes and it keep on dying like this hurts me . 2 of my doctor fish dies , helicopter fish and 2 sort of angel fish died . my aquarium its about less than 2 weeks old the lighting s are Azoo blue and white lights . the fish in the shop was very lively so does it when it reached home but after a few day this happens i only have a few live rock not much and currently there is a shrimp , a sea horse , 4 clown , an angel fish , 2 blue demon . nth much already . i'll tell u again how they look like b4 they die " firstly it weren't in the group it went alone and also breath very very hard then later it can't swim properly kind of drunk or something later it became worst it did summersaults later died " tht's how it it . haih . please help me thank you guys ..........

[Chryocon]

You missed one thing I think....what size is the tank? This could very well be your main problem

[Pineapple House]

You missed quite a bit of things, but enough about that.

Your tank is 2 weeks old...there is your problem. I have no doubt that you have a giant ammonia spike going on here. With that biological load, in that new tank, you can easily kill off everything.

My biggest advice is to spend some money on a working test kit! This will help you majorly! Test for nitrite, ammonia, pH, salinity, Nitrate, and temperature, and preferably calcium.

Next, get rid of some fish. I have a feeling this is between 20-50 gallons (Don't ask why, I just do), in which your tank is overstocked. Get rid of the sea horse! They will not do well in a reef with many other fish, they will need expert care. Next, I would get rid of the angel...well, it really depends on the species. I would, no matter what species it is, you will go through another cycle with this load you have.

RM 3++
How much is that...in American? Sorry about that, i'm just curious how much your test kits are. They're worth every penny.

Anyway, I know this isn't the news that you wanted to hear, but it will help you with long term sucess.

PH =)

[chris251285]

well my tank size is bout 48inch by 18inch by 18inch . i don't know how many gallons is tht . ..... . well to tell truth iam quite broke after all the things tht i've got now .... so i really can't afford the test kit . i don't even have a quarentine tasnk too so where am i going to keep or seperate them. the water is frm the sea ... well bout the explanation of the death of the fish do u have any clue about the sickness that it may be ??? and the test kit maybe round 1++ us dollar....... PLEASE HELP AGAIN thanks. .....

[Samurai]

Sounds like a 60 gallon to me. Take your fish back to where you got them and ask for your money back or store credit. I don't know how much the test kits cost, but I wouldn't get any more fish until you have a test kit. I would second that ammonia spike. Your tank has most likely not fully cycled yet. If you are going to use natural sea water then I would test it first before you put it into your tank, no telling what pollutants are in it.

[RazerCorals]

I'm willing to bet his tank hasn't cycled. Also there are probably too many fish in there so it can't be cycled.

[Pineapple House]

well my tank size is bout 48inch by 18inch by 18inch . .....
Sounds like a 75 gallon.

Take the above advice.

PH =)

[Chryocon]

hard breathing.....can't swim properly.....swimming around randomly.....could it be lateral line disease (I think I just called it the wrong thing LOL PH will correct me though :) )

[Pineapple House]

hard breathing.....can't swim properly.....swimming around randomly.....could it be lateral line disease (I think I just called it the wrong thing LOL PH will correct me though :) )
Actually, it's called Head and Lateral Line Erosion, aka HLLE. I doubt that is what it is, you'll know it.

This disease stems from the lateral line that fish have, thus appropriately named Head and Lateral Line Erosion (HLLE). It is also referred to as Lateral Line Erosion (LLE), Lateral Line Disease (LLD) and Hole-In-The-Head Disease. It appears as open pitted wounds around a fishes head and along the lateral line, as if something is slowly eroding away the flesh. HLLE disease in the short run is not fatal, but over the long run if the disease continues to progress the fish stops eating and becomes lethargic. The open wounds make the fish susceptible to other infections which in turn leads to the further deterioration of its health, and these secondary infections are what may eventually contribute to its demise.

PH =)

[Chryocon]

thanks LOL see I knew you would tell me exactly what it was

[chris251285]

erm so now wht should i do .... but i have a preety good news the ordeal has stopped .... they fishes are ok now .... but now i found out tht the salinity of the water is less than wht it should be . wht should i do now ... and bout the question and any sea snail or something can clean the tank or something ( cleaning something like the algea tht is getting very dirty ) and is there such a thing as doctor shrip or doctor fish wht do they do please help me to answer and send me some picture if can( pictures of the doctor's and snail so tht i could go somewhere else to buy it ) thanks alot !!!!

[Samurai]

If the ordeal has stopped then just try and keep things how they are. If the salinity is lower than it should be then you can SLOWLY bring it up. Take a couple of days to do it if you need to. Raising it too quickly will only give you more problems. There are tons of animals that can help you with your algae problems.

Algae cleaning animals:

http://www.liveaquaria.com/product/prod_Display.cfm?siteid=25&pCatId=531

Some people may have a problem with some of these animals as they will burrow into your deep sand bed and make it much less effective (but that is if you have one).

The doctor shrimp that you are referring to is commonly called a Striped Skunk Cleaner Shrimp- or more often just Cleaner Shrimp. The fish you are referring to, I assume, is commonly called a Cleaner Wrasse. Here are some pictures:

Cleaner Shrimp:

http://www.liveaquaria.com/product/prod_Display.cfm?siteid=23&pCatId=696

These have the potential to be a great addition to your tank because they will set up "stations" and clean parasites and dead scales from any fish in your tank that will let them.

Cleaner Wrasse:

http://www.liveaquaria.com/product/prod_Display.cfm?siteid=21&pCatId=309

You should probably NOT get one of these as they are extremely hard to keep in captivity because they often rely on a constant supply of dead fish scales and parasites to feed them and will starve without this supply. Also these fish are usually taken from the wild where their chances of survival are much better.

These aren't the only animals that could help your tank, there are also conch's and tangs among other animals, but they should give you an idea of what is out there.

[chris251285]

hey hey .... trhanks samurai u really give me some info there ..... but i still have a few questions how do i slowly keep the salinity up and i won't be here for the next one week coz iam going to study outstation so how can i make the salinity higher the slower way ..... ?? please tell me . erm the second thing is bout the doctor fishes do u have any suggestions and bout the algae weater any more hehehe ???? sorry for the greedyness THANKS man .

[Samurai]

No problem AT ALL, I'm glad that I can help. As for raising the salinity slowly, I would measure your current salinity (specific gravity) and write it down. Then do your regular water change and replace it with water that has a SLIGHTLY higher specific gravity. Then measure your tanks new specific gravity and write it down. The next day or so you can do another water change and again replace it with water with a little bit higher specific gravity. Keep doing this until your tank is at the correct specific gravity. I don't suggest you buy a doctor fish (which I assume is the same as a cleaner wrasse) because it will most likely die on you. I would try a couple of cleaner shrimp first. Cleaner shrimp are scavengers and don't depend so much on other fish for food. As for algae eaters, most people use snails and hermit crabs to keep their tank free of it. Turbo Snails, Bumble Bee Snails, and Cerith Snails are just a few that might work to rid you of unwanted algae (There are LOTS of others... http://www.liveaquaria.com/product/scateg.cfm?siteid=23&pCatId=526). If you go with Hermit Crabs, I wouldn't advise you to get any Blue Leg Hermits as they have been known to pull snails out from their shells, eat them, and then take the snail shells for themselves. A burrowing starfish will keep things clean too but will wreck your deep sand bed if you have one. There are a lot of animals that will eat algae so your options are pretty open as to what you will be able to keep. Hope this helped, good luck.

[chris251285]

okie ic thanks for the help a lot . okie bout all the stuff u send me i think i can only find th shrimp and the fish iam not sure bou the others coz i dun know any other fish shop coz there is very very little shops in Malaysia. partly coz its too hard to rare the fishes so it'll be hard for me to look for stuff . now sea bed doesn't have any sand or rocks there is only a coral and a few stones . bout the hermit crabs i don't know if i ca any also iam nw outsttion and i trying to get somewhere tht has the shops anyway THANKS for ur help lotz man .......

[killroysrevenge]

You da man, Samurai! Nice save.

[Samurai]

:lol::lol::lol: