An envenomation sting that does not result in the release of a large amount of toxins into the aquarium will usually only effect the fish that was stung. This is often seen by a sudden and unexplainable lose of a fish when a stinging fish is present. However, toxic fish poisoning of the whole aquarium can be noticed by how all the fish in the tank are acting. They will suddenly begin to swim erratically, having the appearance of loosing their sense of direction. Heavy and rapid breathing will result, the eyes may cloud over, the fins become ragged looking, they lay on the bottom, and in the end they will convulse and die. All of this can happen in a matter of minutes, depending on the toxicity of the poisonous fish or animal in the aquarium, and how large of a system you have. Generally, the smaller the system, the faster the toxins can act.
If quick action is not taken, ALL can be lost. If it's not too late, immediately remove any living fish and animals from the tank. We had heard that adding AmQuel to a contaminated aquarium helps to buffer and remove some of the effects of fish toxins. We tried this and have found good results. However, you still need to remove any remaining living animals from the aquarium until a complete and thorough tank/equipment cleaning and water change can be done. If the toxin from the poisonous fish is strong enough, sometimes it cannot be completely removed from the aquarium. If after having a toxic fish poisoning you have fish or other marine animals dying for no reason and everything else seems to check out, suspect residual toxins in the rocks, sand, gravel, carbon (if using for filtration), etc. This may warrant a complete strip down and sterilization of the tank to rid yourself of the problem, but this is usually only in extreme cases.
Let's take a closer look at five common fish families that aquarists need to beware of:
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