brook or marine velvet?

[frankenbakon]

Ive had my 150g set up since early June and in the past 48 hours lost almost all my fish :-( 2 snowflake clowns, , a one spot fox face, a pearly jawfish, a flame angel and a fuzzy dwarf lion from the 50g refugium.


Yesterday I woke up to a dead angel and a dying jawfish and one of the clowns looked like his skin was falling off( like peeling skin after a bad sunburn) I took a water sample to Warehouse aquarium and the guy tested everything and said it was "very good" I didn't get exact numbers but I assume it was in an acceptable range as his only suggestion was garlic and meds so I went ahead and did a 40g water change anyway and He suggest I feed with garlic and some Metronidazole from seachem and within the 2 hours of waking and seeing the issues the jawfish, clown and lion fish were dead. Today I wake up to the foxface stuck to the overflow dead and the last clown on the sandbed

there is still a tiny chalk bass and the diamond goby unaccounted for and all the corals, hermits, snails and even 2 peppermints seems happy and healthy

the only change in the tank in the past 3 or so weeks has been 5 tiny tiny guppies fed to the lion fish.. Is it possible to have introduced a disease to the saltwater inhabitants with freshwater fish as food? the clownfish like I said is the only 1 i noticed any issue with flaky looking pale skin

thanks!
Chris

ps I also sit for at least an hour a day and watch the fish and never noticed any changes to behavior, skin or eating habits until yesterday

 

[jef4y]

No corals or anything else added to the tank?

Literally ANYTHING you put into the tank can bring in a parasite, bacteria or fungus. With it being that quick I'd say Brook is probably the culprit, but I'm sure someone with more knowledge than me will have a better idea.

Very sorry for your losses.

Edit: have you checked for stray voltage? that could be another cause but shouldn't cause a fish to lose scales like you describe.

 

[frankenbakon]

Nope nothing added since Sept 22nd I fed the feeder guppies last wednesday or thursday and the angel went missing Saturday night and body was found yesterday afternoon then the jawfish then the clown then the lion which is in the refugium.. We placed an order for a 36w UV sterilizer last night to hopefully kill whatever it is for the future, the only plausible thing I can think of was those **** guppies cuz the last 2 fish and 1 coral frag came from SEA and I just find it unlikely they came with anything as those fish ate like pigs and seemed to be very active and healthy as is the coral

 

[rdnelson]

Brook or Ich can lay dormant for up to 4 weeks before hatching. If it is brook, the metro will not help. You would need to get any remaining fish into a QT and treat with a formalin based med. You can't use that kind of medication with corals or inversts. The corals and inverts will be fine but if any fish are present in the tank when eggs hatch it start all over. That is why they recomend the tank stay fallow for at least 6 weeks. It it is ich, Metro will help but you may get another outbreak in 4-6 weeks.

 

[frankenbakon]

at what point does it become too late to treat? I feel like I dont want them to be suffering but if they can get over it ill look into how much formalin is as im not familiar.do any local stores carry it?

Edit: and also would a uv light have avoided this?

 

[jef4y]

BTW, what kind of UV did you get? I have to wait until next month but I'm getting an Emperor UV Lite 40w for my 150. Right now at BRS they are offering a huge points kickback that equates to 10%. Might be worth your while to check that out. The Emperor UV's are arguably the best UV's you can buy.

Edit: Additionally, I've heard strong cautions against feeder fish due to the things they can introduce. My guess is that is where it came from.

 

[frankenbakon]

well being unemployed currently I went with the cheapest uv I could find which was an aqua traders 36w uv which was only $60 bucks..

 

[gmpolan]

Brook/Velvet is appearing to be quite common this season. Best advice since the uv wont help much with these diseases, QT all fish introduced into the system. Its good practice and just not worth the headache to add one 50 dollar fish but yet kill off everything else.

 

[jef4y]

Additionally, if you haven't bought the UV yet, or can cancel the order I would personally do so. A cheap UV is absolutely worthless and a waste of money.

 

[frankenbakon]

I've heard that opinion but I don't understand why.. If I give it the low flow as everything states what's it matter if I spent 60 or 300? It's still the same wattage light.. Not arguing just wanting clarification as to why it would be any less beneficial as long as its run properly

 

[jef4y]

Duration of water exposure to the UV and amount of turn-over of tank water through the UV is absolutely key.

Most of the cheap UV sterilizers are very compact & small (like 12" long) whereas a ~40w UV that will be effective will be about 4 FEET long. They're absolutely HUGE.

And a quick search of the Odyssea UV lead to a fair share of complaints that it was junk (housing that cracked/ leaked, not UL rated, etc).

 

[silver surfer]

Emperor makes a rock solid unit.

 

[frankenbakon]

Ill see about canceling the order but @ over $300 i guess I just wont be getting a UV cuz thats as much as my unemployment check lol