wobble Posted March 20, 2009 Share Posted March 20, 2009 I set up my 29g tank about 6 months ago. All has been going well until recently. Occupants as of two weeks ago: 2 false percs royal gramma red lizard blenny small unidentified wrasse (about 1.5") cleaner shrimp 1 small red hermit 1 small emerald crab 3 nassarius snails 3 cerith snails Water tested this morning: ammonia 0 nitrites 0 nitrates 0 ph 8.2-8.4 alk 8dkh Two weeks ago the red lizard blenny died. He had no visible signs of death accept a bloated stomach. He was eating and acting fine up to that point. This morning I found the royal gramma against the powerhead. No visible signs for a cause of death. Also was eating/acting normally until today. The remaining clowns and wrasse are acting and eating normally. The wrasse, royal gramma, and red lizard blenny were purchased at the same time a month ago from the same store. The blenny and gramma were in tanks that were treated with copper. The wrasse was in a tank with inverts, so it obviously wasn't exposed to copper. The wrasse is black with a blue stripe and was sold as a "neon blue wrasse". He does have a small white speck on the side of him. More of a transparent type of speck. It almost looks like it's some kind of pod or something, but it doesn't seem to bother him. I tried to lightly scrape it with my fingernail a couple weeks ago, but I couldn't see it. That action ended up moving it to a different part of him. Sorry for the lengthy post, but I wanted to provide as much info as possible. I'm not sure what I should do. Should I QT the wrasse? Should I get rid of the wrasse? Should I not worry about it and add more fish (from a different source)? This tank is set up for my young nephew who has autism. He really enjoys watching it and it helps to keep him calm. He pulls up a chair and watches the fish for hours. He's going to freak out when he sees that "gurgle" is gone (royal gramma from Finding Nemo). I'd like to get some more fish in there ASAP if possible. Thanks, -Dave Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kriswaters Posted March 21, 2009 Share Posted March 21, 2009 Hard to say. All of your parameters look good. I had a fox face that was healthy as a horse one day and the next day belly up. The thing about animals (fish included) is that due to their survival instincts, they don't show signs of illness until things are often so far progressed that they have no choice. Sometimes this presents (as in the case of fish) in death. Some internal parasites are never seen, they just take the life. I guess its better when external symptoms appear...we all know what Ich looks like, and thus we have been able to grasp treating it. Fish are funny things...either really healthy and doing well, or the complete opposite. Usually there isn't much in between, and when there is, it often leads to the latter. Sorry for your loss. I hope you can replace those fish soon for your newphew's sake! Kris Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wobble Posted March 21, 2009 Author Share Posted March 21, 2009 Thanks for the response Kris. With two fish deaths in two weeks I thought maybe there was something I was doing wrong. I'm adding a sump w/fuge this weekend. After that, I'll get a couple more fish and see how it goes. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
andy Posted March 21, 2009 Share Posted March 21, 2009 There's a recent thread over in the fish forum you might want to check out -- several people have had similar fish deaths... http://www.pnwmas.org/forums/showthread.php?t=10746 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wobble Posted March 21, 2009 Author Share Posted March 21, 2009 Thanks for the link Andy. Since they did die shortly after purchase, I'll assume there is nothing in my tank that caused the deaths. As you stated in your response to that thread, perhaps a result of collection or transit was the cause. I'll just chalk it up to plain ol' bad luck. I'll probably find another source for the replacement fish though. I can't say for certain that the LFS was at fault, so I won't mention where I got them (please don't PM me asking). No need to give bad publicity unless there is 100% certainty of negligence and the LFS has had an opportunity to explain and/or rectify the situation. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
snowpunk Posted March 22, 2009 Share Posted March 22, 2009 You may want to head over to seahorse and pick up some marine max just for a little added security. I had a few unexplained deaths, then a few more, and then one after that. I used the marine max just incase I had some hidden problems in the water. I don't know if I did or not for sure, but I lost a lot of fish before buying it. I dosed heavy just incase and all new fish have been great since. If it helps one fish live in the long run it will have paid for it self already. Better then chancing loosing another and putting the money out anyway. It's like $15 or $18 I think. Totally reef safe, ask Isaac for dosing help if you get it. Tell him Snowpunk sent you Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
andy Posted March 23, 2009 Share Posted March 23, 2009 Is this stuff really any good? What's in it? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JManrow Posted March 23, 2009 Share Posted March 23, 2009 If I recall correctly, Tropical Science Marine-Max is more of a disease preventative that strengthens the immune system, than a cure. It contains pro-biotics, which are basically harmless bacteria cultures, which will out compete the harmful ones. Many Aquaculture operations use probiotics. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
snowpunk Posted March 23, 2009 Share Posted March 23, 2009 If I recall correctly' date=' Tropical Science Marine-Max is more of a disease preventative that strengthens the immune system, than a cure. It contains pro-biotics, which are basically harmless bacteria cultures, which will out compete the harmful ones. Many Aquaculture operations use probiotics.[/quote'] That sounds about right. I ran it for about 2 months before adding more fish to make sure it had overtaken anything else in the tank(killed it in a way). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wobble Posted March 23, 2009 Author Share Posted March 23, 2009 You may want to head over to seahorse and pick up some marine max just for a little added security. I had a few unexplained deaths, then a few more, and then one after that. I used the marine max just incase I had some hidden problems in the water. I don't know if I did or not for sure, but I lost a lot of fish before buying it. I dosed heavy just incase and all new fish have been great since. If it helps one fish live in the long run it will have paid for it self already. Better then chancing loosing another and putting the money out anyway. It's like $15 or $18 I think. Totally reef safe, ask Isaac for dosing help if you get it. Tell him Snowpunk sent you Thanks for the suggestion. If I have another death, I'll definitely go see Isaac and get some of it. However, since all the fish that died were purchased from the same LFS at the same time, I am suspecting the deaths were out of my control. I have added some more fish from another LFS, so I'll see how it goes. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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