NO FISH!!!!!!!!!

[jpalmer]

I have had an issue with my tank for close to 2 months now and it's quiet discerning!

First off, I have 2 shrimp (coral and skunk) a Colt Coral, and a big BTA.
All have been doing very well and have showed no signs off stress or damage on the corals!
My water quality has been PERFECT for the past 2 months as well!

Heres my issue as stated in the subject.
When my tank was stocked I had 2 Osc. Clowns, Scooter Blenny, Clown Goby, Atl. Blue Tang, and I think that was all. The clowns were the first fish intoduced with the Blue Tang being the last.
Over a span of 2-4 days they all started dying off, with the Blue Tang dying first (about 3 days after being placed in tank) and the clowns dying last. At first I thought it was ICH, but I am almost positive it wasnt.
The fish all died very fast and looked HORRIBLE before they were flushed. It appeared as if there skin was coming off, I noticed this with the Clowns because both of them had last there "paddle" fins and all was left was bone. They were basically falling apart.

So when they all died I did what I read to do about ICH and left the tank unstocked of fish so the parasite would die off. I continued to perform water changes as normal, but left the tank empty of fish. During this period ALL of the hair algea in the tank was eaton by the HUGE amount of aphipods that are now "running" the tank. So in turn with all of my fish being gone and the tank just having my corals and shrimp, it now looks AMAZINGLY clear.

Anyway after 4 weeks with no fish I decided to add my first new fish. I picked up a Niger Trigger that the LPS had for a few weeks (he was eating well) and put him in the tank. He was doing great all afternoon and Night. Well, when I turned on the lights in the morning He was covered In white (not a few spots like ICH, but ALL of his skin was again close to covered and gone). He lasted till that afternoon. THis was 2 weeks ago!

Sorry for the LONG story, but I am to the point of getting rid of it all (as some of you might have seen my GETTING RID OF IT ALL post in buy/sell) I figure I could just get more corals, but I dont have the lighting for a lot of softies and LPS.

Does anyone happen to know what disease or parasite this is, and how to get rid of it.

Thanks for any knowledgeable responses

[Sugar Magnolia]

It sounds like it could possibly be Marine Velvet. http://www.reefkeeping.com/issues/2004-07/sp/feature/
http://www.wetwebmedia.com/amylloodiniumart.htm

As with ich parasties, it's best to leave the tank fishless for at least 6-8 weeks to be sure all the stages of the parasite's life cycle are gone.

[NaH2O]

I agree with the length of time for the tank to be empty. You may want to quarantine any new acquisitions to be sure you aren't introducing more unwanted disease to your tank. A fish may appear fine at the store, but the stress of the trip to your house and acclimation, combined with incubation periods (for something like ich), can cause an outbreak.

A quarantine tank will also be helpful for any treatments that may come about if a fish does get diseased while in the display.

Hope this helps!

[jpalmer]

I have heard of Velvet, but I thought it wasnt as "bad" as ICH.
After reading the articles it sounds like it could be it, but I'm still not positive about it being velvet. Again, the skin symptoms were more relevent in the fishes death than there breathing. Also the fact that the fish became infected so quickly.

One little detail I forgot, when I cut on the light in the morning the fish would be COMPLETELY covered, but by afternoon they looked ok, besides the obvious "wrong" behavior.

So I have waited 6 weeks now, although I did introduce that Trigger that died. Does that mean I have to wait another 6 again???

I also do Have a 10 gal. Quarintine tank, but It has very bad filtration, other than the 12 lbs. of LR and maxi-jet 400!!

[JyMan]

maybe it could be this
]brooklynellosisart (http://www.wetwebmedia.com/brooklynellosisart.htm[/web)

[NaH2O]

You could always quarantine your new acquisition for 4-6 weeks making sure that it is free from parasites and pathogens, while making sure your display has had enough time to be clear of any parasites that may be present. A quarantine tank doesn't need much. Some PVC for hiding in, a power head, heater, simple filtration that can be thrown out or disinfected after quarantine or treatment, and that's it. Perform water changes to keep good water quality. Here is a pic of the quarantine set-up I made when I had to treat a couple of clams I have. Those glad-ware containers have bioballs in them for filtration. The powerhead sucks water through the container and bioballs, and out into the tank.

http://www.reeffrontiers.com/photos_members/data/500/QT.jpg

[Gryz]

I'd like to know how long you cycled your tank for. If you did not wait long, your cycle may not have even started, causing ammonia spike stressing and killing your fish.

[jpalmer]

Thanks JyMan, I think you found it...........I forgot to mention that this all started when I introduced a Maroon Clown and he died within three days and looked EXACTLY like the maroon clown in the pic.....I gues the "clownfish Disease" spread through all of my other fishes.

I cycled my tank initially with 9 black mollies for 3 weeks before introducing the biggest panzy of an eel. I mean panzy because he did not eat for like 5 days (and throughout that time period I was slowly removing the mollies) and once all the other fish were gone, he ate once a day and grew very quickly, but I wanted more than just an eel, so when I added my clowns he stopped eating and thats when I bought my quarintine tank to put him in and he did fine.

Anyway, I know I cycled properly and I tested the water the day after the Trigger passed and Amm. 0, Nitrite 0, Trate 0, PH 8.4, so I know its not the water quality.

I didnt see in any of the articles that I just read through on how long it takes for the "Brooklyn" or "Clownfish Disease" to cycle out or GO AWAY!

I like that setup you have NaH20, and I Now am DEFINITLY going to quarintine EVERYTHING before introducing to the main TANK!