Surprise death

[Mschmidt]

I haven't been able to test water chemistry yet, but this morning I got a text early saying my foxface is dead.
He was taken out of the tank at that point and when I got home here is what he looked like.

Any idea what happened? There are scales missing but no evidence of battles, to my novice eyes.

 

[vetteguy53081]

I haven't been able to test water chemistry yet, but this morning I got a text early saying my foxface is dead.
He was taken out of the tank at that point and when I got home here is what he looked like.

Any idea what happened? There are scales missing but no evidence of battles, to my novice eyes.

It will be difficult to determine with a dead carcass however any history provided will offer a clue such as bumps, heavy breathing, loss of appetite, hanging at surface, etc

 

[Mschmidt]

He was hiding for a couple of days, maybe three. I didn't see him eat, but the bubble algae I threw in from the overflow and sump disappeared. So I assume he ate it. Before that, late last week, he seemed to be acting normal.

Of note, one piece of bubble algae had a red sponge (I think) on it. Could it have been toxic? There is more of it in the overflow and I can get a picture when I get home.

 

[Mschmidt]

Tested chemistry was normal for me, higher than I want it to be, but stable.
N: 40.1
P: .3
Alk: 149ppm
Salinity: 1.025
Temp: 79

 

[crazyfishmom]

Fox face rabbitfish can be skittish but even when they are they tend to swim around consistently so the fact that he was hiding makes me think that something may have been wrong. Tank mates? How long was he in your tank? We’re you feeding anything else besides the algae? If so, what?

 

[Mschmidt]

Fox face rabbitfish can be skittish but even when they are they tend to swim around consistently so the fact that he was hiding makes me think that something may have been wrong. Tank mates? How long was he in your tank? We’re you feeding anything else besides the algae? If so, what?

He was in the tank for a year to join a kole tang (smaller than him), falko hawk, and springer damsel, and two black ocelaris (spelling?) clowns. six (maybe) months ago I added a powder brown tang (about the same size, maybe larger now). They had been getting along as far as I could see, two months ago aiptasia eating file fish.

Feeding is:
near daily: nori,
daily (9 of 10 days): homemade frozen mix (oyster, shrimp, scallop, freeze dried brine, aminos, more algae (dried from the Asian market), dragon roe, and some pellet food).
occasional (once or twice a week): blanched and frozen duckweed (cuz I forgot to mix it in to the frozen), or frozen rotifers, or frozen something else the name of which I forget but is primarily tossed in for the coral.

 

[crazyfishmom]

He was in the tank for a year to join a kole tang (smaller than him), falko hawk, and springer damsel, and two black ocelaris (spelling?) clowns. six (maybe) months ago I added a powder brown tang (about the same size, maybe larger now). They had been getting along as far as I could see, two months ago aiptasia eating file fish.

Feeding is:
near daily: nori,
daily (9 of 10 days): homemade frozen mix (oyster, shrimp, scallop, freeze dried brine, aminos, more algae (dried from the Asian market), dragon roe, and some pellet food).
occasional (once or twice a week): blanched and frozen duckweed (cuz I forgot to mix it in to the frozen), or frozen rotifers, or frozen something else the name of which I forget but is primarily tossed in for the coral.

That’s hard. He doesn’t *look* mangled in the pictures you showed so it’s hard to know right? That’s frustrating. I might consider watching the tank in the event that something has been introduced and you’re seeing the canary in the coal mine effect. I am crossing my fingers that this was an isolated event.

 

[vetteguy53081]

Tested chemistry was normal for me, higher than I want it to be, but stable.
N: 40.1
P: .3
Alk: 149ppm
Salinity: 1.025
Temp: 79

Po4 very high and nitrate u there but not enough to cause death.

 

[Mschmidt]

That’s hard. He doesn’t *look* mangled in the pictures you showed so it’s hard to know right? That’s frustrating. I might consider watching the tank in the event that something has been introduced and you’re seeing the canary in the coal mine effect. I am crossing my fingers that this was an isolated event.

That's a fear in the back of my head. Carbon is running and has been even before.

New coral came in, dipped the normal way. Maybe something in the coral snow. I'm already dumping the rest of it. Nothing went on that should have caused a problem though.

 

[Mschmidt]

Po4 very high and nitrate u there but not enough to cause death.

I've been fighting with those two since forever. N holds steady, p is a touch lower than it has been.

New skimmer and reactor should help though.

 

[vetteguy53081]

I've been fighting with those two since forever. N holds steady, p is a touch lower than it has been.

New skimmer and reactor should help though.

yes they will and I run ChemiPure Blue full time in sump. It helps reduce those levels and keep them in check

 

[JGT]

Hate to say it, but in this hobby sometimes things just die and there is no apparent reason. Can have perfect params and something (coral or fish) dies overnight. Frustrating part of the hobby for sure.

 

[Mschmidt]

yes they will and I run ChemiPure Blue full time in sump. It helps reduce those levels and keep them in check

You prefer it to rowaphos? I just emptied my container this last change. Need to re-up.

Hate to say it, but in this hobby sometimes things just die and there is no apparent reason. Can have perfect params and something (coral or fish) dies overnight. Frustrating part of the hobby for sure.

That's a frustrating part. Up till now I have a rough idea of the causes of death, and even when it's glaringly my incompetence (mandarin looks hungry, let's wait to get pods).

If I have more deaths I'll likely send out a reef dna test.

 

[vetteguy53081]

You prefer it to rowaphos? I just emptied my container this last change. Need to re-up.

That's a frustrating part. Up till now I have a rough idea of the causes of death, and even when it's glaringly my incompetence (mandarin looks hungry, let's wait to get pods).

If I have more deaths I'll likely send out a reef dna test.

Yes. Rowapho also a good product. Been using Chemipure for over 3 decades and sold it at my LFS - never let me down