2 dead fish, 2 days

CoastieFlo · Jan 26, 2022

Hello reefers,

I had a bicolor blenny and a green clown goby die within 2 days after being alive for almost 2 weeks. All that remains are my pulsing Xenia, gsp, a sexy shrimp and some snails. Salinity 1.026, temp 75- 76 (a little low but not really), 0 ammonia, 0 nitrites and 0 nitrates, PH 8.4...I did have a tiger wardi goby die in it after I noticed it was having a hard time in my other tank. My suspicion was that it died from stress and being bullied but now I'm starting to think it might have had some disease. I inspect all of my fish and did not notice any kind of disease and I haven't had this problem until now. Is there a disease that can kill these fish within 2 days with no signs of illness before hand? No other fish are dying in the other tank. I did do a water change 3 days ago but nothing out of the ordinary and my other tank is doing just fine. I don't quarantine, I know I should but this is odd. I also added vibrant about 2 weeks ago but only half the dose to help get rid of some algae. The tank has been running for 4 months now with no fish until recently, I know it's cycled as well. Any thoughts or could it just be a coincidence?

Lavey29 · Jan 26, 2022

Can be multiple reasons. How did you acclimate the new fish? did you compare the water from the LFS to your salinity? Does vibrant affect 02 levels? I thought I heard that somewhere. What filtration are you using? Surface agitation? Skimmer?

Theulli · Jan 26, 2022

CoastieFlo said:
Hello reefers,

I had a bicolor blenny and a green clown goby die within 2 days after being alive for almost 2 weeks. All that remains are my pulsing Xenia, gsp, a sexy shrimp and some snails. Salinity 1.026, temp 75- 76 (a little low but not really), 0 ammonia, 0 nitrites and 0 nitrates, PH 8.4...I did have a tiger wardi goby die in it after I noticed it was having a hard time in my other tank. My suspicion was that it died from stress and being bullied but now I'm starting to think it might have had some disease. I inspect all of my fish and did not notice any kind of disease and I haven't had this problem until now. Is there a disease that can kill these fish within 2 days with no signs of illness before hand? No other fish are dying in the other tank. I did do a water change 3 days ago but nothing out of the ordinary and my other tank is doing just fine. I don't quarantine, I know I should but this is odd. I also added vibrant about 2 weeks ago but only half the dose to help get rid of some algae. The tank has been running for 4 months now with no fish until recently, I know it's cycled as well. Any thoughts or could it just be a coincidence?

Were they eating? Were they behaving normally? Both of these guys will find a little spot on a rock or in a nook to hang out, and then zip out and grab food, if they were swimming frantically, or if they weren't coming out to eat, that is a data point.

CoastieFlo · Jan 26, 2022

Lavey29 said:
Can be multiple reasons. How did you acclimate the new fish? did you compare the water from the LFS to your salinity? Does vibrant affect 02 levels? I thought I heard that somewhere. What filtration are you using? Surface agitation? Skimmer?

I floated the bags to temp acclimate as I usually do. My salinity is the same as my LFS, I don't know about vibrant affecting co2 levels, I don't use a skimmer it's a 10 gallon nano and I've got an internal filter blowing water over the surface to agitate. I honestly don't think anybody will ever really know I suppose I'm just more frustrated and trying not to kill anymore animals!

CoastieFlo · Jan 26, 2022

Theulli said:
Were they eating? Were they behaving normally? Both of these guys will find a little spot on a rock or in a nook to hang out, and then zip out and grab food, if they were swimming frantically, or if they weren't coming out to eat, that is a data point.

I was feeding frozen mysis, some cyclops, and some eggs. The blenny was munching on some algae growing in the tank and I saw them both come out to feed. The clown goby was a little inactive though and wouldn't go after food unless it went to his face but I assumed it's what that species did.

Theulli · Jan 26, 2022

CoastieFlo said:
I floated the bags to temp acclimate as I usually do. My salinity is the same as my LFS, I don't know about vibrant affecting co2 levels, I don't use a skimmer it's a 10 gallon nano and I've got an internal filter blowing water over the surface to agitate. I honestly don't think anybody will ever really know I suppose I'm just more frustrated and trying not to kill anymore animals!

"I floated the bags to temp acclimate as I usually do. My salinity is the same as my LFS, I don't know about vibrant affecting co2 levels"

I wouldn't float acclimate for anything except fish that came through the mail. You are adjusting for more than just temperature and salinity. 2 weeks though is a touch long for them to have survived an acclimation issue.

Lavey29 · Jan 26, 2022

CoastieFlo said:
I floated the bags to temp acclimate as I usually do. My salinity is the same as my LFS, I don't know about vibrant affecting co2 levels, I don't use a skimmer it's a 10 gallon nano and I've got an internal filter blowing water over the surface to agitate. I honestly don't think anybody will ever really know I suppose I'm just more frustrated and trying not to kill anymore animals!

research some threads here about vibrant and ammonia spikes and 02 problems in small tanks.

CoastieFlo · Jan 26, 2022

Theulli said:
"I floated the bags to temp acclimate as I usually do. My salinity is the same as my LFS, I don't know about vibrant affecting co2 levels"

I wouldn't float acclimate for anything except fish that came through the mail. You are adjusting for more than just temperature and salinity. 2 weeks

Theulli said:

"I floated the bags to temp acclimate as I usually do. My salinity is the same as my LFS, I don't know about vibrant affecting co2 levels"

I wouldn't float acclimate for anything except fish that came through the mail. You are adjusting for more than just temperature and salinity. 2 weeks though is a touch long for them to have survived an acclimation issue.

Click to expand...

Setting up a QT next time, and drip acclimate...everything I pretty much thought was pointless until now.

CoastieFlo · Jan 26, 2022

Lavey29 said:
research some threads here about vibrant and ammonia spikes and 02 problems in small tanks.

Thanks, will do

Tamberav · Jan 26, 2022

If salinity matches then floating is fine...

Were they breathing fast at all? Velvet in the gills can kill fast.

CoastieFlo · Jan 26, 2022

Tamberav said:
If salinity matches then floating is fine...

Were they breathing fast at all? Velvet in the gills can kill fast.

Never noticed any fast breathing but that's good to know. Can velvet stay in a tank after they die and been removed?

Tamberav · Jan 26, 2022

CoastieFlo said:
Never noticed any fast breathing but that's good to know. Can velvet stay in a tank after they die and been removed?

Yes, tank can be cleared by going fallow:

45 Day Fallow periods

I've been doing some research into the "76 day fallow period". I never heard of that prior to coming to Reef2Reef this past summer. I had always used 32 days as the maximum time for a tomont to remain viable under tropical conditions, and then I would round up to 45 days to help ensure that...

www.reef2reef.com