Ok I need help. I recently acquired 2 beautiful Heniochus bannerfish. To be precise 08/26- I received them from an online vendor and they were beautiful-albeit a bit larger than I had expected ( I ordered small and each fishes body was approximately 4" long).
They have been eating very well. I feed them krill, mysis, Ocean Nutrition flake, Spectrum Thera A pellets and Mega Marine Algae and some peas. I usually feed 2x a day, about a cube per day.
Last night I observed the smaller of the 2 heniochus acting reclusive, and looked a little thin (despite eating well). I also had noticed that their dorsal fins had blotchy marking on it (would appear that they had lost some of the white pigment in those areas and it was turning translucent) This am I couldn't see the smaller heniochu swimming but did see the larger one swimming in its normal space but rather tipsy looking. 30 minutes later when actinics came on the larger fish was down and I could see the other had died. I quickly hauled the larger fish out figuring some parameter must be way out and stuck it into a qt tank I have on hand. It has since died.
Other tank mates: 2 false percs, 1 small blue hippo and a red scooter blenny and assorted snails, cleaner shrimp, RBTA and assorted softie corals. All of the listed fauna have been in the aquarium for at least 6 months or more with the exception of the scooter who was added in June.
Tank Specs: 90 Gallon, Euroreef 6-2 skimmer, lots of live rock, mag 12, T5 lighting
Water test today:
Ammonia=0
PH=8.28
Temp: 81 (usually reads about a degree high) so prob 80
Alk-8.6
Nirates-this I'm having trouble with and MAY be the culprit. My first test (Salifert) read next to nothing. I doubted that so went to another test kit I have and it shows Dark Orange which is betweem 25-50 (test kit has orange at 25, red for 50, mine is dark orange between the two)
I know butterflies don't care for Nitrates but what are the chances of them dying at the same time from Nitrates, and would this really be enough to kill them? I'm going to see if I have any other Nitrate test kits around just to see if I can nail it down. I'm not close to an LFS so getting it tested today is not an option.
This really is distressing me. What else that I haven't tested for could kill these fish overnight? I'm going to email the online vendor to see if they have had any similar incidents. I should mention the rest of the tank looks happy as can be this morning -nothing else is showing any kind of distress. I am so puzzled. I should mention I have had a history of losing fish after about a month in this tank for a while now...I need to figure this out or I might just thow in the towel. My 90 looks so empty with just 3 swimming fish!
Please help :sad:
Carolyn
They have been eating very well. I feed them krill, mysis, Ocean Nutrition flake, Spectrum Thera A pellets and Mega Marine Algae and some peas. I usually feed 2x a day, about a cube per day.
Last night I observed the smaller of the 2 heniochus acting reclusive, and looked a little thin (despite eating well). I also had noticed that their dorsal fins had blotchy marking on it (would appear that they had lost some of the white pigment in those areas and it was turning translucent) This am I couldn't see the smaller heniochu swimming but did see the larger one swimming in its normal space but rather tipsy looking. 30 minutes later when actinics came on the larger fish was down and I could see the other had died. I quickly hauled the larger fish out figuring some parameter must be way out and stuck it into a qt tank I have on hand. It has since died.
Other tank mates: 2 false percs, 1 small blue hippo and a red scooter blenny and assorted snails, cleaner shrimp, RBTA and assorted softie corals. All of the listed fauna have been in the aquarium for at least 6 months or more with the exception of the scooter who was added in June.
Tank Specs: 90 Gallon, Euroreef 6-2 skimmer, lots of live rock, mag 12, T5 lighting
Water test today:
Ammonia=0
PH=8.28
Temp: 81 (usually reads about a degree high) so prob 80
Alk-8.6
Nirates-this I'm having trouble with and MAY be the culprit. My first test (Salifert) read next to nothing. I doubted that so went to another test kit I have and it shows Dark Orange which is betweem 25-50 (test kit has orange at 25, red for 50, mine is dark orange between the two)
I know butterflies don't care for Nitrates but what are the chances of them dying at the same time from Nitrates, and would this really be enough to kill them? I'm going to see if I have any other Nitrate test kits around just to see if I can nail it down. I'm not close to an LFS so getting it tested today is not an option.
This really is distressing me. What else that I haven't tested for could kill these fish overnight? I'm going to email the online vendor to see if they have had any similar incidents. I should mention the rest of the tank looks happy as can be this morning -nothing else is showing any kind of distress. I am so puzzled. I should mention I have had a history of losing fish after about a month in this tank for a while now...I need to figure this out or I might just thow in the towel. My 90 looks so empty with just 3 swimming fish!
Please help :sad:
Carolyn