Help with New Black Perc

[jtreath]

Hi All;

I have 2 new Black False Percs that I picked up from Marc on Saturday. All was well until this evening.. the Female of the two (larger) is barely moving.. and seems to be panting pretty heavily. The Male is fine.. swimming and eating perfectly well.. my Yellow Watchman Goby is also perfectly fine. All my snails and crabs are good and my few softies all look great.

Parameters are:

SG 1.024
pH 8.1
Temp 80.2 F
Ca 460
Phosphate 0
Ammonia 0
Nitrate <5 mg/L

all tests are Nutrifin Tests and the tests are less than 2 weeks old.

I did a 20% water change on Sunday afternoon with fresh RO/DI water.

She is failing fast.. any ideas???

[Kodadad]

I had this exact thing happen with one of my picasso clowns (got them at aqua creations)... unfortunately, it died 2 days later.

Wish I had more input.... goodluck

[alamo]

The only thing I would suggest is bring the temp down to 78 , the higher the temp the less oxygen in the water,but from experience if they show symptoms it's propably too late. Don't run and get an air conditioner, use a fan and blow on top of the tank, you wouldn't believe how fast it will cool it, but you will have to keep up the top off as the evaporation will skyrocket.

[jtreath]

Alamo... I was thinking the same thing.. so I dropped it to 77.5 with a bag of ice floating in the filter return area.... no dice.. still panting heavily and laying on her side. Her gill covers are distended.. but my other 2 fish seem perfectly fine. They do not appear in any distress at all.

[alamo]

I edited the text after you read it, but like I said on the edited text, once they show symptoms, it's propably too late...

[jtreath]

Well.. it is over. I have never seen a fish expire so fast. 6 hours from first signs of distress and she has bleached out to a pale grey and has now expired. I really wish I knew what it was. Everyone else in the tank seems fine.

[marcar]

Hi Jeff, sorry to hear... if you have one I would add a air stone to help reox the tank to be safe. This is very strange in fact and a low oxygen could be the cause all fish react differently.. any chance of another fish could had fight with her? I ask because the fish had been with us for months in our dedicated to ORA system and our losses are close to none on these. Most water parameter would be affecting all the fishes and I trust your maintenance this is not even an issue, bring your refractometer so we can check it again ours just to be sure its not a faulty equipment. sometime it s very difficult or impossible to tell ex: the last fish I lost at home (my bicolor blenny) turned to the worse very fast with no apparent reason the next day it was dead and we found a small pebble stuck in his rear end I guess he swallow it and never managed to pass it..

[jtreath]

Hey Marc;

I do not have an airstone.. but I have a secondary water pump in the Nano that directs water towards the surface providing really good agitation so the O2 should be ok.

I will bring her by in a bag of tank water, and another fresh container of water as well to test. I will bring my refractometer as well... never know.. maybe it is off. I know the ORA livestock is good stock. I never saw any problems between the 3 fish. In fact the Goby seemed delighted to have new tankmates.. he was sitting on the shrooms with the 2 clowns waiting for lunch today. All 3 ate well.. then at supper things seemed good as well. It was at 6:00 that I noticed the apparent decline starting. The only thing I can think of from my end might be a batch of bad mysis?? That is what I feed them at lunch.. but all 3 ate... and the other 2 still seem good.

Will you be at the store tomorrow night? I am out of town for the day.. but should be back in time to run over around 7:30 or so. Otherwise, when would be a good time?

[marcar]

I m working on Thursday night but not tomorrow, I doubt the mysis all fish would be sick I assume but can you see if something or food is stuck inside its mouth ?

[jtreath]

Nothing seems to be in her mouth. See my e-mail for additional details... do you want me to hang on to her until Thursday then?

[kat]

on a side note to all of this, you should invest in quality tests...Hagen products are suitable for freshwater, but notoriously give false readings for saltwater. JMO

[jtreath]

As another side note... Normally I use salifert, but I only have Ca salifert currently. I had picked up the Hagen kit for my freshwater tank and it was all I had on hand last night. I am aware of the difference in quality and that is why I noted the brand in my message. I had used up all my salifert on Sunday following my water change that I did 24 hours after introducing the new livestock. It was something I had planned on picking up this week when the store was open again. This is also why I have told Marc I will bring him a sample of my tank water at his request.

[marcar]

We dont need the fish Jeff, just come and see me with rest as we discussed and we will go from there.

[jtreath]

I borrowed a set of Salifert Tests from my Brother.. todays readings:

Temp 77.8 F
SG 1.024
Ca 450
PO4 0
NH4 0
NO2 0
NO3 < 2 mg/L
KH/Alk 9.9 dKH

I do not want to get the rep of a Fish Killer..lol.. Here are some Tank Shots from tonight:

[jtreath]

Hey Marc;

Just so you know.. all the new ones are happy in the tank as of now. The new and old seem to get along swimmingly..lol. They are eating and no problems seem to be developing.

Thanks for everything.

[cindyreef]

Sorry to hear about your fish. Its always a surprise when they die quickly but it happens. For future reference in case there comes a time you think your tank may be low on oxygen: It can affect only one fish. One time my coral beauty was lying on her side breathing heavily. No other fish seemed bothered. I quickly took my pump (I think it was a maxijet) , hooked the venturi tube and blasted the tank with water bubbles next to her. Within 20 minutes she was swimming and breathing normally. I left the air on for a few hours. I wouldnt go too long because they say it affects the corals. Although it hasnt in my experience. I do this every so often.

BTW nice looking tank and nice pics too.