Can't get dead fish out! Will it be ok?

[oliverw953]

Hi,

So I had my pink spotted watchman goby die, he lived in a whole in the rock at the bottom by the sand bed, literally impossible to get to without pulling apart the tank.

I have about 12 lps corals and softies and 3 other fish. CUC turbo, Conch and hermits, although none could get to it.

My tank is 150 litres (30g) 2 months old.

Everything is healthy, when I got this fish it didn't seem ok, never really came out I had to spot feed, but now he hasn't come out for days and there's a smell.

Am I ok to leave him there? Really nothing I can do. Any advice on how to handle a rotting fish in the tank please

 

[EeyoreIsMySpiritAnimal]

Hi,

So I had my pink spotted watchman goby die, he lived in a whole in the rock at the bottom by the sand bed, literally impossible to get to without pulling apart the tank.

I have about 12 lps corals and softies and 3 other fish. CUC turbo, Conch and hermits, although none could get to it.

My tank is 150 litres (30g) 2 months old.

Everything is healthy, when I got this fish it didn't seem ok, never really came out I had to spot feed, but now he hasn't come out for days and there's a smell.

Am I ok to leave him there? Really nothing I can do. Any advice on how to handle a rotting fish in the tank please

If you can't remove the dead fish, my best advice is to be prepared to do very frequent water changes as it decays. You have a 30 gallon tank, so I'd do a 15 gallons water change asap and have another 30-45 gallons on hand for more changes.

The main concern is an ammonia spike that injures or kills your other fish/inverts.
(And don't try to use Prime to deal with ammonia!)

 

[EeyoreIsMySpiritAnimal]

@Jay Hemdal , what is the ammonia product you recently recommended?

 

[brandon429]

Simply leave him it isn’t going to crash, these reefs have enough surface area to handle an ammonia bump

 

[harrylarry]

Lol a little teeny fish isn’t gonna crash your system or do anything at all except become food

 

[EeyoreIsMySpiritAnimal]

Lol a little teeny fish isn’t gonna crash your system or do anything at all except become food

I had a fat, 6" psw goby. A dead fish of that size in a 30 gallon is nothing to sneeze at.

 

[reeftankdude]

I would double the amount of activated carbon until that smells go away and do ten percent water change. I would then add a little benefical bacteria like Dr. Tim's or QuickStart.

 

[Rugops]

If you can't remove the dead fish, my best advice is to be prepared to do very frequent water changes as it decays. You have a 30 gallon tank, so I'd do a 15 gallons water change asap and have another 30-45 gallons on hand for more changes.

The main concern is an ammonia spike that injures or kills your other fish/inverts.
(And don't try to use Prime to deal with ammonia!)

I would do this OP. It is a larger fish and will release nutrients in the water and will release a undesirable amount of nurients.

 

[Sisterlimonpot]

If you have an established tank with robust micro fauna, they will devour the dead fish before it starts to rot.

I wouldn't sweat it at all.

 

[blecki]

It's not going to be nearly as bad as you think. Get one of those ammonia badges for peace of mind.

 

[FishTruck]

In a mature tank a tang sized fish will completely decompose/disappear in 2 or 3 days

 

[QuickrdenU]

A flexible tube and suction?

 

[Idech]

Get a few hermits or shrimps, they’ll get to it.

 

[workhz]

A bit of extra bacteria in a bottle probably wouldn’t hurt along with a 5 gallon water change but I wouldn’t sweat it either way. Feed a little less for a week.

 

[EeyoreIsMySpiritAnimal]

If you have an established tank with robust micro fauna, they will devour the dead fish before it starts to rot.

I wouldn't sweat it at all.

The tank is 2 months old...

 

[EeyoreIsMySpiritAnimal]

In a mature tank a tang sized fish will completely decompose/disappear in 2 or 3 days

The tank is 2 months old

 

[hexcolor reef]

Throw in some crabs they’ll eat it up quick

 

[Jay Hemdal Verified Community Expert]

@Jay Hemdal , what is the ammonia product you recently recommended?

I use Amquel.

Jay

 

[Goaway]

The tank is 2 months old

People do not know how to read.

Even I have issues sometimes.

Hopefully the tank isn't nuked. Yes, ammonia spikes will kill even coral.

Gl op.

 

[brandon429]

all two month old tanks are fully cycled. There aren’t areas without cycling bac adhered after that long

Check people’s post history to see if there’s a theme about constant ammonia worry before you make decisions on panic here or just moving along

if you find any histories where there is 0% ammonia worry, also check to see if anyone’s tank ever dies and you’ll see if the worry is justified, or just entrained.