Moved Fish Yesterday: One Dying, One Missing

MeMyFishandI · May 13, 2020

Hi

Yesterday I moved my cardinal and shark nosed goby form their 10g to a 25g. The water had cycled and everything was perfect. Today, I can not find my shark nosed goby at all and by cardinal is listing at the bottom of the tank. I dosed with some stress guard.

RO/DI water
Ph 8
Ammonia 0
Nitrates 0
Nitrites 5
SG 1.024
temp 80

What can be done and any thoughts as to what may be happening?

Thanks in advance.

Sailfin11 · May 13, 2020

They could just be stressed from the move. Those gobies are very small, so it's likely just hiding. Can you take pictures of the cardinal and your tank?

New&no clue · May 13, 2020

Your goby may just be hiding from the move. Mine hid under or between rocks when first introduced into a new tank. I would caution against looking for him too as shifting rocks could injury him if you don’t know where he’s at.

for the other is it possible he was injured in the move? Was there a difference in parameters between the two tanks?

MeMyFishandI · May 13, 2020

Sailfin11 said:
They could just be stressed from the move. Those gobies are very small, so it's likely just hiding. Can you take pictures of the cardinal and your tank?

I added a bubbler just in case. He’s a bit more upright now. Please don’t judge my orals, they’re still waking up (and I expect they’re still in a bad mood too).

MeMyFishandI · May 13, 2020

New&no clue said:
Your goby may just be hiding from the move. Mine hid under or between rocks when first introduced into a new tank. I would caution against looking for him too as shifting rocks could injury him if you don’t know where he’s at.

for the other is it possible he was injured in the move? Was there a difference in parameters between the two tanks?

I don’t plan on seeking him out. He’s just so social that it is very unusual for him to be hiding for this long.

The tanks were a perfect match to each other.

I don’t think they were injured. The cardinal didn’t show any signs of injury last night. He was looki pretty good.

DeniseAndy · May 13, 2020

Probably stress. What type of cardinal? The goby is hopefully hiding.

Duh, look at the pictures. Bangaii can be tempermental.

Saaqib_Ansari · May 13, 2020

Have you checked if it went carpet surfing; not sure if you have a lid there, but mine flew out the smallest hole in the lid

MeMyFishandI · May 13, 2020

Saaqib_Ansari said:
Have you checked if it went carpet surfing; not sure if you have a lid there, but mine flew out the smallest hole in the lid

I do have a top but it is a screen top. I guess a jump is possible. I haven't seen any evidence of that however.

MeMyFishandI · May 13, 2020

DeniseAndy said:
Probably stress. What type of cardinal? The goby is hopefully hiding.

Duh, look at the pictures. Bangaii can be tempermental.

I don't think it is a temper tantrum. He's now stuck to the inflow for the pump.

DeniseAndy · May 13, 2020

I did not mean temper tantrum tempermental. Stress out tempermental. Meaning the silliest things will send them to their death. I am sorry to hear it is doing poorly. I hope your other is fine.

MeMyFishandI · May 13, 2020

The cardinal has passed away. The goby came out of hiding and he's listless. I moved him in to a QT tank with carbon and a bubbler. He's not doing well at all. I also added carbon to the main tank. So I am guessing there is something wrong with the water but what could it be?

DeniseAndy · May 13, 2020

I am so sorry. If all parameters are the same as the old tank, could have been toxin? I doubt it could have been ammonia even if it was little live rock as the new rock would not have die off and you said nothing else died right?

MeMyFishandI · May 13, 2020

Nothing else has died (yet)... the goby is looking better in his little tank with the carbon running. I have noticed, now that the fish drama has subsided, that the crabs and snails are not nearly as active as they normally are. I have seen a slight up tick in their activity since I tossed the carbon in and added some stress guard. I am wondering if maybe my RO/DI unit isn't filtering out as well as it should be and there are some chemicals getting through.

My acropora isn't looking great, it may be starting to bleach, but I really don't care about it (I've decided they're not my style) and my other corals are starting to come out and say hello.

Half the live rock is from the old tank (I did use one piece from the old tank to get the cycle going) and the other half were new dry rock. I added the remaining live rock when I moved the fish.

This is so heartbreaking for me. This was supposed to be a fantastic new home for everybody, and be so much better than the old one. Turns out to be an utter nightmare.

AmaleeC · May 13, 2020

I’m sorry to hear how things took a turn.

But honestly, just give the tank some time. Even if the water parameters are perfect and there’s no good answer as to why things like this happen, sometimes patience is really what does the trick. I’d, personally, just wait a week or two before trying to add new fish and give things a shot again. Hope this works for you friend, happy reefing!

F i s h y · May 13, 2020

Sorry to hear about your losses. It sounds like you did everything right, sometimes these things are just really stressful and the critters don't adjust well. I hope things are continuing to turn around for you

ReeferWolf · May 13, 2020

It hurts when you try to do something nice for your friends and it doesn't work out. Hopefully your Goby makes a full recovery and gets the chance to really enjoy his new environment.

MeMyFishandI · May 14, 2020

Sadly my little goby died this morning. He was such a fun and social little fish, would always come up to the glass to say hello. I'm beyond sad by the losses. Thank you everybody for your help and support. I really appreciate it.