boomshockpow
New Member
- Joined
- Nov 22, 2024
- Messages
- 14
- Reaction score
- 5
- Location
- Audubon
- What state or country do you live in
- Pennsylvania
Good afternoon!
My saltwater tank has been up since.. November(?) of last year. I waited a long time to ensure it cycled, used live sand, dry rock, lots of filter media, etc. This isn't my first tank so I have experience, though I am not an expert by any means. I've had a moon jelly tank, and a few freshwater tanks, one that's been up for about two years. I added fish in late January to my current saltwater tank, and everybody was fine. I started with two clowns, as is the rules. I also grabbed a Tequila Turbo snail. Then in mid February I went to a new fish store (which maybe was my problem) and got a Banggai cardinalfish and a fire goby, as well as a couple more snaills. Two nassarius and one fighting conch.
Everybody ate well. I fed a wide variety of food twice a day. Enough so that they ate and seemed full, but not so much that it was a cloud of food. I was doing weekly water changes, and keeping an eye on nitrates specifically, but also occasionally checking other things. I keep a lid on the tank and normally wash my hands, and often times wear gloves when dealing with this tank, because I'm ascared of unfamiliar toxins and things. Nitrates were usually in the 5-10 neighborhood at the most. About 2.5-3 weeks after introducing the cardinalfish, goby and newer snails.. Disaster struck.
I fed everyone at around 6 PM as is normal. I do 9 AM and 6 PM. Everyone seemed happy to eat and I saw no odd swimming behavior, discolorations, white spots, etc. Everyone seemed OK. They ate their few bites, and then went about their evening. The next morning I happened to be up early at around 6 AM, and one clownfish was lying upside down in the sand motionless, and the other one was clearly in distress. It was lying in the sand and when I brushed gently up against it, it jerked and started swimming erratically, clearly struggling to swim. It died about an hour later. The erratic swimming I saw reminded me of swim bladder disease, which I have seen before. Unlike swim bladder disease, it came on and killed in less than twelve hours, and I had been pretty careful to not only vary the diet with all kinds of things, but also to not overfeed.
I do keep an emergency bag of charcoal nearby (not that I could think of any toxins that had been introduced), so I tossed that in the tank and kept an eye on the other two fish I have. I also reduced feedings to once per day. Everyone had been enjoying the once daily feedings and getting along nicely. The cardinalfish mostly just hovered around as they do (or maybe darted in place is the way to say it) and the fire goby did much of the same, though he occasionally liked to hide in the holes/crevices of the rock formations.
I did a water change the next day, because I had to heat up and mix some water and reef salt. So now we're about a week later, last Wednesday or Thursday. I noticed that the cardinalfish was just gone without a trace. I looked all over and found no remains, either outside the tank (though I do have a lid that mostly covers the tank) nor on the sandbed. I looked for hours to no avail. Goby the fire goby was doing OK, still seemed pretty normal. I assumed something must be wrong, so I checked all the parameters and they were totally fine. Ammonia 0, Nitrite 0, Nitrate was 5ish, Phosphate < .25, Calcium around 400, PH around 8, salinity a right around 1.0245.
Goby got really shy and started hiding much more. About two days later he never stopped hiding and disappeared entirely. I did a water change today with similar parameters to above, although nitrates were less than 5, likely because there isn't as much waste being created anymore. I was doing them weekly to keep a handle on the relatively new bioload changes, but I guess now I can probably go to biweekly or whatever is needed.
Does anyone have any ideas of what could have happened here? I have been grasping at straws that maybe it was that I went to a new store, maybe it was a parasite, or some bacterial disease. But I don't know what I could have done better to have prevented it. It's had me feeling sad that I lost my new friends, but also discouraged. I would love any advice, if someone has the time.
Thanks in advance.
My saltwater tank has been up since.. November(?) of last year. I waited a long time to ensure it cycled, used live sand, dry rock, lots of filter media, etc. This isn't my first tank so I have experience, though I am not an expert by any means. I've had a moon jelly tank, and a few freshwater tanks, one that's been up for about two years. I added fish in late January to my current saltwater tank, and everybody was fine. I started with two clowns, as is the rules. I also grabbed a Tequila Turbo snail. Then in mid February I went to a new fish store (which maybe was my problem) and got a Banggai cardinalfish and a fire goby, as well as a couple more snaills. Two nassarius and one fighting conch.
Everybody ate well. I fed a wide variety of food twice a day. Enough so that they ate and seemed full, but not so much that it was a cloud of food. I was doing weekly water changes, and keeping an eye on nitrates specifically, but also occasionally checking other things. I keep a lid on the tank and normally wash my hands, and often times wear gloves when dealing with this tank, because I'm ascared of unfamiliar toxins and things. Nitrates were usually in the 5-10 neighborhood at the most. About 2.5-3 weeks after introducing the cardinalfish, goby and newer snails.. Disaster struck.
I fed everyone at around 6 PM as is normal. I do 9 AM and 6 PM. Everyone seemed happy to eat and I saw no odd swimming behavior, discolorations, white spots, etc. Everyone seemed OK. They ate their few bites, and then went about their evening. The next morning I happened to be up early at around 6 AM, and one clownfish was lying upside down in the sand motionless, and the other one was clearly in distress. It was lying in the sand and when I brushed gently up against it, it jerked and started swimming erratically, clearly struggling to swim. It died about an hour later. The erratic swimming I saw reminded me of swim bladder disease, which I have seen before. Unlike swim bladder disease, it came on and killed in less than twelve hours, and I had been pretty careful to not only vary the diet with all kinds of things, but also to not overfeed.
I do keep an emergency bag of charcoal nearby (not that I could think of any toxins that had been introduced), so I tossed that in the tank and kept an eye on the other two fish I have. I also reduced feedings to once per day. Everyone had been enjoying the once daily feedings and getting along nicely. The cardinalfish mostly just hovered around as they do (or maybe darted in place is the way to say it) and the fire goby did much of the same, though he occasionally liked to hide in the holes/crevices of the rock formations.
I did a water change the next day, because I had to heat up and mix some water and reef salt. So now we're about a week later, last Wednesday or Thursday. I noticed that the cardinalfish was just gone without a trace. I looked all over and found no remains, either outside the tank (though I do have a lid that mostly covers the tank) nor on the sandbed. I looked for hours to no avail. Goby the fire goby was doing OK, still seemed pretty normal. I assumed something must be wrong, so I checked all the parameters and they were totally fine. Ammonia 0, Nitrite 0, Nitrate was 5ish, Phosphate < .25, Calcium around 400, PH around 8, salinity a right around 1.0245.
Goby got really shy and started hiding much more. About two days later he never stopped hiding and disappeared entirely. I did a water change today with similar parameters to above, although nitrates were less than 5, likely because there isn't as much waste being created anymore. I was doing them weekly to keep a handle on the relatively new bioload changes, but I guess now I can probably go to biweekly or whatever is needed.
Does anyone have any ideas of what could have happened here? I have been grasping at straws that maybe it was that I went to a new store, maybe it was a parasite, or some bacterial disease. But I don't know what I could have done better to have prevented it. It's had me feeling sad that I lost my new friends, but also discouraged. I would love any advice, if someone has the time.
Thanks in advance.
