I had a firefish die in one day

cyanidedelirium · May 16, 2020

I had to firefish one died today it was fine then today it started open its mouth like it was gasping and laying at the bottom of the tank the other one also seems to have the same gasping but is still moving around they both ate yesterday morning and then this morning only one came out to eat tank is 3 months old no visible signs of disease

Ph 8.2
ammonia 0
nitrite .025
nitrate 25
calcium 360
phos.03
dkh 9

neltel_7 · May 16, 2020

Are they the only fish in the tank?

cyanidedelirium · May 16, 2020

neltel_7 said:
Are they the only fish in the tank?

No there are 2 clowns seem fine and healthy

neltel_7 · May 16, 2020

How long did you acclimate for?

cyanidedelirium · May 16, 2020

They were the first fish in there they've been living in there for 2 months

neltel_7 · May 16, 2020

Oh ok, the post made it seem like the firefish had only been in there for a day

cyanidedelirium · May 16, 2020

No sorry it just was fine swimming doing it's thing yesterday and it just laid down and died today and they hang out in the open pretty regularly so I would have noticed something

neltel_7 · May 16, 2020

You said it’s gasping for air, is this gasping rapid or normal paced (breathing)?

cyanidedelirium · May 16, 2020

Well it was quicker than normal but not super fast so I saw this and I thought it was an oxygen issue so I threw in an airstone in the return area and then a couple of hours later it stopped gasping and that was it

neltel_7 · May 16, 2020

Wow, I wonder what caused an oxygen depletion like that. Do you run a skimmer? That could help to prevent that from happening again and keep your water clean haha

cyanidedelirium · May 16, 2020

I don't use a skimmer I have a fuge setup that I started a few weeks ago I also have a power head constantly aimed at the surface

Big G · May 16, 2020

Any bite marks on the body? Have you noticed any aggression between any of the fish? Clowns can be pretty mean. And I'm not sure but seems like you have another firefish. If so sometimes they seem to get along, sometimes for months, and then wham. One turns on the other one. Conspecific behavior.

OrangeCountyReefer · May 16, 2020

Need to keep the water oxygenated. Power head aimed at the top of the water helps but having a skimmer is best to keep adequate oxygen in the water.

cyanidedelirium · May 16, 2020

Big G said:
Any bite marks on the body? Have you noticed any aggression between any of the fish? Clowns can be pretty mean. And I'm not sure but seems like you have another firefish. If so sometimes they seem to get along, sometimes for months, and then wham. One turns on the other one. Conspecific behavior.

I haven't seen any bite marks I haven't flushed the body yet I inspected it I haven't seen anything physically wrong. I haven't really seen any aggression out of the clowns since they were first introduced now they hang out in different parts of the tank. I had 2 firefish for about 3 months now the lfs got them as a pair and had been there for a month living together and unless they started fighting last night I haven't seen any aggression between the two of them

cyanidedelirium · May 16, 2020

OrangeCountyReefer said:
Need to keep the water oxygenated. Power head aimed at the top of the water helps but having a skimmer is best to keep adequate oxygen in the water.

Yeah maybe it was an oxygen issue I just don't know why it wouldn't also be showing signs on the clowns

vtecintegra · May 16, 2020

Highly doubt it was an oxygen problem.

Big G · May 16, 2020

Might want to do a freshwater dip to check for flukes.

OrangeCountyReefer · May 16, 2020

vtecintegra said:
Highly doubt it was an oxygen problem.

Probably did not but oxygen issues are highly over looked by most

cyanidedelirium · May 16, 2020

Big G said:
Might want to do a freshwater dip to check for flukes.

So I dipped the deceased one I didn't see any come off the other ones hiding underneath my rocks when it comes out tomorrow to eat I'll try and do a dip then

ecexotics · May 16, 2020

cyanidedelirium said:
I had to firefish one died today it was fine then today it started open its mouth like it was gasping and laying at the bottom of the tank the other one also seems to have the same gasping but is still moving around they both ate yesterday morning and then this morning only one came out to eat tank is 3 months old no visible signs of disease

Ph 8.2
ammonia 0
nitrite .025
nitrate 25
calcium 360
phos.03
dkh 9

very very sorry to hear about the loss. did it seem stressed from shipping ? i've lost one from divers den in shipping due to stress i believe