HELP ME! No one seems to know what is killing my fish!

[Funky_Fish14]

25% of 1ppm is still .75ppm = still rounds up to 1ppm. Test kits are not very accurate (when you really think about it), and I dont think the small water changes will be making much of a difference. I would try doing a 40-60% water change. 10% water changes wont really get you too far. As long as you let the fresh saltwater mix long enough(at least 12hrs) a 50% waterchange should be no problem. I know a guy who does a 50% waterchange on all of his salt tanks every 2 weeks and does not use a skimmer.

Good luck.

Chris

[Funky_Fish14]

To accentuate - Do much bigger water changes, and suck out as much of the 'white stuff' as possible.

Chris

[Funky_Fish14]

Also try not to swing your salinity too much during the waterchanges - this will stress out your fish/inverts alot, especially if it is an upward swing. Bring your temp up a tiny bit as mentioned.

Sorry for the triple post.

[Ian]

You need to invest in a good test kit, it is hard to diagnose problems without knowing all your parameters. Take a water sample in to one of the better SW stores and they will check parameters for you for now.
Until you know whats happening keep doing large water changes as often as possible to try and keep toxins from building up and if you are not doing it already get some carbon in running in your tank as well.
Thats all I can offer for now but I am sure some of the gurus on here can be of more assistance
Good Luck
Ian

[Red Coral Aquariums]

Originally Posted by Salty_Hobby

I have 3 clown fish (2 spp), the green tip polyps, a cleaner shrimp, anemone, lawnmower blenney, 2 fire tail gobies I think they're called, hermit crabs (with the blue tip claws), a long spined urchin (he's not looking so good) and a yellow tang. I have about 10lbs of live rock in a 47US Gallon tank.

So just to confirm from what I have been reading you have

7 fish
4 or 5 inverts not including snails
10 lbs live rock in a 47 gal.

I do have to agree with xtreme with his comment.

xtreme Do you run a skimmer? Sounds like a fair size bio-load and not enough live rock for filtration.

I initially suspected flatworms when you called me earlier today but from your pictures that is not the case or they are not anything I have encountered. Try and explain a little more about the white spots. Are they soft?. Do they come off the glass easy or are they stuck on firm? Do they squish and denigrate when you touch them? Do they move around? etc. Any info would help identify them.

Small frequent water changes are superior to larger water changes (you do not want to stress out everything more)
Run carbon
Set your skimmer up to run wet
Until you are certain what the problem is do not move your fish.
Bring in a water sample to the store and I will run some tests. ( a sample before a water change)
Call the store if you need some advice.

Kevin

[Marlin65]

Your yellow tang needs to go!!! Your tank is too small. I usually don't say that but a 48 is way too small for a yellow tang. Please find a better home for this fish unless you plan to upgrade??

[Funky_Fish14]

Originally Posted by Red Coral Aquariums

Small frequent water changes are superior to larger water changes (you do not want to stress out everything more)

Kevin;

I dont mean to directly dissagree, but in this case, with such high ammonia, a large water change is needed to bring it down. If you do the math it will take 7 water changes at 10% in size to achieve less than .5ppm ammonia (which is still high), while 1 50% waterchange will achieve .5ppm ammonia. (if someone wants to see the math I'll post it)

I only suggest a large water change to get the 'white crud' out, and eliminate the ammonia which I think in this case is a more severe matter than water change stress. Otherwise i would agree.

However, to the OP: Please do not read 'smaller frequent water changes' as 10% once a week, it means 10-25% every day to 3 days. 10% once a week will not make enough of a difference.

Cheers,

Chris

Originally Posted by Salty_Hobby

I have a skimmer fit for the size of tank and a filter on it, it was ok before with some die offs if I didn't do frequent enough water changes but I've been good about them lately.

The ammonia kit should be ok, I've done tests in the recent past that were zero for ammonia. I don't have any film on the water surface, just the glass and stuff inside the tank under the water. I don't have any snails, other than 2 tiny ones that came with the live rock way back in Feb.

I will keep up with the water changes every few days, the ammonia levels have come down but not by much I'm only panicked because I feel terrible I am killing my fish!

Thanks everyone, I will update in the morning with how the increase salinity, temp and Stability additive for ammonia works out.

I took another look at the pics you posted and they look very similar to the white spots I have and the ones I have are snail eggs. Can you see from the out side of the glass is there a bit of yellow in the center of the disks on the glass if so they are eggs. If your white spots are eggs some maybe dieing off and that could give you a higher ammonia level. Hay everyone lets solve one problem at a time Bio load maybe on the demanding side of things but you have to take in to consideration the depth of the sand bed and how often he does water changes in the first place. And yes you can do a larger water change but not this often.

You have stated the ammoinia is droping with the water changes you have done alreadyand you have not done many water changes. With your bio load you should be doing water changes every 7 -10 days. I would get about 30 - 40 pounds more rock and sell 2-3 fish this will balance your tanks bio load out.
I still think the white spots maybe snail eggs, are they all about the same size and shape?
I have snail eggs every where, they hatch out and in a mounth or so there is a new batch on the glass and rocks and it only takes about 2 days for then to appier every where. As I said if they are not fertile they maybe decaying where they were layed, that will rase your ammionia


take your sample in and get the resualts and post them here.

Bill

[fishytime]

[quote=bvlester;471374 Hay everyone lets solve one problem at a time Bio load maybe on the demanding side of things but you have to take in to consideration the depth of the sand bed and how often he does water changes in the first place.[/QUOTE]

10 pounds of LR simply does not have enough surface area to biologically filter out that many fish, no matter how deep the sand bed is....I would suspect this is your issue....the way I see it you have a couple options, 1) you could do 10-20% water changes every couple days to keep ammonia down, 2) you could (and probably should) pick up some more LR( if you do add it slowly...a couple pounds at a time), 3) reduce your bioload( I would start with the tang...shouldnt be in a tank that small)....in the meantime pick up a bottle of Prime, it can be used to reduce ammonia in an emergency and run carbon if you have the means....hope things turn around for you...

[Myka]

Originally Posted by fishytime

10 pounds of LR simply does not have enough surface area to biologically filter out that many fish, no matter how deep the sand bed is....I would suspect this is your issue....the way I see it you have a couple options, 1) you could do 10-20% water changes every couple days to keep ammonia down, 2) you could (and probably should) pick up some more LR( if you do add it slowly...a couple pounds at a time), 3) reduce your bioload( I would start with the tang...shouldnt be in a tank that small)....in the meantime pick up a bottle of Prime, it can be used to reduce ammonia in an emergency and run carbon if you have the means....hope things turn around for you...

I'm in agreement with Doug.

Personally, I have seen white slime/film appear when ammonia present in a tank. I think that is a direct result from the ammonia, and is a bacterial film. I wouldn't change the temperature or salinity at this point...neither are at a point of causing damage. If I was in your position I would follow these steps:

Find a new home for the tang asap.
1. Do a 50% waterchange today, with water that has been mixing for at least 6 hours (in emergency), and matches the temperature and salinity of your tank.

2. Use Prime to neutralize the remaining ammonia. Add the tank's full dose to the water change water.

3. Do a 25% water change tomorrow.

4. Buy 30 lbs of live rock, and put it into a Rubbermaid container with a powerhead and a heater and allow it to cycle in the tub for several weeks. After the cycle is over you can add it all to the tank without worry.

See where you're at after that.