dhboiler
Active Member
Hi everyone, I'll apologize in advance for the length of this.
I am trying to figure out what went wrong with some fish recently. Back story. I had to downsize due to a move. For about 2 years I kept 4 fish together. An ocellaris clown, a spotted toby puffer, a redheaded goby, and a tailspot blenny. Again, these fish lived together 2 years with nothing new added, and no new corals added.
Over a period of about 4 months, both the goby and the blenny disappeared. Small fish, never found the bodies. Not really sure about that. One day they were there eating, one day they weren't.
Then a few months after that, my clownfish stopped eating. It would however go after food, but always spit it back out. It seemed to take just enough food to keep itself going. This went on for 2 weeks, the clown kept going, but started showing what I thought were signs of starvation. It never showed any outward signs of disease. No spots, no flashing. Just didn't want to eat. My spotted toby puffer showed none of the same issues. The clown and puffer had lived together for years in peace, and I never saw any continued signs of aggression. So a frag swap came up and a few days prior the clownfish had been showing signs of improvement. It was eating and started to look like it was gonna rebound. My plan had always been to try to introduce a new mate when I could pick one up at the swap, so I went ahead with it. I introduced the new clown and they took to each other quickly, very little aggression whatsoever. A day later the first clown relapsed. It's face and body looked shrunken, acted like it was struggling to breath. It died overnight. Within a week, the second clown did the same. Except, it went way quicker. One day it looked healthy, one day it looked shrunken and sick, and wouldn't eat. It died within 2 days.
I have been researching and I feel like it could be velvet, but I am just not sure. The puffer has never shown any signs of sickness and is still chugging along fine. It's just can't be a coincidence that I went from 4 to 1 fish in a period of 6 months after not losing a fish for 2 years. And how did it get there if it was disease. As I said, nothing new was introduced.
I guess my biggest question is, I am in the middle of an upgrade plan. When I move the coral, would it be smart to move the puffer to a QT tank and run fallow for a few months? And more importantly, what if anything, should I treat the puffer for? Thanks to anyone for taking the time to read and provide answers.
I am trying to figure out what went wrong with some fish recently. Back story. I had to downsize due to a move. For about 2 years I kept 4 fish together. An ocellaris clown, a spotted toby puffer, a redheaded goby, and a tailspot blenny. Again, these fish lived together 2 years with nothing new added, and no new corals added.
Over a period of about 4 months, both the goby and the blenny disappeared. Small fish, never found the bodies. Not really sure about that. One day they were there eating, one day they weren't.
Then a few months after that, my clownfish stopped eating. It would however go after food, but always spit it back out. It seemed to take just enough food to keep itself going. This went on for 2 weeks, the clown kept going, but started showing what I thought were signs of starvation. It never showed any outward signs of disease. No spots, no flashing. Just didn't want to eat. My spotted toby puffer showed none of the same issues. The clown and puffer had lived together for years in peace, and I never saw any continued signs of aggression. So a frag swap came up and a few days prior the clownfish had been showing signs of improvement. It was eating and started to look like it was gonna rebound. My plan had always been to try to introduce a new mate when I could pick one up at the swap, so I went ahead with it. I introduced the new clown and they took to each other quickly, very little aggression whatsoever. A day later the first clown relapsed. It's face and body looked shrunken, acted like it was struggling to breath. It died overnight. Within a week, the second clown did the same. Except, it went way quicker. One day it looked healthy, one day it looked shrunken and sick, and wouldn't eat. It died within 2 days.
I have been researching and I feel like it could be velvet, but I am just not sure. The puffer has never shown any signs of sickness and is still chugging along fine. It's just can't be a coincidence that I went from 4 to 1 fish in a period of 6 months after not losing a fish for 2 years. And how did it get there if it was disease. As I said, nothing new was introduced.
I guess my biggest question is, I am in the middle of an upgrade plan. When I move the coral, would it be smart to move the puffer to a QT tank and run fallow for a few months? And more importantly, what if anything, should I treat the puffer for? Thanks to anyone for taking the time to read and provide answers.
