Lost my favorite fish today

Gorgar · Aug 19, 2020

My Midas blenny was the second fish I got in my 220 and was by far the most fun to watch, he has been doing great for the past month until yesterday when he wasn't hungry, wasn't moving much and seemed to be breathing rather fast. Later in the evening we couldn't find him until I just now found he had gone into a cave and passed. This is also after another death of a green chromis that was a new addition (i added 3, the other 2 are still doing okay). When I found him his eyes were cloudy and his stomach seemed to have a hole in it. Should I be concerned with 2 deaths within a couple days?

Ammonia is at 0 as are nitrites
Nitrates are very low, i have a refugium and also run automatic water changes so everything stays pretty steady

Current stock;
2 clownfish
2 green chromis
Carpenter wrasse
Chalk basslet
2 springer damsel
Pink spotted watchman
1 fire shrimp
A bunch of snails and hermits
2 tiger conchs and a fighting conch

mtfish · Aug 19, 2020

If it were me, I would like to know what happened. Midas blenny is a pretty tough fish. I am afraid you might have introduced a pathogen with the new fish as I do not see anything in water parameters that stand out. Do not add anything new until you get it figured out. Good luck.

Daniel@R2R · Aug 19, 2020

I'm so sorry for the loss, man.

@Jay Hemdal, @HotRocks, @4FordFamily can probably help on looking at the situation.

Jay Hemdal · Aug 19, 2020

Gorgar said:
My Midas blenny was the second fish I got in my 220 and was by far the most fun to watch, he has been doing great for the past month until yesterday when he wasn't hungry, wasn't moving much and seemed to be breathing rather fast. Later in the evening we couldn't find him until I just now found he had gone into a cave and passed. This is also after another death of a green chromis that was a new addition (i added 3, the other 2 are still doing okay). When I found him his eyes were cloudy and his stomach seemed to have a hole in it. Should I be concerned with 2 deaths within a couple days?

Ammonia is at 0 as are nitrites
Nitrates are very low, i have a refugium and also run automatic water changes so everything stays pretty steady

Current stock;
2 clownfish
2 green chromis
Carpenter wrasse
Chalk basslet
2 springer damsel
Pink spotted watchman
1 fire shrimp
A bunch of snails and hermits
2 tiger conchs and a fighting conch

How long were the green chromis in the tank before the one died? I'm seeing a LOT of unthrifty green chromis (small, thin, prone to Uronema) being sold right now. One hypothesis I have is that the supply chain, having been disrupted by COVID is slower than normal. Green chromis don't handle that well, you need to get them from reef to tank very quickly else they thin out and die.

I always quarantine new green chromis, they are SO prone to having issues.

That said, I can't say for certain that the chromis brought something into the tank that killed the midas blenny - the timing is pretty short for that. The midas blenny showed you two symptoms; rapid breathing and the hole in the belly. The latter may have just been from scavengers getting to it before you did, but it could also be a severe sign of an internal infection. The rapid breathing is normally a symptom of external parasites, but could also be the end symptom for a severe internal infection.

As one other person said; don't buy any new fish until this settles down. I would strongly suggest that with a 220, that you consider a 20 gallon quarantine tank, that won't eliminate fish deaths, but at least it will reduce them and protect your display tank.

Jay

Gorgar · Aug 19, 2020

mtfish said:
If it were me, I would like to know what happened. Midas blenny is a pretty tough fish. I am afraid you might have introduced a pathogen with the new fish as I do not see anything in water parameters that stand out. Do not add anything new until you get it figured out. Good luck.

Is it likely that every other fish could be infected?

Jay Hemdal said:
How long were the green chromis in the tank before the one died? I'm seeing a LOT of unthrifty green chromis (small, thin, prone to Uronema) being sold right now. One hypothesis I have is that the supply chain, having been disrupted by COVID is slower than normal. Green chromis don't handle that well, you need to get them from reef to tank very quickly else they thin out and die.

I always quarantine new green chromis, they are SO prone to having issues.

That said, I can't say for certain that the chromis brought something into the tank that killed the midas blenny - the timing is pretty short for that. The midas blenny showed you two symptoms; rapid breathing and the hole in the belly. The latter may have just been from scavengers getting to it before you did, but it could also be a severe sign of an internal infection. The rapid breathing is normally a symptom of external parasites, but could also be the end symptom for a severe internal infection.

As one other person said; don't buy any new fish until this settles down. I would strongly suggest that with a 220, that you consider a 20 gallon quarantine tank, that won't eliminate fish deaths, but at least it will reduce them and protect your display tank.

Jay

It had only been about 3-4 days after arriving that the one green chromis died, then about 4 days later the blenny. Should I be starting to rush setting up this QT tank before it (whatever it might be) takes out anybody else? I know not starting off with a qt was a bad decision, probably gonna learn the hard way this time. Thanks everybody for your help

Jay Hemdal · Aug 19, 2020

In looking over your fish list again, yeah, I'd look at setting up a QT. Keep a close eye on the clowns and chalk bass, they are the ones I would expect to see something crop up on next.

Jay

4FordFamily · Aug 19, 2020

Photos? Almost sounds like uronema or a mix of ailments.

. Sorry for the loss

Gorgar · Aug 21, 2020

4FordFamily said:
Photos? Almost sounds like uronema or a mix of ailments. . Sorry for the loss

It was so sudden that I didn't even get a picture of him before when he had a symptom. I've started a treatment of mocrobe-lifts Herbtana to try and stop whatever is happening as well as dosing Kent marines Zoe supplement to help them fight anything off, thanks everyone for their help so far

Jay Hemdal · Aug 21, 2020

The fish's belly is VERY sunken. Did hermit crabs or something eat its belly after it died? If not, the fish's main problem was starvation.

Jay

Gorgar · Aug 21, 2020

Jay Hemdal said:
The fish's belly is VERY sunken. Did hermit crabs or something eat its belly after it died? If not, the fish's main problem was starvation.

Jay

I'm assuming it was hermit crabs, he ate very well 3 times a day pellets and frozen mysis

Jay Hemdal · Aug 21, 2020

Gorgar said:
I'm assuming it was hermit crabs, he ate very well 3 times a day pellets and frozen mysis

O.K., its just that I've had this species feed well, but still get very skinny due to malabsorption or internal parasites. If its belly wasn't sunken prior to death, than that's not it though.

Jay

vetteguy53081 · Aug 21, 2020

Loss is never invited. Any white poop from fish or reduction in eating last couple of days ?

CoralsAddiction · Aug 21, 2020

Jay Hemdal said:
The midas blenny showed you two symptoms; rapid breathing and the hole in the belly. The latter may have just been from scavengers getting to it before you did, but it could also be a severe sign of an internal infection. The rapid breathing is normally a symptom of external parasites, but could also be the end symptom for a severe internal infection.

Jay

I agree with this assessment regarding the potential cause being internal parasite/infection. I had lost three fishes in the last 3 months. All exhibited two main symptoms: lethargy and lack of eating. There were no external signs of illness to indicate external parasites.
So, I treated my display tank with Prazipro about two weeks ago. I’m keeping my fingers crossed that I don’t lose more fishes to whatever killed the three fishes before.