DEAD FISH PLS HELP

[StartingATank]

I am unsure why one of my springeris damsels had suddenly died. First, parameters:
-Nitrates are 33.5
-Ammonia and Nitrites are 0
-PH is 7.2
-Salinity is 1.025
All other fish look healthy. Most recent additions were rainbow Bubble tip anemone, some chaeto, pulsing Xenia, and a small finger leather. Other inhabitants are royal Gramma, 2 clowns, another damsel, and a tomini Tang. No aggression between the fish. Only sickness I have ever had in the tank was Hexamita, which I treated with Metronidazole, Had it whenever I added my first 2 fish. It did come back last month, and I treated it again for a week. It never really had been that severe. I do not see any indention on the forehead whenever a fish has Hexamita. Other possible problems could be that I have: the anemone, an urchin, toadstool, Zoas, and a extremely small octospawn, and a peppermint shrimp. Haven't had any other recent deaths in the tank, other than a snail about 2 months ago that got stuck and died, and a sea cucumber, which was killed and eaten by copepods and amphipods. I have plenty of rockwork for them to hide in. I feed them one cube of frozen mysis, Brine, and spiraluna each day. I am currently running carbon before fish died. Tank is 33 gallon. Temperature stays at a normal of 76 degrees. I have plenty of surface agitation, and running a protien skimmer. I have had this first for about 9 month, I believe. Only thing that looks off about him is some scales are darker than others, and he has some white patches of scales, like they were molting in a way, but that could be the reflection of the light.
He sleeps here, by some zoas:

Bottom View of Fish

Left View of Fish:

Right View of Fish:

I might have left some stuff out, so please ask away if I am missing something. I'm also worried if my other damsel will start being more aggressive to the other fish. #fishmedics pls help.

 

[vetteguy53081]

I am unsure why one of my springeris damsels had suddenly died. First, parameters:
-Nitrates are 33.5
-Ammonia and Nitrites are 0
-PH is 7.2
-Salinity is 1.025
All other fish look healthy. Most recent additions were rainbow Bubble tip anemone, some chaeto, pulsing Xenia, and a small finger leather. Other inhabitants are royal Gramma, 2 clowns, another damsel, and a tomini Tang. No aggression between the fish. Only sickness I have ever had in the tank was Hexamita, which I treated with Metronidazole, Had it whenever I added my first 2 fish. It did come back last month, and I treated it again for a week. It never really had been that severe. I do not see any indention on the forehead whenever a fish has Hexamita. Other possible problems could be that I have: the anemone, an urchin, toadstool, Zoas, and a extremely small octospawn, and a peppermint shrimp. Haven't had any other recent deaths in the tank, other than a snail about 2 months ago that got stuck and died, and a sea cucumber, which was killed and eaten by copepods and amphipods. I have plenty of rockwork for them to hide in. I feed them one cube of frozen mysis, Brine, and spiraluna each day. I am currently running carbon before fish died. Tank is 33 gallon. Temperature stays at a normal of 76 degrees. I have plenty of surface agitation, and running a protien skimmer. I have had this first for about 9 month, I believe. Only thing that looks off about him is some scales are darker than others, and he has some white patches of scales, like they were molting in a way, but that could be the reflection of the light.
He sleeps here, by some zoas:

Bottom View of Fish

Left View of Fish:

Right View of Fish:

I might have left some stuff out, so please ask away if I am missing something. I'm also worried if my other damsel will start being more aggressive to the other fish. #fishmedics pls help.

The protrusion of scales often looking like dropsy suggest bloating from constipation or other internal issue.
What foods were you feeding and was breathing normal or labored?

 

[Jay Hemdal Verified Community Expert]

I am unsure why one of my springeris damsels had suddenly died. First, parameters:
-Nitrates are 33.5
-Ammonia and Nitrites are 0
-PH is 7.2
-Salinity is 1.025
All other fish look healthy. Most recent additions were rainbow Bubble tip anemone, some chaeto, pulsing Xenia, and a small finger leather. Other inhabitants are royal Gramma, 2 clowns, another damsel, and a tomini Tang. No aggression between the fish. Only sickness I have ever had in the tank was Hexamita, which I treated with Metronidazole, Had it whenever I added my first 2 fish. It did come back last month, and I treated it again for a week. It never really had been that severe. I do not see any indention on the forehead whenever a fish has Hexamita. Other possible problems could be that I have: the anemone, an urchin, toadstool, Zoas, and a extremely small octospawn, and a peppermint shrimp. Haven't had any other recent deaths in the tank, other than a snail about 2 months ago that got stuck and died, and a sea cucumber, which was killed and eaten by copepods and amphipods. I have plenty of rockwork for them to hide in. I feed them one cube of frozen mysis, Brine, and spiraluna each day. I am currently running carbon before fish died. Tank is 33 gallon. Temperature stays at a normal of 76 degrees. I have plenty of surface agitation, and running a protien skimmer. I have had this first for about 9 month, I believe. Only thing that looks off about him is some scales are darker than others, and he has some white patches of scales, like they were molting in a way, but that could be the reflection of the light.
He sleeps here, by some zoas:

Bottom View of Fish

Left View of Fish:

Right View of Fish:

I might have left some stuff out, so please ask away if I am missing something. I'm also worried if my other damsel will start being more aggressive to the other fish. #fishmedics pls help.

The belly of the fish look pretty swollen. Has it looked like that long? Here is an article I put together on causes for this:

https://www.reef2reef.com/threads/causes-of-abdominal-swelling-in-fishes.1098720/

 

[StartingATank]

The stomach swelling has been there for a while, but I was just assuming it was eating a lot. It has been like this for about 1-2 months. Its breathing was pretty normal, but a little of the faster side too. I would guess it was about 75-120 breaths per minute, I think. I am feeding 1 cube of frozen spiraluna, mysis, and brine shrimp per day. They all seemed to be eating healthily.

 

[Jay Hemdal Verified Community Expert]

The stomach swelling has been there for a while, but I was just assuming it was eating a lot. It has been like this for about 1-2 months. Its breathing was pretty normal, but a little of the faster side too. I would guess it was about 75-120 breaths per minute, I think.

That’s a high side of normal for a breathing rate.

Could you tell if the belly swelling went down overnight, or was it full all the time? If it went down, then it is more likely overfeeding.

 

[StartingATank]

It was mostly swollen most of the time. It didn’t really go down that much, and I was reading your article, and so far I think it could be 1-3 so far, but not sure if it is a female because it was the smaller of the pair. I just looked at all my other fish and none of them to have the stomach swelling.

 

[Dread Pirate Dave]

I am unsure why one of my springeris damsels had suddenly died. First, parameters:
-Nitrates are 33.5
-Ammonia and Nitrites are 0
-PH is 7.2
-Salinity is 1.025
All other fish look healthy. Most recent additions were rainbow Bubble tip anemone, some chaeto, pulsing Xenia, and a small finger leather. Other inhabitants are royal Gramma, 2 clowns, another damsel, and a tomini Tang. No aggression between the fish. Only sickness I have ever had in the tank was Hexamita, which I treated with Metronidazole, Had it whenever I added my first 2 fish. It did come back last month, and I treated it again for a week. It never really had been that severe. I do not see any indention on the forehead whenever a fish has Hexamita. Other possible problems could be that I have: the anemone, an urchin, toadstool, Zoas, and a extremely small octospawn, and a peppermint shrimp. Haven't had any other recent deaths in the tank, other than a snail about 2 months ago that got stuck and died, and a sea cucumber, which was killed and eaten by copepods and amphipods. I have plenty of rockwork for them to hide in. I feed them one cube of frozen mysis, Brine, and spiraluna each day. I am currently running carbon before fish died. Tank is 33 gallon. Temperature stays at a normal of 76 degrees. I have plenty of surface agitation, and running a protien skimmer. I have had this first for about 9 month, I believe. Only thing that looks off about him is some scales are darker than others, and he has some white patches of scales, like they were molting in a way, but that could be the reflection of the light.
He sleeps here, by some zoas:

Bottom View of Fish

Left View of Fish:

Right View of Fish:

I might have left some stuff out, so please ask away if I am missing something. I'm also worried if my other damsel will start being more aggressive to the other fish. #fishmedics pls help.

Is this your max nano cube? If so it's a bit cramped for your tang.

 

[StartingATank]

Is this your max nano cube? If so it's a bit cramped for your tang.

It is. I do agree that is is on the smaller side, but I think it could be fine.

 

[MikeReefs]

It is. I do agree that is is on the smaller side, but I think it could be fine.

For now until it grows and claims your whole tank. Take it from me I have a baby one in my 80 and he beat up my goby until I put up a mirror. If it’s a baby you might be alright but soon when it grows you’ll have to pull it. Upgrade the tank or return the fish. If not it’ll probably die from stress. Your tank is less than half the recommended tank size for it. They become pretty big

 

[StartingATank]

For now until it grows and claims your whole tank. Take it from me I have a baby one in my 80 and he beat up my goby until I put up a mirror. If it’s a baby you might be alright but soon when it grows you’ll have to pull it. Upgrade the tank or return the fish. If not it’ll probably die from stress. Your tank is less than half the recommended tank size for it. They become pretty big

Well, it is about 2 1/2 inches right now, and weirdly enough, every time I have tryed a body, it has died from something, but never an injury. They literally are ok once I put them in they are active and happy and normal looking, but then in the morning, they are dead, with no signs of injury or disease. I am really confused with it.

 

[Jay Hemdal Verified Community Expert]

Well, it is about 2 1/2 inches right now, and weirdly enough, every time I have tryed a body, it has died from something, but never an injury. They literally are ok once I put them in they are active and happy and normal looking, but then in the morning, they are dead, with no signs of injury or disease. I am really confused with it.

Fish that die within 24 hours of arrival often have had some acclimation issue, or weak and sick when you got it.

 

[StartingATank]

Fish that die within 24 hours of arrival often have had some acclimation issue, or weak and sick when you got it.

I was assuming it was something I messed up with acclimation.

 

[Malum Argenteum]

PH is 7.2

I'd troubleshoot that.

Every other fish you list is a possible suspect for aggression (whether or not you see it happening), and the recent addition of the nem may be related (fish blunder into them, get out and then crawl away to die). The death need not have been related to the swollen belly.

 

[Jay Hemdal Verified Community Expert]

I was assuming it was something I messed up with acclimation.

The biggest risk when acclimating is when the fish need to move from lower to higher salinity.

Here is a primer I wrote about acclimation methods:

https://www.reef2reef.com/ams/acclimation-methods.903/

 

[StartingATank]

I'd troubleshoot that.

Every other fish you list is a possible suspect for aggression (whether or not you see it happening), and the recent addition of the nem may be related (fish blunder into them, get out and then crawl away to die). The death need not have been related to the swollen belly.

I did suspect this, but there was no other markings on the body of aggression or getting stung, other than the white swollen belly.

 

[StartingATank]

I just went to my lfs and got a Ruby red dragonet. They said it would be a good fish for me for now, because I have a established Copepod population, which were hitchikers.

 

[Malum Argenteum]

I did suspect this, but there was no other markings on the body of aggression or getting stung, other than the white swollen belly.

some scales are darker than others

https://www.reef2reef.com/threads/could-this-be-ich.1133647/post-13948098https://www.reef2reef.com/threads/black-dots-on-clowns-then-one-passed-away.1135067/post-13967761https://www.reef2reef.com/threads/what-kind-of-disease-does-my-fox-face-have.1033919/#post-12174818
Are all deaths from anemone sting or physical trauma (not, of course, that aggression has to be exactly physical trauma) visible by looking at the dead fish in a cup? Sincere question.

 

[StartingATank]

https://www.reef2reef.com/threads/could-this-be-ich.1133647/post-13948098https://www.reef2reef.com/threads/black-dots-on-clowns-then-one-passed-away.1135067/post-13967761https://www.reef2reef.com/threads/what-kind-of-disease-does-my-fox-face-have.1033919/#post-12174818
Are all deaths from anemone sting or physical trauma (not, of course, that aggression has to be exactly physical trauma) visible by looking at the dead fish in a cup? Sincere question.

At the top of the fish it does look like it could have some stings on it. Not sure, but it could be.

 

[Dread Pirate Dave]

I just went to my lfs and got a Ruby red dragonet. They said it would be a good fish for me for now, because I have a established Copepod population, which were hitchikers.

Be prepared to supplement with additional pods. A 20 gallon tank may not be able to keep up the demand.

 

[Jay Hemdal Verified Community Expert]

Be prepared to supplement with additional pods. A 20 gallon tank may not be able to keep up the demand.

I had a large male mandarin that I added to a 900 gallon reef. It consumed all available pods in a few months and we had to supplement its diet....