Fish getting wiped one by one HELP! (with pics)

[ryanuuy]

Hi guys, let me start with a short description of my tank. Its a 150g SPS reef that has been with me for over a year. Everything was doing great till just a few days ago. I use biopellets, a XP3000 skimmer(rated 350g), and i run AC all in my 80g sump.

Here's the problem: 2-3 weeks ago i asked my friend who was going to singapore to purchase a mitratus butterflyfish for me. When it got home, everything was okay and it was eating by the next day so i had no reason to suspect anything wrong. I went away for 5 days and left the tank under the care of my brother as i have done many times in the past and when i got home everything was still okay except the mitratus was discolored, its eyes were cloudy, it wasnt swimming out in the open anymore and its scales were falling off.

I thought immediately that its probably flukes because of the cloudy eyes so i treated right away with praziquantel and did a FW dip but that didnt seem to help. It died after 2 days and i thought maybe i was just too late to save it. I did a FW dip to confirm if it was flukes but looks like it wasnt. The cloudiness in the eye never left and nothing was coming off its skin but scales. Yes, i did double check if it was scales and they were.

Dead Mitratus Pics:

The next day, my other mitratus and declivis butterflyfishes were acting all weird. They were still eating a lot but they were discolored. I added more selcon to their food and hoped that when i get home from work, they would still be okay. When i arrived that night, the declivis was on its side and the mitratus was looking even paler. I caught them both and immediately set up a 40g hospital tank and placed them both there. I was already so confused as to what it could be. My friend got a fish from that same batch and his fowlr was getting wiped the same time as mine and he suspected that it was brooklynella. I immediately added furan-2 and formalin to the QT in the hope to save them but by the next day, the declivis was a gonner and the mitratus wasnt looking good anymore. That afternoon, it died as well. I tried comparing their pics to those of fish affected by brook but im not 100% convinced it is but it’s the most likely candidate I think.

Pics of the 2nd mitratus and declivis. You will notice that the eyes of the mitratus and the declivis arent cloudy like the first mitratus.

Today, one of my randal anthias and my royal gramma(both have been with me for more than a year and were super healthy) died.

Please guys! HELP ME!!! I know i should have put the mitratus on QT but the LFS already had him in QT for over a week and they assured me he was good to go.

My next step now is to catch all the fishes in my tank by tomorrow morning and treat them all. As to what i should add to the hospital tank, im not sure yet. Please feel free to add comments!

[FuEl]

Red patches usually indicative of gram negative bacterial infection. A broad spectrum antibiotic might be your best bet.

[ryanuuy]

Yes, that is exactly what i am thinking but what about the discoloration of the scales? My theory would be that it is brooklynella which lead to a secondary bacterial infection which would explain all the symptoms such as lethargy, rapid breathing, discolored patches on the skin, etc.

Any other advice or opinions would be most welcome!

[lcf425]

My guess is velvet

[sun2000]

Yes, that is exactly what i am thinking but what about the discoloration of the scales? My theory would be that it is brooklynella which lead to a secondary bacterial infection which would explain all the symptoms such as lethargy, rapid breathing, discolored patches on the skin, etc.

Any other advice or opinions would be most welcome!

I lost 2 golden butterflies to something similar but in a QT tank, they look the same with the blurred/cloudy eyes as well. Treated with FW dip and copper but did not make it. Now I'm wondering if it was Brooklynella as well ... did not do any antibiotic treatment ( Furan 2) which in hind sight I should have.... symptom all seem the same as what you mentioned ... wondering how to avoid in the future.

[yikai]

you've received much more replies in RC and i've replied your thread and your PM already. based on all the replies, the consensus are more or less the same.

i believe, as well as many others, that a combination of many factors played apart. but most importantly i think that a bacterial infection was the most serious ailment affecting your fishes. velvet and flukes could be present also since you said that the fishes were coated in a fine dusting of spots.

[ryanuuy]

Yes i too believe that it was the secondary bacterial infection that caused this to happen. Before all this, my fish were totally healthy and my tank has been up for more than a year with no problems or hiccups. Right now, i already caught all my fishes leaving my display tank fallow and will leave it that way for 2 months at least before adding carefully quarantined fishes. My current fishes are all in a 40g hospital tank with 2 large airpumps and copper and furan 2. Im leaning more towards velvet now than brook since there did seem to be a fine dusting of white before all the other bigger symptoms started to happen. I dont think it was flukes though because i did a FW dip on them and nothing came out at all. Scales falling seems to be an isolated incident on the first mitratus.

Yes, lesson learned. Always properly QT your fishes.

[dnsfpl]

may i know what water do you use for water change?

treated tap + salt?

RODI + salt?

distilled water + salt?

NSW?

and when is your last water change? how many %?

[ryanuuy]

I use D-D saltmix and its with RO/DI water from a supplier that i trust(one of my old college friends) so im pretty sure i didnt introduce anything through there. This whole thing only happened actually after i got a mitratus from SG. I think it was carrying a bug or something. Before that, my tank was running for over a year without so much as a hiccup. After i added that fish and when i came home from china, it looked really sick already.

My display tank is 150g with an 80g sump. My total water volume less the rocks and the reactors and all would probably be at least 120g or so since my sump is filled with liverocks. I usually change 30% of that every 2 weeks.

[orsony]

Thanks for sharing your experience. I trust this is a very good lesson for all reefer to learn to keep new fishes in QT no matter how healthy the fishes maybe. Dont point the finger at LFS cos we don't know what the fish might have carried with it.

Speedy recovery to your left over fishes.

Keep us update on the treatment and progress.

Thanks.

[dnsfpl]

after 15% water change using treated age tap water + salt

both my barlett suddenly KOed, was eating well the previous day

ich suddenly get out of control

my last added fish was a mystery wrasse, app a month ago

coincidentally, my aro tank water turn cloudy after water change too

that is why i suspect my water source

[lcf425]

time to get an ro/di unit^^

[lcf425]

double post

[Solo77]

Bro, I encounter with barlett, eating well and kept for months can suddenly breathe very fast and KO. Not sure this is due to water or themselves.

Yes, always good to keep new fish before introducing to main tank but make sure yr QT only got one fish, lol. I kena, got a feeding MI which gone thr lfs quarantine etc but died on the following day and slowly wiped out all my other QT fishes. Sad but wake up call.

after 15% water change using treated age tap water + salt

both my barlett suddenly KOed, was eating well the previous day

ich suddenly get out of control

my last added fish was a mystery wrasse, app a month ago

coincidentally, my aro tank water turn cloudy after water change too

that is why i suspect my water source

[dnsfpl]

guess its my luck

will try dispar when my ich problem cools

thanks

[ranchuboy]

Bro, I encounter with barlett, eating well and kept for months can suddenly breathe very fast and KO. Not sure this is due to water or themselves.

Yes, always good to keep new fish before introducing to main tank but make sure yr QT only got one fish, lol. I kena, got a feeding MI which gone thr lfs quarantine etc but died on the following day and slowly wiped out all my other QT fishes. Sad but wake up call.

Good point. Always QT one fish at a time. If you have to introduce another fish into the QT tank, then reset the QT clock to start from the newly introduced fish. Minimum QT period is 1 month (for me least), no matter how long the fish had been at the lfs.

[lcf425]

guess its my luck

will try dispar when my ich problem cools

thanks

bartlett are much hardier then dispar IMO

[Joeteng]

I have this problem way back a month ago and it is suspect to be internal parasites/bacteria. My fishes died one by one and it is heartbreaking! So I do a water change in hope of clearing some bacteria or parasites every 4 days, it works. My fishes are now healthy and routine back to normal.