Blenny dead

[ReeferMadne55]

Hey, so out of nowhere this morning I found my bicolor blenny dead. I had literally just seen him alive 5 minutes before I found him. I am just trying to figure out why he died? I am pretty much on top of everything regarding my tank. My two clowns are healthy and eating. The blenny has been eating every day as well. No other fish in the tank. The only change in my tank within the last week was the addition of a skimmer which has been producing a decent amount of microbubbles while breaking in.

FOWLR
Ammonia: 0
Nitrites: 0
Nitrates: ~20
Phosphates: 0 - 0.25
Salinity: ~1.0245
Temp: 80 F

 

[Evan28395950]

Hey, so out of nowhere this morning I found my bicolor blenny dead. I had literally just seen him alive 5 minutes before I found him. I am just trying to figure out why he died? I am pretty much on top of everything regarding my tank. My two clowns are healthy and eating. The blenny has been eating every day as well. No other fish in the tank. The only change in my tank within the last week was the addition of a skimmer which has been producing a decent amount of microbubbles while breaking in.

FOWLR
Ammonia: 0
Nitrites: 0
Nitrates: ~20
Phosphates: 0 - 0.25
Salinity: ~1.0245
Temp: 80 F

Do you happen to know how long you’ve had it?

 

[sixline]

How did he look when you saw him 5 minutes before you found him dead? Are you sure he was alive? Was he moving?

He may have been on his way out already. Was he new?

If he's not new and he really dies that quickly, I'd check for signs of an injury. Maybe caught in a pump or powerhead or a shift of the aquascape?

ETA: I've never had a fish die this quickly without looking very bad for a couple of days beforehand and stopping eating. Heart attack? I'm sure other posters will have some good answers.

 

[ReeferMadne55]

So I had him for about 3 weeks I’d say. He ate happily every single day. I did notice that yesterday he ate a little less than usual, but still ate. I’m positive he was swimming around about five minutes before I found him dead in the sandbed. The flow rate in my tank is about 40x, could I have swam him to death? There are lots of low flow areas however, my clowns seem happy, and I never noticed him having an issue swimming

 

[sixline]

So I had him for about 3 weeks I’d say. He ate happily every single day. I did notice that yesterday he ate a little less than usual, but still ate. I’m positive he was swimming around about five minutes before I found him dead in the sandbed. The flow rate in my tank is about 40x, could I have swam him to death? There are lots of low flow areas however, my clowns seem happy, and I never noticed him having an issue swimming

Was he tested for Covid-19?
That's very odd, especially if he was eating the day before. And the clowns look fine?

Gosh, the only thing I can think if is some kind of physical injury like I mentioned before. If there are parasites in the tank, your clowns should be affected now or soon. Let's hope that's not the case.

Like I said, I've had several fish "just die" after having them for years and not losing any other fish in the tank. I usually figure it's a natural death of old age, but they usually stop eating a few days before and start looking pale or becoming a bit less active.

I'd love to hear some other answers.

 

[Charles4400]

Whenever I have had fish die unexpectedly within the first few weeks of introduction and all other fish were fine during and after the incident, I always think it has something to do with the way they were caught in the wild possibly via cyanide or other.