what did this to my firefish??

CrossXchaos · Sep 28, 2021

Could have been a number of things. Bacterial infection from a small nip can kill fish rather quickly or gash from a rock during a chase really to many possible scenarios. Keep in mind that some fish species that have been weakened by infection or illness will hide intill they die or recover. Sorry for the loss

maleks.reef · Sep 28, 2021

homer1475 said:
Not entirely true. GFO is basically rust.

Assuming the rust contains iron ONLY then you'd be right. However, most rust will contain other heavy metals like copper, which is very bad for inverts and LPS too apparently.

Gtinnel · Sep 28, 2021

The odds that it went from perfectly healthy and fine for months to be killed by the clown without you seeing signs of aggression (nipped fins, etc) seems incredibly low. It's not uncommon in this hobby for things to die with no obvious reason. For example I had all of the fish in my 125g tank die within about 2 hours once. All went from seemingly health to dead within 2 hours. To this day I have no clue why.

maleks.reef · Sep 28, 2021

CrossXchaos said:
Could have been a number of things. Bacterial infection from a small nip can kill fish rather quickly or gash from a rock during a chase really to many possible scenarios. Keep in mind that some fish species that have been weakened by infection or illness will hide intill they die or recover. Sorry for the loss

I did do a massive clean up the other day, right before it disappeared. I was cleaning the rocks by hand and brushing them, during which i kind of moved the rock that the firefish hides under, could I have squished it or trapped it until it died? Or do you think it would've been able to escape?

NowGlazeIT · Sep 28, 2021

Total Shot in the dark here but, looks like a anemone started to eat it and then regurgitated half way.

maleks.reef · Sep 28, 2021

Gtinnel said:
The odds that it went from perfectly healthy and fine for months to be killed by the clown without you seeing signs of aggression (nipped fins, etc) seems incredibly low. It's not uncommon in this hobby for things to die with no obvious reason. For example I had all of the fish in my 125g tank die within about 2 hours once. All went from seemingly health to dead within 2 hours. To this day I have no clue why.

dang, that sucks. Im very frustrated that i lost 1 fish, cant imagine losing all of them..
The same thing happened to me but with my euphillia. Although i think it is because of rust now.

maleks.reef · Sep 28, 2021

NowGlazeIT said:
Total Shot in the dark here but, looks like a anemone started to eat it and then regurgitated half way.

No nems in my tank so its prolly the big (and always hungry) clown that ate it to the bone.

NowGlazeIT · Sep 28, 2021

maleks.reef said:
No nems in my tank so its prolly the big (and always hungry) clown that ate it to the bone.

Oh dang scratch what I said then

LiveFreeAndReef · Sep 28, 2021

I wouldn't jump to the conclusion that the clowns killed it, it may have passed on its own and the likely culprits for eating it once it died are your CUC, cause that's their job

blaxsun · Sep 28, 2021

homer1475 said:
Not entirely true. GFO is basically rust.

I'm talking about the kind you get from neglecting your equipment, both the direct (definitely not good from an equipment standpoint) and indirect (potential harm to the tank). I've seen situations where a single rusty pump took out an entire coral system.

NowGlazeIT · Sep 28, 2021

blaxsun said:
I'm talking about the kind you get from neglecting your equipment, both the direct (definitely not good from an equipment standpoint) and indirect (potential harm to the tank). I've seen situations where a single rusty pump took out an entire coral system.

Correct, GFO is pure iron oxide, steel rusting hinges are not

homer1475 · Sep 28, 2021

blaxsun said:
I'm talking about the kind you get from neglecting your equipment, both the direct (definitely not good from an equipment standpoint) and indirect (potential harm to the tank). I've seen situations where a single rusty pump took out an entire coral system.

I'm certainly not disagreeing with you in any way! Rust in a tank is a bad thing. Just clarifying some rust in a controlled usage, can be a good thing.

blaxsun · Sep 28, 2021

homer1475 said:
I'm certainly not disagreeing with you in any way! Rust in a tank is a bad thing. Just clarifying some rust in a controlled usage, can be a good thing.

GFO is great - I use it all the time.

NowGlazeIT · Sep 28, 2021

Iron Oxide (II) vs Iron Oxide (III). GFO?

Wanted to throw this question up in the forums as I caught myself researching but didnt really find an answer. Point 1. So we use GFO (ferric/iron oxide) to remove PO4 from water, and the only prophylactic prior to its use is a good rinse to get rid of dust. Point 2. I see a number of posts...

www.reef2reef.com

Wyvern · Sep 28, 2021

MaxTremors said:
A primate is a primate, an ape eating a person is not cannibalism.

And even that is too specific, ‘a fish is a fish’ is like saying ‘mammal is a mammal’.

I'm not going to argue over such trivial matters.

But I've seen same species eat eachother, fish, reptiles, mammals, fresh death is just food, in nature, nothing is wasted.

argiBK · Sep 28, 2021

Just curious, where did you source your rock from? Was it live rock from the ocean?

Grapefruit509 · Sep 28, 2021

could have got stuck in a rock, died, then after most was eaten it was loose enough to fall and u find it

jfoahs04 · Sep 28, 2021

LiveFreeAndReef said:
I wouldn't jump to the conclusion that the clowns killed it, it may have passed on its own and the likely culprits for eating it once it died are your CUC, cause that's their job

Right. I'd wager that the clown didn't kill it. There are any number of reasons the fish could have died (disease, injury, water chemistry, etc.) and the clown being aggressive is only one of many possible scenarios. The fish was missing for 3 days before the remains turned up. It's not uncommon for a fish (especially a shy fish like a firefish) to hide if it's sick and many fish diseases kill pretty quickly once symptoms show. I think the most likely scenario is that it was sick, hid as it was vulnerable, and died of disease/illness while in hiding. Then the CUC came in and did the work it's supposed to do. But we'll never know. The best thing to do now is scope the tank for visible issues (like the rust), address them, and test the water to try to make sure it doesn't happen again. Keep an eye on other fish to make sure they don't display any signs of disease.