Fish (pump) accident, aggression, or disease?

[Alexander1312]

Bought this court jester goby two months ago in their signature Biota tiny size. Has been very active and a great hair algae remover until this evening.

It appears that in the last couple of hours, he changed from totally healthy to what you see in the picture (still alive).

Unfortunately, I was not home, and my family believes that he was fine until the feeding 2-3 hours ago, and I have just found him tumbling around the tank.

We have two MP10s with the 3D printed anemone guard, which are turned off during feeding (possibly not recommended to do this).

Could this be a pump accident, or does it look like fish aggression or disease?



Other fish in the Tank:
- Two Ocellaris
- One Purple Firefish
- One Tailspot Blenny
- One Randall goby

 

[blaxsun]

I don't know how likely a pump accident is, unless he got sucked to it on one side (and no one noticed) then fell off when the powerhead was turned off.

 

[Alexander1312]

I don't know how likely a pump accident is, unless he got sucked to it on one side (and no one noticed) then fell off when the powerhead was turned off.

Six or more months ago, we had a tiny pink streak wrasse swimming into the MP10 while it was turned off during feeding to get some food out, and we did not see this and turned the pump on….

I did observe this firsthand, so I knew it was the reason. We now (try) to make sure that we only turn the pumps on when nothing is inside, but this could be something we might not have done.

 

[blaxsun]

Six or more months ago, we had a tiny pink streak wrasse swimming into the MP10 while it was turned off during feeding to get some food out, and we did not see this and turned the pump on….

I did observe this firsthand, so I knew it was the reason. We now (try) to make sure that we only turn the pumps on when nothing is inside, but this could be something we might not have done.

That's a possibility then. I don't know how large the gaps are on your MP10, but if he could slip through... One of the reasons I like gyres.

 

[Alexander1312]

That's a possibility then. I don't know how large the gaps are on your MP10, but if he could slip through... One of the reasons I like gyres.

Unfortunately, these fish that Biota ships are tiny (0.5 inch or so), so they fit through almost everywhere.

I have him in a separate quarantine box inside the tank; anything else I can/should do?

 

[blaxsun]

Unfortunately, these fish that Biota ships are tiny (0.5 inch or so), so they fit through almost everywhere.

I have him in a separate quarantine box inside the tank; anything else I can/should do?

Gotcha. I think just try to avoid anything that could stress him further, ie: moving, etc.

 

[The_Paradox]

Six or more months ago, we had a tiny pink streak wrasse swimming into the MP10 while it was turned off during feeding to get some food out, and we did not see this and turned the pump on….

I did observe this firsthand, so I knew it was the reason. We now (try) to make sure that we only turn the pumps on when nothing is inside, but this could be something we might not have done.

Common issue after power outages. It’s one of the reasons I have my power heads set to require manual restart after power outage. In your case use the feed button instead of turning them off. Feed mode keeps the pumps moving to avoid this.

 

[Alexander1312]

Common issue after power outages. It’s one of the reasons I have my power heads set to require manual restart after power outage. In your case use the feed button instead of turning them off. Feed mode keeps the pumps moving to avoid this.

Yes, that is what I thought, and I agree. We have issues feeding the Randall goby as he requires his food to be close to the hole he lives in with his pistol shrimp. If we keep the feed mode on, hard to direct the food accordingly but will do going forward as this could have been the second time we made the same mistake which is very upsetting (if that was indeed the reason). The other suspect I had was the rainbow BTA but not sure if this is a realistic scenario.