Watchman Goby Dead

[mikemathis555]

Hello all,

my watchman goby was acting normal up until today (normal = hanging hinting around my rock work). He started swimming around the tank more than normal. I fed some pellet this evening at my normal time, and everything seems just fine.

I walked back to the tank about an hour later, and he was upside on the sand.

parameters;
Salinity 1.025
PH 8.3
Alk 8.9
Zero Nitrate
Phosphate 0.03
No detectable Ammonia or Nitrite

here are two pictures after he was pulled out. I put him in fresh water or see if any flukes or worms came out - nothing did.

thoughts?

 

[Deezill]

sorry for your loss

 

[Greg P]

Excellent pictures.
I'm no expert so cannot comment beyond it looks a bit skinny.
Unfortunately, so many things happen to our fishies before they reach us that there could be a multitude of reasons why they die.
Hopefully someone will have some more insights after seeing your pics.

 

[mikemathis555]

@Jay Hemdal - any thoughts on this? I have two clownfish and a Firefish in the same tank so want to make sure it’s not something to be concerned about

 

[Jay Hemdal Verified Community Expert]

@Jay Hemdal - any thoughts on this? I have two clownfish and a Firefish in the same tank so want to make sure it’s not something to be concerned about

I can’t see anything in the picture. Did I understand that the goby ate fine and was found dead an hour later?
Jay

 

[mikemathis555]

I can’t see anything in the picture. Did I understand that the goby ate fine and was found dead an hour later?
Jay

correct, the only thing I found off was he swam around the water column more than usual. He would do it occasionally prior, but I would say he was out of his usual hiding spots the majority of the day before he passed.

He ate like usual (small pellet food and frozen shrimp) - never had a problem with this guy eating.

When I saw him, my first reaction was some sort of trama…the discoloration on his belly was not there before.

 

[mikemathis555]

For context - this is the best picture I have of him before.

 

[jmichaelh7]

Any new livestock added recently ?

 

[mikemathis555]

Any new livestock added recently ?

that depends on what is meant by recently. The watchman was one of four fish, and was added 3rd in progression. The fourth fish (clownfish) was added in October. I ran the new fish through a passive QT period in my QT tank (no meds just monitoring). No signs of any issues with any of the four fish until Thursday night.

 

[jmichaelh7]

If you observed him eating just your before that’s odd. Sorry for the loss

 

[ProxyAquarist]

Perplexing .....

If it was the food, one would think the two Clownfish and a Firefish would be affected ,unless they feed differently.

If it was chemical parameters, oxygen saturation, pollution, again, one would think the two Clownfish and a Firefish would be affected. Furthermore, your stated parameters look good.

Quarantine was almost 2 months ago which would mean a disease from one of those fish would have to have an incubation period of over 2 months. That seems unlikely.

I'd ask the age of the Watchman Goby, but being very active before dying does not sound like a "normal" death from old age. I assume it is younger than 5 years.

Given your scenario of rapid movement after a meal, I wonder if a physiologic/anatomic event happened during the meal. In humans, there can be events caused by twists, spasms, narrowing, scaring, ... in the gut. The sudden event is very painful and may induce spasm. I am not sure if this occurs in fish.

I empathize. Most aquarium fist death is unexplained. Autopsies are very rare.

Let us know if you find anything more and condolences,
Jim

 

[mikemathis555]

Perplexing .....

If it was the food, one would think the two Clownfish and a Firefish would be affected ,unless they feed differently.

If it was chemical parameters, oxygen saturation, pollution, again, one would think the two Clownfish and a Firefish would be affected. Furthermore, your stated parameters look good.

Quarantine was almost 2 months ago which would mean a disease from one of those fish would have to have an incubation period of over 2 months. That seems unlikely.

I'd ask the age of the Watchman Goby, but being very active before dying does not sound like a "normal" death from old age. I assume it is younger than 5 years.

Given your scenario of rapid movement after a meal, I wonder if a physiologic/anatomic event happened during the meal. In humans, there can be events caused by twists, spasms, narrowing, scaring, ... in the gut. The sudden event is very painful and may induce spasm. I am not sure if this occurs in fish.

I empathize. Most aquarium fist death is unexplained. Autopsies are very rare.

Let us know if you find anything more and condolences,
Jim

perplexing indeed…more context, the new clown was introduced 2 months ago, but was in quarantine before that introduction into the DT.

Diet wise - all fish get the same food. A varied diet of high quality pellet (TDO ChromaBoost x-small by Reef Nutrition) and frozen Brine or Mysis shrimp. No diet changes over the past months.