50% fish survival rate?

wasafuzz · Oct 16, 2019

HI everyone. I set up my 26 gallon aio 7 months ago. Been checking all my parameters and seem to be fine. Over the course of seven months I have lost 5 of the 9 fish I have bought (all bought from same lfs). There does not seem to be rhyme or reason, some fish (naked clown ) lasted almost the entire 7 months (just lost her last week) while some of the others only last a week or two. They looked healthy and seemed to be eating well. No sign of disease that I could tell. My lfs offers this "fish are hard". My blood shrimp and corals seem fine. So...is it just "fish are hard" and I should expect to loose 50% of what I buy or is something amiss. Thanks.

Mrtakeoff53 · Oct 16, 2019

Fish are not hard if you pick healthy fish and have a stable tank. I have not lost one since setting up mine. Might be time to switch to a different LFS. How many fish have you had in the tank at once? Is the tank properly cycled?

wasafuzz · Oct 16, 2019

Thanks. yes, tank was cycled correctly with no issues and water parameters have always been good. I've always had a small load with no more then 5 small fish at a time. I think your right about needing a new lfs.

BeejReef · Oct 16, 2019

Could be bad luck, bad lfs, stocking choices, parameters, disease.. Almost impossible to say.

If you'd include a full tank shot
Your typical (or most recent) parameters for alk, calc, mag, nitrate, phosphate, and ph.
Also, a blow by blow of what fish were introduced when, and when and how they seemed to expire.

A brief description of your system might help as well. Don't think they'll need a novel, but without the tank's background, it's pretty speculative.

Stick with it! You'll have the tank of your dreams in due course.

wasafuzz · Oct 16, 2019

Will try to put that togeather when I get home and look at my notes. oddly, the most recent death (naked clown) was the only one Ive actually found laying on the sand. All the others (firefish, royal gamma, yellow gobie and the yellow watchman gobie ), all just disappeared and were never seen again. I actually thought I had lost my latest (second) royal gamma because I hadn't seen her in a week, but saw her yesterday for just a minute before darting back into the rocks. She has not come out to eat for at least a week as far as I can tell.

Halal Hotdog · Oct 16, 2019

There could be quite a few variables. From my experience it does not take a lot to keep a parasite free fish alive. Once you get a healthy clean fish, they are ALL hardy. The fact that corals and inverts are doing fine, but fish are not, makes me believe you have a parasite in your tank. Arguably clowns are some of the easiest fish out there.

Did you buy live rock or setup with dry rock?

Paul B · Oct 16, 2019

wasafuzz said:
My lfs offers this "fish are hard".

I think your LFS guy is a Jiboni. Most fish are very simple.

wasafuzz · Oct 16, 2019

Dry rock.

hllb · Oct 16, 2019

wasafuzz said:
Will try to put that togeather when I get home and look at my notes. oddly, the most recent death (naked clown) was the only one Ive actually found laying on the sand. All the others (firefish, royal gamma, yellow gobie and the yellow watchman gobie ), all just disappeared and were never seen again. I actually thought I had lost my latest (second) royal gamma because I hadn't seen her in a week, but saw her yesterday for just a minute before darting back into the rocks. She has not come out to eat for at least a week as far as I can tell.

How much live rock do you have? I wonder if you have some evil hitchhiker hiding in your tank eating your fish. To have that many just 'disappear' sounds suspicious.

wasafuzz · Oct 16, 2019

PaulB. I think you may be correct...I may regret asking.....what is a Jiboni?

MnFish1 · Oct 16, 2019

wasafuzz said:
Will try to put that togeather when I get home and look at my notes. oddly, the most recent death (naked clown) was the only one Ive actually found laying on the sand. All the others (firefish, royal gamma, yellow gobie and the yellow watchman gobie ), all just disappeared and were never seen again. I actually thought I had lost my latest (second) royal gamma because I hadn't seen her in a week, but saw her yesterday for just a minute before darting back into the rocks. She has not come out to eat for at least a week as far as I can tell.

1. Could you have a predator - eating the small fish
2. Any chance of 'jumping'? (its happened to me) - I dont know if your particular tank has a lid.

SeaJay · Oct 16, 2019

Paul B said:
I think your LFS guy is a Jiboni. Most fish are very simple.

I was just thinking about how much easier fish are than corals.

Halal Hotdog · Oct 16, 2019

wasafuzz said:
Dry rock.

Sometimes when fish go missing you could have a predatory invert picking them off, but usually they are not small and only get added through addition of large structures such as live rock. As these fish die and decomposing they could be causing ammonia spikes that are affecting the other fish, but typically you would see that in the health of your corals and inverts as well. With the info we have I am leaning towards parasite.

phatduckk · Oct 16, 2019

if you want to be thorough you could send in an ICP test and see if anything interesting pops up

wasafuzz · Oct 16, 2019

HIIB. Didn't think about that. Would make since though. Bought all my dryrock from same lfs. Have never noticed anything suspicious. Have about 15 pounds of rock (guessing). How would I deal with something like that?

hllb · Oct 16, 2019

wasafuzz said:
HIIB. Didn't think about that. Would make since though. Bought all my dryrock from same lfs. Have never noticed anything suspicious. Have about 15 pounds of rock (guessing). How would I deal with something like that?

If the rock was dry, it shouldn't have had any living hitchhikers. Any big pieces added that weren't dry?

hllb · Oct 16, 2019

wasafuzz said:
HIIB. Didn't think about that. Would make since though. Bought all my dryrock from same lfs. Have never noticed anything suspicious. Have about 15 pounds of rock (guessing). How would I deal with something like that?

You could set up a camera on the tank to watch. Without knowing what's in there, hard to determine how to remove them.