Coral Beauty failed to thrive

kujothehuman · Jun 18, 2023

so i am extremely new to this hobby and cycled my tank for about 2 months before adding my first fish which was last thursday, June 15th, 2023. the store i buy my fish from qt for a week. after adding the fish he swam to a spot in the rocks that was completely secluded and i thought that to be normal since he could be stressed from moving. i was told not to feed on the day i got him because it probably wouldnt eat due to stress. on day 2, which would be saturday the 17th, the fish would swim out just barely enough to get a glimpse of everything around him. at this point i still havent seen him eat anything. sunday morning i come in to see that he is out and about but swimming erratically. upside down, sideways, you name it. it seems like he has no energy to do anything. leading into sunday afternoon, which is when im writing this, the fish is laying completely flat on the sand bed breathing extremely fast. my shrimp has come to clean him 2 or 3 times now and when the shrimp gets to close to the face the fish twitches and then goes back to laying down. Im so new to this hobby i dont know what i could do to save him even if it were possible. its a Sunday so anyone with the information to help me immediately, are closed. i guess the main reason im writing this post now is to see what i did wrong? i test my water VERY frequently ( about 3 to 4 times a week) because i want to make sure everything is okay. I tested the water today and my results were as followed
pH-8.0
NH3/NH4+-0ppm
NO2-0ppm
Nitrate- between 20-40ppm

MnFish1 · Jun 18, 2023

Coral beauties in my experience are fairly hardy. This issue may have to do with acclimation (did you match salinities) - or the store that sold it (assuming it's an LFS). The fish looks (the word is moribund) - lying on its side. There are multiple questions - but QT for a week is not adequate. SO - the possibilities are multiple. Were I you - I would transfer the fish to a quarantine tank - (hospital tank) - and treat according to the policy at the top of the thread. With the warning, fish in this condition do not often survive.

That said what are the parameters in your tank?

vetteguy53081 · Jun 18, 2023

kujothehuman said:
so i am extremely new to this hobby and cycled my tank for about 2 months before adding my first fish which was last thursday, June 15th, 2023. the store i buy my fish from qt for a week. after adding the fish he swam to a spot in the rocks that was completely secluded and i thought that to be normal since he could be stressed from moving. i was told not to feed on the day i got him because it probably wouldnt eat due to stress. on day 2, which would be saturday the 17th, the fish would swim out just barely enough to get a glimpse of everything around him. at this point i still havent seen him eat anything. sunday morning i come in to see that he is out and about but swimming erratically. upside down, sideways, you name it. it seems like he has no energy to do anything. leading into sunday afternoon, which is when im writing this, the fish is laying completely flat on the sand bed breathing extremely fast. my shrimp has come to clean him 2 or 3 times now and when the shrimp gets to close to the face the fish twitches and then goes back to laying down. Im so new to this hobby i dont know what i could do to save him even if it were possible. its a Sunday so anyone with the information to help me immediately, are closed. i guess the main reason im writing this post now is to see what i did wrong? i test my water VERY frequently ( about 3 to 4 times a week) because i want to make sure everything is okay. I tested the water today and my results were as followed
pH-8.0
NH3/NH4+-0ppm
NO2-0ppm
Nitrate- between 20-40ppm

Sorry to see and not a good first fish as tank appears new. How was fish acclimated/introduced and for how long?
I suspect false readings on ammonia and how are you testing?

Fish is moribund and likely will not make it. Adding an airstone mat help but with low expectations. I encourage you to verify your test results by taking a water sample to a store that does NOT use Api kits and have them test your ammonia and nitrates and compare readings- then you'll know where your levels truly are at

vetteguy53081 · Jun 18, 2023

MnFish1 said:
Coral beauties in my experience are fairly hardy. This issue may have to do with acclimation (did you match salinities) - or the store that sold it (assuming it's an LFS). The fish looks (the word is moribund) - lying on its side. There are multiple questions - but QT for a week is not adequate. SO - the possibilities are multiple. Were I you - I would transfer the fish to a quarantine tank - (hospital tank) - and treat according to the policy at the top of the thread. With the warning, fish in this condition do not often survive.

That said what are the parameters in your tank?

pH-8.0
NH3/NH4+-0ppm
NO2-0ppm
Nitrate- between 20-40ppm

Tranferring will only stress it nore- Its Moribund

j.falk · Jun 18, 2023

Step 1: Calm down and try to look at this issue as a learning experience.

Step 2: That fish is likely not going to survive. When they lie on their side and breathe fast it's a very bad sign.

Step 3: Figure out what the cause of this problem is. There is something off about your tank or the way that the fish was added to the tank. You need to figure out the issue and correct it before adding any more livestock to the tank.

kujothehuman · Jun 18, 2023

right now my tank is at 1.024 but i do not have a sump or an auto top off so i imagine its possible for it to reach 1.025 at times. Id have to ask the fish store to be completely positive but I think they run there tanks with the same salinity. its a 40 gallon breeder. i do 10% water changes every sunday afternoon. I added the fish just as instructed but just in case i was instructed wrong, i put the fish in bag to float for 25 minutes. i then net the fish out of the bag to put in the display. As i said before though the fish seemed okay the first two days. I also tried checking all of my equipment to make sure the water wasnt being shocked.

MnFish1 · Jun 18, 2023

vetteguy53081 said:
Sorry to see and not a good first fish as tank appears new. How was fish acclimated/introduced and for how long?
I suspect false readings on ammonia and how are you testing?

Fish is moribund and likely will not make it. Adding an airstone mat help but with low expectations. I encourage you to verify your test results by taking a water sample to a store that does NOT use Api kits and have them test your ammonia and nitrates and compare readings- then you'll know where your levels truly are at

I'm curious - do you ever read other posters comments - I said the fish was moribund. There it no application of API or other kits in my opinion - unless you have more data. the other fish (as to my knowledge ) are fine. So - its not a testing issue

vetteguy53081 · Jun 18, 2023

MnFish1 said:
I'm curious - do you ever read other posters comments - I said the fish was moribund. There it no application of API or other kits in my opinion - unless you have more data. the other fish (as to my knowledge ) are fine. So - its not a testing issue

I saw that and you suggested to place fish in another tank and not a good idea when moribund. As for test kits- verifying water from another outlet does not hurt.

j.falk · Jun 18, 2023

kujothehuman said:
right now my tank is at 1.024 but i do not have a sump or an auto top off so i imagine its possible for it to reach 1.025 at times. Id have to ask the fish store to be completely positive but I think they run there tanks with the same salinity. its a 40 gallon breeder. i do 10% water changes every sunday afternoon. I added the fish just as instructed but just in case i was instructed wrong, i put the fish in bag to float for 25 minutes. i then net the fish out of the bag to put in the display. As i said before though the fish seemed okay the first two days. I also tried checking all of my equipment to make sure the water wasnt being shocked.

1.025 would still be fine. What is your tank temperature?

Are you sure your tank is fully cycled? I'm not seeing any algae growing on your rock?

kujothehuman · Jun 18, 2023

Its fully cycled. i just havent gone through the "ugly Phase" yet. My tank is kept at 78*

kujothehuman · Jun 18, 2023

j.falk said:
1.025 would still be fine. What is your tank temperature?

Are you sure your tank is fully cycled? I'm not seeing any algae growing on your rock?

Its fully cycled. i just havent gone through the "ugly Phase" yet. My tank is kept at 78*

j.falk · Jun 18, 2023

Hmm...fish usually don't keel over and die that quickly unless there is a major issue somewhere.

littlefoxx · Jun 18, 2023

kujothehuman said:
so i am extremely new to this hobby and cycled my tank for about 2 months before adding my first fish which was last thursday, June 15th, 2023. the store i buy my fish from qt for a week. after adding the fish he swam to a spot in the rocks that was completely secluded and i thought that to be normal since he could be stressed from moving. i was told not to feed on the day i got him because it probably wouldnt eat due to stress. on day 2, which would be saturday the 17th, the fish would swim out just barely enough to get a glimpse of everything around him. at this point i still havent seen him eat anything. sunday morning i come in to see that he is out and about but swimming erratically. upside down, sideways, you name it. it seems like he has no energy to do anything. leading into sunday afternoon, which is when im writing this, the fish is laying completely flat on the sand bed breathing extremely fast. my shrimp has come to clean him 2 or 3 times now and when the shrimp gets to close to the face the fish twitches and then goes back to laying down. Im so new to this hobby i dont know what i could do to save him even if it were possible. its a Sunday so anyone with the information to help me immediately, are closed. i guess the main reason im writing this post now is to see what i did wrong? i test my water VERY frequently ( about 3 to 4 times a week) because i want to make sure everything is okay. I tested the water today and my results were as followed
pH-8.0
NH3/NH4+-0ppm
NO2-0ppm
Nitrate- between 20-40ppm

Ill be honest Ive struggled with keeping angels. Each of the ones I got were sick to start (one had velvet, another severe ich, one had possibly brook, and another died from flukes). When you get your tank good and figured out, I would get a pair of baby clownfish next. They are very very hardy and can tolerate slight parameter swings while you are getting used to upkeep of water quality. As pretty as angels are, not the best starter fish in my humble opinion. Plus the baby clowns are so so cute and its cool to watch them grow!

kenchilada · Jun 18, 2023

Also FYI, quarantine for 1 week is a complete waste of time.

Jay Hemdal · Jun 18, 2023

Everyone - take a close look at the second picture. The fish's body is all swollen with edema. That is an indicator of severe organ damage, usually the kidneys. There isn't saving a fish that has organ failure like that - sorry!

The two likely causes of this are internal bacterial infections of the kidneys, or collection of the fish with cyanide, causing organ failure later on.

Jay

threebuoys · Jun 18, 2023

Jay Hemdal said:
Everyone - take a close look at the second picture. The fish's body is all swollen with edema. That is an indicator of severe organ damage, usually the kidneys. There isn't saving a fish that has organ failure like that - sorry!

The two likely causes of this are internal bacterial infections of the kidneys, or collection of the fish with cyanide, causing organ failure later on.

Jay

To Jay's point, and with my limited experience with this species being very unsuccessful in contrast to @MnFish1 success , I'm suspicious the fish was not healthy when you purchased it. I lost 2 coral beauties in a row before I gave up on the species. Based on the behavior of both of my fish leading up to death, I believe they died due to cyanide poisoning at capture.

I agree that for a first fish you may want to try a species with a stronger reputation for being hardy, then you'll be in a better position to judge how you are doing.

Good luck

kujothehuman · Jun 18, 2023

threebuoys said:
To Jay's point, and with my limited experience with this species being very unsuccessful in contrast to @MnFish1 success , I'm suspicious the fish was not healthy when you purchased it. I lost 2 coral beauties in a row before I gave up on the species. Based on the behavior of both of my fish leading up to death, I believe they died due to cyanide poisoning at capture.

I agree that for a first fish you may want to try a species with a stronger reputation for being hardy, then you'll be in a better position to judge how you are doing.

Good luck

Update: The fish has passed. I think you and Jay are right. The more time that passed the more it looked like something was internally wrong with it. I appreciate the help and advice guys. Ill try a pair of clownfish. thank you