Longboat hawkfish died mysteriously

[gvafrm]

Good afternoon,
I discovered this morning my longnose hawkfish lying on the sand, dead. I immediately tested the water, tried to find out what could have happened without clue. He was a picky eater but didn’t seem like a starving skinny fish to me, and all my other fishes and corals are doing fine. He has been in my tank for a bit less than a year, with little to no agression.

I took some pictures, in case any of you would notice something I’d have missed.. (maybe gills looks a bit red?)

I find it very frustrating not understanding what happened, as I would like to do my best to avoid it from repeating, always heart breaking to see these beautiful fish travel the world to die in a reef tank....

Thanks in advance for any advise or insights you may have...

 

[Timfish]

Sorry to hear your loss!

Unfortunately, while we can check for external stuff we can't do anything to determine if a fish has anything wrong internally and an apparently healthy fish may in fact be very sick. It's quite possible it had a problem long before you acquired it. We can't do any of the basic tests that a vet can do for cats or dogs.

 

[CryptoNautical]

If you have a microscope and a scalpel/really sharp knife you could preform a biopsy. I've always done this looking for any parasites/bacterial infection if I have a mysterious loss + you get to learn the anatomy of a animal. (It's a gross procedure)

 

[gvafrm]

Thanks for your replies.. I indeed thought about a biopsy... couldn’t really do it lack of tools and time (home-office but I guess I’d get fired if I become part time fish surgeon eheh).. but definitely noted for the next time