bioteacher
Aquarium Advice Freak
- Joined
- Feb 18, 2012
- Messages
- 306
Hi folks, I have a problem and I really don't know what to do. I bought and transferred a whole system with rock, fish, inverts, and corals from cl last February. The fish that I inherited are fine....I have a blonde naso tang, maroon clown, perc clown, and foxface. I have not lost any fish that I have inherited. However, every fish that I have bought has perished almost immediately.
First there were 3 chromis. They lasted about 3 days and one disappeared each night. I know chromis can die pretty easy so I thought it was just disease. I never found a dead one. Just gone. Assumed cuc just got them.
Next, watchman goby. Acclimated him very slowly by drip. Got him in the tank in the late afternoon. Seemed happy and healthy. Observed sifting and none of the other fish gave him a problem. Next day, gone without a trace.
Next, 6 line wrasse. I bought an in tank refugium to isolate him for a while so that the tank mates could get used to him. He survived in the fuge for several days. This one developed a sore that slowly got worse and he died about 4 days later. I'm not so concerned about this loss because there was a clear cause to me. He developed disease and declined over several days like you would expect with disease. It is the other mysterious disappearance of seemingly healthy fish over one night that concerns me. I suspect some sort of night time predator.
Last one just happened over night. Picked up a beautiful Solon Fairy Wrasse on Sunday. About 4 inches long he was big and looked good coming home. The tank at the lfs looked healthy and the fish looked clean, nice fin margins, no spots, good color, etc. I acclimated slowly over about 3 hours, and only transferred after SG, temp, and pH matched the display. Again, I transferred to the in tank fuge which has its own sand and a small piece of lr to hide under. He looked fine in there and he ate some pellet and mysis on Sunday. Was fine overnight in the fuge till Monday. Monday, I moved him to the main display right at lights on. I wanted him to have a full day to get to know the tank before lights out so that if there is a predator he might learn to avoid it before lights out. He was awesome all of Monday. Not overly timid. He darted in and out of lr and checked out the whole tank. Not issues with any of the other fish giving him a hard time. He ate like a hog. I did two small feelings with mysis and he was out there like a champ competing for mysis with the tang that is like twice his size. I can't believe it was disease that took him cause he showed no signs of distress let alone disease.
This morning, dead. I actually found his remains right at lights on. About 2/3 of him was in a crevice of lr being picked on by 2 scarlet hermits. One eye ball gone and no tail left.
I am really at a loss and discouraged. I have 4 fish in a 125g tank. I really want to develop this tank but I can't continue to run $40 experiments.
If its a pistol shrimp or mantis, wouldn't my clown be a goner? He is smaller than the wrasse and he has survived long term. If it is disease wouldn't there be some sign of illness before they turn up dead?
What do I do? Cooking all the lr and starting over does not sound appealing to me. I have no idea what I would do with all my corals Zoas inverts and fish if I did go that route.
Any guidance? Or has anyone ever had an experience like this?
Thanks and happy new year to all!
First there were 3 chromis. They lasted about 3 days and one disappeared each night. I know chromis can die pretty easy so I thought it was just disease. I never found a dead one. Just gone. Assumed cuc just got them.
Next, watchman goby. Acclimated him very slowly by drip. Got him in the tank in the late afternoon. Seemed happy and healthy. Observed sifting and none of the other fish gave him a problem. Next day, gone without a trace.
Next, 6 line wrasse. I bought an in tank refugium to isolate him for a while so that the tank mates could get used to him. He survived in the fuge for several days. This one developed a sore that slowly got worse and he died about 4 days later. I'm not so concerned about this loss because there was a clear cause to me. He developed disease and declined over several days like you would expect with disease. It is the other mysterious disappearance of seemingly healthy fish over one night that concerns me. I suspect some sort of night time predator.
Last one just happened over night. Picked up a beautiful Solon Fairy Wrasse on Sunday. About 4 inches long he was big and looked good coming home. The tank at the lfs looked healthy and the fish looked clean, nice fin margins, no spots, good color, etc. I acclimated slowly over about 3 hours, and only transferred after SG, temp, and pH matched the display. Again, I transferred to the in tank fuge which has its own sand and a small piece of lr to hide under. He looked fine in there and he ate some pellet and mysis on Sunday. Was fine overnight in the fuge till Monday. Monday, I moved him to the main display right at lights on. I wanted him to have a full day to get to know the tank before lights out so that if there is a predator he might learn to avoid it before lights out. He was awesome all of Monday. Not overly timid. He darted in and out of lr and checked out the whole tank. Not issues with any of the other fish giving him a hard time. He ate like a hog. I did two small feelings with mysis and he was out there like a champ competing for mysis with the tang that is like twice his size. I can't believe it was disease that took him cause he showed no signs of distress let alone disease.
This morning, dead. I actually found his remains right at lights on. About 2/3 of him was in a crevice of lr being picked on by 2 scarlet hermits. One eye ball gone and no tail left.
I am really at a loss and discouraged. I have 4 fish in a 125g tank. I really want to develop this tank but I can't continue to run $40 experiments.
If its a pistol shrimp or mantis, wouldn't my clown be a goner? He is smaller than the wrasse and he has survived long term. If it is disease wouldn't there be some sign of illness before they turn up dead?
What do I do? Cooking all the lr and starting over does not sound appealing to me. I have no idea what I would do with all my corals Zoas inverts and fish if I did go that route.
Any guidance? Or has anyone ever had an experience like this?
Thanks and happy new year to all!
