IS MY Longnose Hawkfish a killer??

[PringlesLFE]

Thoroughly confused now. Have lost a blue dotted jawfish, Ocellaris clown, and now my royal gramma in the past 1.5 months. The only guy that keeps swimming is this Longnose Hawkfish...whats going on. Parameters are normal. Have noticed scales missing from the back rest of the gramma and jawfish..assumed the clownfish was the aggressor.

34g cube
Cleaner shrimp, emerald crab, hermits and snails...

what the heck!

 

[cracker]

huuum, well I think the hawk wasn't the culprit. I'd be more worried about the shrimp & snails. let's see what other say.

 

[Eva Rose]

I can't tell from the pic but why don't you ask a #reefsquad member to weigh in whether this could be an ailment (disease, parasite etc.) or an injury. Submit a couple of pics for them to review. Especially with the loss of several fish.
From personal experience my longnose has never shown any aggression and is rather passive. They are not the more aggressive hawks generally.

 

[sbash]

How long has the tank been running?

Can you post your parameters?

When did you add the last fish? (and what fish was it)...

What (if any) quarantine protocols do you follow?

 

[Diesel]

What else you have in that 34 cube.

 

[Reefer40b]

highly doubt it was the hawkfish, the only time i see mine get aggressive is when I feed, and even then he is only aggressive toward the food not other fish.

 

[melypr1985]

I would also doubt the hawkfish is the issue here. If the other fish were "missing scales" before they died, then I'm willing to take the leap to something else happening here. The fish that were missing scales..... did those areas become red before death? Were they breathing heavily, flashing or scratching against objects in the tank? Spots, frayed fins or a dusty appearance?

 

[PringlesLFE]

How long has the tank been running?

Can you post your parameters?

When did you add the last fish? (and what fish was it)...

What (if any) quarantine protocols do you follow?

Hey All,

I've marine pure balls, the sandbed, and 50% of the LR running for about 3 months. Upgraded to the 34G a month ago and only added more base rock. Parameters:

Ammonia/Nitrites/Nitrates: 0/0/<1ppm
DKH: 7.3
Ph: 7.6
Salinity: 1.024
Temp: 78F

Realize all my parameters are a bit low and not ideal but the corals are fine and from what I understand, should not be low enough to kill these relatively hardy fish.

Had the clown for 4 months, never showed any symptoms until past week.
-Added jawfish and hawknose a month ago.
-Jawfish died 2 weeks ago.
-Clown died 1 week ago.
-Picked up the royal gramma thinking the fish had died due to territorial disputes
-Gramma died 5 days later.

Admittedly, had not QT'd any of the above and only temp acclimated like a complete novice. Will do so moving forward after losing two somewhat rare and favorite fish.

Thinking it was Marine Velvet or Brooklynella (Clownfish disease) as I saw symptoms on the clown towards the end but thought it was getting the dusty appearance from "practice hosting" in the sand during the AM. Also thinking this is complete BS (internet explanations of the behavior) - it was probably itching the parasites.

Any guesses as to why the Hawkfish has been so disease resilient? If I move him into a hyposalinity QT, can the parasite still live within my DT? Outside of corals, just a few inverts with the cleaner shrimp as the next possible host.

Live and learn. Thanks all who replied!

 

[PringlesLFE]

I would also doubt the hawkfish is the issue here. If the other fish were "missing scales" before they died, then I'm willing to take the leap to something else happening here. The fish that were missing scales..... did those areas become red before death? Were they breathing heavily, flashing or scratching against objects in the tank? Spots, frayed fins or a dusty appearance?

Thanks for this - dug into these deeper and am very confident it was disease. Spots did not turn red before dying but def saw the spots and cloudiness on the clown. Thought he was "practice hosting" as he only scraped against the sand in the early morning and particles would sometimes stick.

RIP little guys.