Mystery death help (Green Chromis)

[bean2986]

Hello everyone,
First thread here. I had my Green Chromis pass away suddenly today and I have no idea what happened to this fish. Was fine at about 11am swimming around looking for food and just came home at 1pm to a dead fish. Just looking for some advice- should I be concerned about my other fish?

This was my first fish in the tank 13 months ago. Tank was accidentally cycled with it because LFS told me tank was cycled and it wasn't. This fish has always been shy and weird. Would go weeks without coming out from it's cave. Was always thin looking compared to all my other fish. Can exposure to ammonia cause permanent lethargy in a fish? I have not found any information on the lasting effect of ammonia burn on their gills. Fish has no marks, redness, other signs of disease upon inspection of the body. No stringy poo. Was eating like crazy this last week.

Tank info:
65G sumpless mixed reef
SG: 1.026
N03: 0
NO2: 0
NH3: 0
MG: 1310
CA: 440
ALK: 10
Phos: 0.25(Just started running Rowaphos)
13 Months old.
No Fish added in 10 months (QT'd)
Last coral added ~2 weeks ago (dipped)
Zero aggression in tank. Peaceful community tank.
Last water change(10%) Yesterday. This fish freaks out every 2 weeks when I do it and hides. Nothing new this time. Was hiding in the corner on the bottom for a few hours but then perked back up by this morning. All other fish and corals are normal.

So was this fish destined for an early demise due to the early ammonia exposure? Or should I be filling my QT?

 

[Empress]

There you have it; new coral 2 weeks ago. Without QT, the coral could have had an ich cyst on it and grabbed onto your fish.

Coral dips do not kill ich.

 

[bean2986]

Can you elaborate on why you jumped straight to Ich? No visible of signs of Ich on this fish or others, gils were not red. Fish was fine one hour, dead the next. No signs of distress this morning.

 

[Humblefish]

Prolonged ammonia exposure can damage a fish’s gills, liver and kidneys, usually resulting in death within a few days. But it seems you've had the chromis for much longer than that.

 

[bean2986]

Yeah... it survived the ammonia spike but never really thrived afterwards...especially compared to others. Slow growth as well.

 

[melypr1985]

Yeah... it survived the ammonia spike but never really thrived afterwards...especially compared to others. Slow growth as well.

I would suspect the ammonia exposure having caused internal damage to him and he finally succumbed. Could be a combo of that (and the poor immune system that goes along with it) and a possible parasite coming in from a coral. It's difficult to be confident of any kind of diagnosis in this case.

 

[bean2986]

Thanks for the replies. I'm hoping (clearly) it was just damage from the ammonia. I will certainly keep an eye on my other fish and update if anything happens.

 

[Reefahholic]

Chromis = Uronema