Suffocating fish
Hi
Please help my fish they seem to be suffocating, gasping and rapid breathing at the surface.
<Not good. Time for action, NOW. Look to removing any possible surface film... a floating scum that may have originated from cooking oil, other aerosols... by dipping a pitcher at an angle, wicking off with clean, white paper towels (non-scented and non-printed)... and very possibly a substantial (25%) water change/s>
There is lots of surface movement on my 300 liter tank as I have 2 x 1200 liters per hour power heads plus Eheim external filter and an internal  filter all turning water over about 10 times per hour , the oxygen level seems to dip at night when the lights are off. What can I do to increase the level of oxygen in the tank?
<Increased mechanical aeration like a long airstone (and pump...) along an inside edge... adding a lighted (photosynthetic) refugium (a sort of live sump), tying it in (with plumbing) to this system...>
I have all the power heads and filters with the aerators on the end. The fish have been in the tank or 4 nights now and the problem has just started.
<Oh! It may well be that your system is still "cycling"... do you know much re ammonia, nitrite....?>
Though the aerators were not on the ends of the power heads to start with. The fish have also lost most of there colour within the last few hours going almost see through. I also have a protein skimmer going constantly. Please help with any suggestions.
Thank you very much.
Ben
<Is your system cycled completely? How long has it been set-up? Do you have a local shop or other pet-fish friends that might come and look at it? Bob Fenner>

Death by anoxia
Hi Bob,  
<Lynn>
   Sorry to bother you again, but I really need to know something and I don't know anyone else that can answer it for me.
   Here's the scoop.  I bought a powder brown tang (white face) from the pet store.  They kept him there for 6 weeks for me and he was fine the whole time.  I then brought him home and as usual I put him in a 40 gallon quarantine tank and started hypo. which I did for 4 weeks (all the time this fish had beautiful color and healthy and eating)  When the four weeks were up I started to increase the salinity.  I know about increasing it slowly over a week or more.  I would take 4" out of the tank and add a mix of 1.020 water.  I did this morning and night for two days and then on the morning of the third day I accidentally added mix from another bucket that had salinity of 1.027 (had to catch a airplane and was in a hurry). The same 4" though.  When I returned that night...the fish was dead.  I feel horrible and was sure that it was my fault.  Then I also realized that the hang on AquaClear 300 filter was not running (motor had crashed)  I keep a glass lid on the tank and now I'm wondering if he would have died from lack of oxygen? or from my increase in salinity?  Which do you think was more likely
<Much more likely a lack of oxygen>
Thank you so much, this is probably stupid as the fish is dead. but I just feel so bad about it and kinda would like to know if it was all my fault or not.
thanks so much
Lynn
<Bob Fenner>

Low oxygen?
Hi Bob,
How can you tell if there's enough dissolved oxygen in a system?
<Hmm, a few ways... the best is to carefully observe your livestock... their breathing and swimming behavior is indicative... There are also meters and test kits for this vital material in solution... And the lack of gas exchange, dissolved oxygen is a very common problem in captive systems... from lack of aeration, too little surface area, films at the air/water interface, too high temperature (increasing metabolic rate, decreasing gaseous solubility).... many more>
I've got a 55-gal FOWLR w/ 1 maxi-jet powerhead, Eheim canister filter, and CPR BakPak skimmer. The top of the tank is pretty well covered with glass so I'm concerned that there's not enough opportunity for gas exchange with the air.
Do the bubbles in the protein skimmer take care of the aeration? 
<They help tremendously, yes>
Will improving circulation (with another powerhead) de facto increase the aeration?
<Yes... especially if it is oriented to disrupt the surface, entrain air...>
I tried using the airline attachment for my powerhead, but it put out too many bubbles. Thanks for your help.
Suzanne.
<I like your curious mind and attitude. Press on. Bob Fenner>

Questions on new tank
Bob,
I've set up a new tank (in Mid-may of this year). Its a 75 gal (4 ft long, 18" front to back) with 100 lbs Fiji LR and a red sea Berlin skimmer in the sump - no other filtration. I'm having a couple of problems with it though:
1) I get fine (pin prick sized) bubbles in my tank from my return. Its not the skimmer (I've tried running w/o it). I've tried different water pumps, and nothing seems to get rid of them. Currently, I have a MAG-DRIVE 7 pump (with prefilter sponge) for the return pump. I thought the sponge would eliminate the bubbles, but it doesn't - the sump doesn't appear to have any bubbles when the water gets to my pump. Any suggestions? 
<Yes, and a concern... do check the screws around the volute/impeller with a driver... you may have an air intake problem there... at any length you need to find, cure the source of the intake>
My corals (polyps, SPS, LPS, leathers) and Lysmata shrimp are all doing well, but I still want to eliminate the fine bubbles. (they can only be seen when close to the tank glass - within 2 ft). I thought the bubbles would hurt my sps the most, but they seem to be thriving (mainly Acropora).
<Not problematical with much besides fishes... read over: http://wetwebmedia.com/bbldisease.htm
On gas-bubble disease... an account about pond fishes... same principle>
2) I've lost some fish (2 fire gobies, 1 Kole eye tang, 1 bicolor goby) and I don't know why. 
<Oh, oh...>
They all die within weeks after starting to work their gills rapidly. The day or two before death they become lethargic - lay on bottom - and get very pale around the gills. (ammonia/nitrate/nitrite all at 0).
Oxygen is near saturation (6-7). I have a Australian clown that's doing fine and a mandarin goby that is doing ok also, except for the next item. I always dip (freshwater/blue) all my new fish for 5 - 10 min.s. Could this be some parasite? 
<Not likely with such a disparate mix of species... I do suspect gas-bubble problems here>
Any ideas on the cause or suggestions to cure?
<Find that leak... with a water/damp paper towel applied to sections of the plumbing, fittings mainly ahead of the pump, though could be after... to see where the air entraining stops...>
3) The mandarin goby is plump - when I first got him, he was pretty thin/sickly looking (My live rock has so many amphipods/copepods that they keep plugging my prefilters - a nice prob to have I guess), but he has white spots. It doesn't look like ick, rather, it looks like someone took an eraser and rubbed some of his pigmentation off - leaving white marks - mainly centered around the back of the head. Any ideas on what this is, how to treat?
<Need to know more about the appearance, cause... Would treat with cleaners at this point.>
Lastly, are SPS corals really suppose to be difficult to raise? 
<For some people I guess... given decent water quality, strong lighting, they grow like proverbial weeds for the most part>
I've only been in the hobby for a year, and was always under the impression that they were difficult, but in in my experience, they seem to be fairly hardy - much hardier than LPSs/fish/leathers. I've got many different Acroporas and a couple Montipora capricornis and the worst luck I've ever had with any of them is if the Alk/ca drops too low, they stop growing until the levels are elevated - then they take off again. LPS corals always seem to be very susceptible to physical or infectious injury, in my experience.
<Such are generalizations re SPS... Bob Fenner>
Thanks again!

Questions on new tank - GPD
Bob,
Thanks for your response on GPD (gas bubble disease being the cause of fish death due to many fine bubble in my tank from my return pump) - I never would have focused on that w/o your advice. I read the article at http://wetwebmedia.com/bbldisease.htm as well as a few other web pages I found after searching for GPD, but they ended up raising more questions/confusion (and here I thought that I was getting past the 'ignorant newbie phase' with my 2nd tank) that I hoped you could answer:
<Best to be able to call on the aforestated "phase"... to always remember our child-like behavior... it is indeed always with us... and valuable>
1) I'm assuming GPD is caused by rapid changes in super saturation of gases of all types, not just oxygen. 
<Yes... changes in saturation/degassing generally associated with thermal and pressure changes>
Oxygen saturation just happens to be the most convenient component to measure in order to determine dissolved gas changes- is this correct?
<Hmm, okay... and a valuable measure for other purposes>
2) I'm assuming GPD is caused by 'rapid changes' in dissolved gas levels, and not the absolute levels themselves - correct?
<Well, actually too much change in "undissolved gasses"... as in air/bubble growth/expansion within living tissue>
If so, how much can the gas levels change in a period of time and still be considered safe (i.e. 1PPM O2 per hour?).
<Think we may be talking about two different things here... any over saturation of any gas is trouble though... let's say 8 or more ppm of oxygen in a rapidly warming medium...>
2.5) If its the 'change' in gas levels that's the main culprit, is there a max safe level of 02 - regardless of how gradually it is obtained? 
<Ah, both... The analogy of a cold coca cola (tm) on a warm day being opened and shaken is useful here... imagine the inside of your fish (or yourself!) consisting of the Coke (tm)... You'd be better off in an equally pressurized environment, a cold one, one of similar total dissolved gas, or not shaken...>
(I found a web article on GPD and salmon that indicated detrimental effects start at 105% saturation and fatalities start at 140%).
<Yes, this is so>
3) If its rapid changes in dissolved gas that causes GPD, I'm assuming if I have a leak in a return pump, that I don't want to fix it too fast (i.e., it would cause a rapid decline in the dissolved gas resulting in another wave of GPD on my tank - when the saturation levels drop). Is this correct? 
<Not correct. You want to fix it ASAP... the fish are in the unpressurized world they have to be in... the extra gas is "the intruder"...>
If so, can you recommend a way to slowly eliminate the bubbles instead of all at once?
<No need to do this... repair the source of the air entraining immediately.>
4) Your web page article on GPD indicated that algae/photosynthesis could also cause GPD. Is this something to be concerned about if someone adds macroalgae to a 24/7 lit sump to an existing tank?
<No... this scenario is mostly a concern in/with ponds... with very fast changes in lighting (the sun), copious amounts of filamentous algae, rapidly increasing/changing temperatures>
If so, how do you add macroalgae to a sump to an existing tank in a safe manner (i.e. start out with a 4 hr/day light period, and slowly increase over a month, or start with small amount of plants and let it slowly grow)????
<Not a concern>
Does photosynthesis (via lighted sump/macro algae) only cause GPD in extremely rare situations?
<Exceedingly rare cause in aquariums>
5) Assuming that a skimmer isn't returning bubbles in its outflow, can high powered downdraft (i.e. ETSS), and needle wheel skimmers that are skimming 4-6 times the tank volume each hour cause GPD?
<Yes... in some circumstances... one of the reasons their discharges s/b directed to a sump w/o livestock, or otherwise be fitted with a diffuser/accumulator of bubbles>
Can they cause it if they suddenly break down by causing rapid loss of dissolved O2/gas (if so, how long would this take in an average - sorry for the vagueness - stocked tank - hours, days?).
<Can be caused in minutes>
6) lastly, can you recommend a good O2 test kit? I'm using the Salifert kit, but its hard to distinguish between the 5/7 PPM levels (very similar shades).
<Hach, LaMotte... better to use titration rather than colorimetric assay. Bob Fenner>
Thanks again!

Having more problems then I can figure out... too much life, too little water, oxygen...
Hi, I have a 37 gallon salt tank, and I have more problems then I can deal with. I am using an Eclipse 3 as well as a UGF with two powerheads. I have about 11 pounds of Fiji live rock, and I do a five gallon change out every week.
Here is the problem: with the exception of a yellow tang, a small snowflake eel, and a crab, every fish that goes in there dies. I have spent close to 500 on fish, everything from triggers and lion fish to boxfish and groupers, and they have all died. Can you think of anything that would cause this sort of problem? Also, as of late the Tang has lost and regrown fins, and now one of his eyes is covered in some sort of crap that is making it bulge. 
I wonder if it is the live rock or the Eclipse, or a combination of both. On my last aquarium I had a Fluval and no live rock, and everything worked like gang-busters. No dead fish, nothing. Not even during the cycle.
Do you think that the use of a bigger powerhead running the water from the UGF into a UV sterilizer would do the trick here?
Ian
>>
From your list of what lives and what you've lost I can almost assure you of the root cause... and of a/the best route to solve the problem... You have suffered from a lack of gas exchange... not just gaseous solubility of oxygen... but a whole array of conversion and diffusion problems... inherent in your set-up (as you seem to imply... in comparison with your previous set-up).
The life in/on your live rock, that becomes situated within the area of your substrate, and the "macro" life (tang, etc.) all are "breathing"... but there's not enough mechanical aeration and extraction of microbes, bio-important-molecules to support more large "gas users"... They've been dying from the ill-effects of poor gaseous exchange and metabolite build-up/concentration.
Cutting to the chase, what I would do to solve all this in one piece of gear is to install a protein skimmer (tricky, but it can be done with Eclipse's) over the back... or better into a sump...
A UV would help, but would not solve the problem...
Bob Fenner

Disease question... env. likely
Hi Bob,
I sent you an email (2) days ago and have not received your reply. Please let me know the answer as soon as possible since the longer I wait, the more chances that my fishes will die.
I have a 105G tank with most Tangs and Angels. One of the Tangs (Sailfin), and one of the Angels (Imperator) started to act abnormally. They slow down, breath just a little bit harder (not faster), and have not eaten for 2.5 days. There is no sign of disease that I can see.
I did a partial water change (5) days ago and did another one a day ago. I tested the water and everything (PH, Ammonia, Nitrite, Nitrate, Alkalinity) looks OK. I had the same thing happened to my Naso Tang more than a week ago and it died after (2) days of not eating.
Please let me know your thoughts on this.
Thanks,
jt 
>>
Thank you for writing... and sorry to be a "bit" behind. (am out on Maui, diving, taking pix.... touristing). What you describe so well, is very, very likely a matter of "environmental disease".... a lack of gaseous exchange... a few things can be done, immediately: lower your specific gravity... take out some of the marine water and replace it with just fresh... you can safely drop the spg a few thousandths today... and this will appreciably increase gas solubility... 
Going forward, do add a mechanical aerator... an airstone, and/or one or more powerheads....
The big clue here was the order in which the livestock you list were mal-affected... The Naso require/d the highest dissolved oxygen.... 
The situation may seem confusing in that it "happened all at once".... but there are many "things afoot" in a captive aquatic system... sometimes the microbial make-up in a system will greatly increase their use of gasses.... and much more possible... do the above things NOW. In the meanwhile cut back/don't feed your fishes.
Bob Fenner

Algae?
I set up a RR 180 gal tank about 6 weeks ago. I have the live rock (250 lbs), two damsels, one tang, and two gobies. I am using a compact fluor lighting system (6 X 95 W) which is on about 14 hrs per day. Small pink-silver bubbles are appearing all over the tops of the rocks nearest the lights, and they are spreading rapidly. They are individual spheres and look almost like air bubbles attached to the rocks. What am I dealing with, and what should I be doing about it? The tank has gone through a brown algae stage and is now primarily green and purple/pink. The ammonia level is very low ("0"), and I am using a wet/dry system with a protein skimmer off the sump.
Thanks, Steve
>>
Hmm, likely this is either "just" a mix of successive algal forms that are photosynthesizing so vigorously their gasses are getting trapped beneath biofilms... Or could be a massive emergence of "Bubble Algae", most called Valonia in our interest... At this point, I would do nothing to these bubbles per se... but would add your "cleaner uppers" who will do a great deal to them (hermit crabs, snails if you'd like, blennies, Tangs, Mithrax crabs.... many other possibilities> 
Maybe take a read through my various "Algae" and "Algae Control" materials stored at the URL: www.wetwebmedia.com for more.
Bob Fenner

Wanted to add...
Just wanted to add, that the fish appear to have problems breathing. The first couple hours they seem fine, then appear to breathing heavy (gulping with mouth and fins). They do not lose color. What could this be? I have always been careful that no soap got in the tank, and it is in a bedroom, and nothing is sprayed (haven't dusted since I setup the tank). Please advise!
Cory >>
<Ah, possibly just anoxia/hypoxia (low, no oxygen), coupled with the livestock "being new" (osmotically challenged), maybe added with other chemical insults I listed... 
Bob Fenner>