Goby suddenly died

[melnshn0321]

Hi All!
This is actually my second time trying the saltwater world. This time I researched much more than with my previous attempt. My 29 gallon JBJ nano has been up and running since February. I first tried two clown fish.. One died but the other is doing well. It seems very active and he eats when I feed him every other day. I first asked my LFS if it would be okay to start adding other fish. I was assured that all is fine. I tested my water with water parameters being perfect.
Ammonia - 0
Nitrites - 0
Nitrates - 0
pH - 8.2
Phosphates - 0
Salinity - 1.025
Temp - ranges between 75 - 77
To ensure my water was as I tested, I had my LFS to test with results being the same.
Anyway!! I purchased a diamond goby (3 inches in size). The goby was fine the first and second day.. Digging and even eating mysis shrimp. When I came home on the third day he had perished. He didn't look stressed, he was eating... All seemed fine. I'm looking to see if anyone has any insight as to why I keep killing fish. In acclimating, I slow drip acclimated for 45 minutes before adding to the tank. I'm am terrified to put anymore fish in my tank. If anyone could help I would appreciate it very much!

Melissa

 

[ktomminello]

Do you have live rock in the tank that could be hiding some sort of mystery fish killer?

 

[melnshn0321]

Hi! Thanks for replying! I do not think there is anything that could be killing them. At least I haven't seen anything except for the tiny bugs that crawl through the sand. I have 35 lb of live rock and 30 lb of live sand. Kind of silly but I could watch for hours looking for new creatures that I can spot and haven't seen anything other than some new form of snail that has randomly popped up and those bugs. I haven't even seen bristle worms in this tank. I am clueless as to why they keep dying. I also have a hammer coral, two Duncan heads, candy cane, ricordea, and some Zoas in there that seem to look healthy as ever.

 

[Ricksreef]

He probably died from starvation.Diamond Gobies will only have a chance to survive in an aquarium that is large and very well established.He was probably starving already when you got him and there not being that much in your sand bed for him to feed on finished him.


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[ktomminello]

Little bugs? Like copepods?

 

[melnshn0321]

Yes, I am thinking they are Copepods. There are tons in my tank ranging from so tiny I can barely see to maybe a quarter of an inch. I figured to goby would take care of some of those.

 

[ktomminello]

I would think he would too. I wouldn't think he would starve if they are in fact copepods. When I ran my fowlr tanks I had trouble keeping goby, but I factored it being the company they kept (namely puffer fish). Very odd!! I hope you have better luck!! Wish I could help more.

 

[melnshn0321]

Thank you Ricksreef! I actually thought I had read this but the guy at my LFS assured me he would be a good addition to keep my sand turned over. It's not even really dirty but it just looks nice when it's kept turned over. The little guy was eating the mysis shrimp I was putting in there. Would that not be enough to to keep him healthy?

 

[melnshn0321]

Thanks ktomminello! I was thinking that too with all these Copepods in there. I googled an image to just be sure but yea.. There are tons of those little things crawling all over every place I can see in the tank. Anyway... Thanks for y'all's help! Shame he didn't do well.. Those are beautiful fish!

 

[Ricksreef]

Thank you Ricksreef! I actually thought I had read this but the guy at my LFS assured me he would be a good addition to keep my sand turned over. It's not even really dirty but it just looks nice when it's kept turned over. The little guy was eating the mysis shrimp I was putting in there. Would that not be enough to to keep him healthy?

Agree they do a great job on the sand bed and I loved to watch mine until it kicked the bucket.Then I did the research and found out about them not surviving long.They also clean out all the life in the sand that is beneficial .
I have a fighting conch which does a decent job and is fun to watch.But he spends a lot of time buried asleep in the sand.


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[melnshn0321]

Hmm... A fighting conch. Those look interesting! I have never seen or heard of them. I think I may try my luck with one of those.