Hi there everyone! I am a new member here and also new to the saltwater tank keeping. I have a question about a flounder that I had in my tank. I caught a flounder at the beach a week ago and he has been doing good until recently. I noticed his tail fin hurt like something had been nipping at him, but he is the only one in the tank. This morning I looked at him and he had a bloodline across his underside. Later it had creeped up his body more. He died a few minutes ago. My question is, what could have caused this? A disease? Water salinity? This was my first attempt to having a saltwater tank. I work at a pet store and learned alot from my boss there, but we don't have saltwater tank there anymore so I didn't have hands on experience. BTW.....I got all the water and sand from the ocean where I got the fish at. Any advice would be greatly appreciated. I don't want to get more fish if this is going to keep happening. Thanks!
New and need advice
- Thread starter Tamster
- Start date
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thominil
Aquarium Advice Addict
The sand/water was more than likely poluted. If you didn't cycle the tank before you put the fish in then it could have been bad water conditions that got him. The tail fin description sounds like it got fin rot.
I see. My boss told me I wouldnt need to cycle it if I got the water and sand from the ocean. I feel terrible about him dieing though 
he was just a small flounder about 4 inches long. Is there a way to avoid having to cycle the tank? Perhaps just getting the sand and not the water maybe?
he was just a small flounder about 4 inches long. Is there a way to avoid having to cycle the tank? Perhaps just getting the sand and not the water maybe?
thominil
Aquarium Advice Addict
Not really. Sorry for your loss. If you want to do it right, your best bet is to empty the tank of sand and water rinse with a bleach and water solution, empty it, let it dry. Fill up with freshwater and add dechlorinator as a safety measure. then empty and start over with everything store bought. Nothing from the ocean.
thominil
Aquarium Advice Addict
Ya........about that............I would appreciate if you didn't get them from the ocean anymore. Not to be mean or anything.
Why is it you would rather me not get my fish from the ocean? I would think its no different from going fishing and eating my catch? I just prefer to enjoy watching them in my tank instead. Is this a bad thing to do or something? People come in the pet store that I work at and talk about how the caught this and that all the time here. Just curious why you don't like this is all.
I cant speak for thominil but the fish most likely died because he was in your aquarium. Flounders need plenty of room and that`s more room than a home aquarium. It does sound as thominil said that he was suffering from fin and tail rot. This was probably brought on at an increased rate because of being in a aquarium. Do you mind telling us how big the aquarium was?
thominil
Aquarium Advice Addict
Sorry if I came off as mean. I just don't encourage taking animals from thier habitat (the ocean) and sticking them in a little box of glass or acrylic. But, I do encourage buying captive raised.
Ok... I should stay out, but I can't because I agree with both.
Tamster- it sounds like you want to keep a successful SW tank and I believe you can! Just do a little research first.
Please read this. http://www.aquariumadvice.com/articles/articles/3/1/Cycle-your-salt-tank/Page1.html
You need to keep in mind the size of tank required by each fish type. What size tank?
I do agree that you should not be taking any animal or anything else from nature though. I'm afraid to say that your boss seems to not know much at all about SW and seems to offer bad advice. That might be why there is no longer a SW tank present.
Tamster- it sounds like you want to keep a successful SW tank and I believe you can! Just do a little research first.
Please read this. http://www.aquariumadvice.com/articles/articles/3/1/Cycle-your-salt-tank/Page1.html
You need to keep in mind the size of tank required by each fish type. What size tank?
I do agree that you should not be taking any animal or anything else from nature though. I'm afraid to say that your boss seems to not know much at all about SW and seems to offer bad advice. That might be why there is no longer a SW tank present.
Ummm majority of the livestock is taken from the ocean...not too much of a choice there other than a slim selection of captive-raised fish and propagated corals. Did you thoroughly clean the sand (doubt it)? Ultimately the animal died of a bacterial infection (ime).
Score #10000 for Innovator.
The method was wrong from the start. The list of captively raised fish and corals is growing fortunately. Regardless, catching something from the local body of water and trying to transfer it to a tank is the wrong approach. Doesn't matter if it's a flounder from a beach or a crayfish from the backyard creek. Chances are that it was also illegal, but I won't go there just yet.
The method was wrong from the start. The list of captively raised fish and corals is growing fortunately. Regardless, catching something from the local body of water and trying to transfer it to a tank is the wrong approach. Doesn't matter if it's a flounder from a beach or a crayfish from the backyard creek. Chances are that it was also illegal, but I won't go there just yet.
