What Killed this Yellow Watchman Goby

[ArabTanker]

Unfortunately lost my yellow watchman goby yesterday. It's been in my 25 gallon AIO reef tank for one month. It was not quarantined before adding. Tank has been running for about two months.

Notes and observations to help diagnose:

• It was eating up until the day before it passed
• Visable symptoms seemed to have come quickly. I didn't notice anything different until right before it died yesterday.
• Had a bloated white belly
• Majority of the body turned white
• Was paired up with a pistol shrimp
• Pair of clown fish in the tank seem to be unaffected
• The goby was the newest fish added
• Inverts in the tank are doing fine
• Purchased from a local Petco which is known by local hobbyists for having healthy fish
• I did feel like the goby was breathing faster than normal compared to other fish I've had in the past. A couple days ago I noticed that it's breathing seemed more normal.
• Once dead I put it in fresh water to see if any parasites would drop off the body - I didn't see any

Photos attached for reference. When I first noticed something was wrong yesterday my first thought was a physical injury because it was unable to swim and wasn't moving its spine. But after watching for a bit longer it looked like it was just too weak to swim, it's belly was bloated and body was white. So now I'm thinking it might have been a bacterial infection. But I'm not entirely sure.

 

[Jay Hemdal Verified Community Expert]

It does look bloated and discolored. Trouble is there can be multiple causes for that, none easily treatable. Do you have any guess as to how long the fish might have been dead prior to you taking the photo? Some of what we are seeing may be artifacts after it died.

Now that it is dead, your primary concern is any possible transfer of the issue to the clownfish. Can you post a short video of them under white light? I might be able to assess their general conditon.

Jay

 

[ArabTanker]

It does look bloated and discolored. Trouble is there can be multiple causes for that, none easily treatable. Do you have any guess as to how long the fish might have been dead prior to you taking the photo? Some of what we are seeing may be artifacts after it died.

Now that it is dead, your primary concern is any possible transfer of the issue to the clownfish. Can you post a short video of them under white light? I might be able to assess their general conditon.

Jay

Hey Jay thanks for helping out. The photos were taken about 10 minutes after dying. The video was taken about 10 minutes before dying as well. I'll attach pictures of how it looked right before dying.

Video of feeding the clowns attached.

I was actually planning on adding a captive bred mandarin goby this weekend. I'll hold off on that plan.

 

[Jay Hemdal Verified Community Expert]

I would hold off on the mandarin.

The clowns look o.k., the smaller one has a bit of something on its caudal fin, I don't think it is serious though.

Jay

 

[ArabTanker]

I would hold off on the mandarin.

The clowns look o.k., the smaller one has a bit of something on its caudal fin, I don't think it is serious though.

Jay

Holy smokes good eye. Now that I'm taking a closer look I also see a small white bump on the top of the smaller clown right behind the first white stripe. Ich possibly? Do you think I should treat them/the tank?

 

[ArabTanker]

Longer video incase first one doesn't show it

 

[Jay Hemdal Verified Community Expert]

I can't see any ich in the video, but that doesn't mean it isn't there, so watch for tiny salt-sized white spots that tend to come and go and change location and number each day- that is what ich does at first.

Jay

 

[ArabTanker]

I can't see any ich in the video, but that doesn't mean it isn't there, so watch for tiny salt-sized white spots that tend to come and go and change location and number each day- that is what ich does at first.

Jay

Hey Jay. Thanks for all the help.
So the smaller (and maybe even the larger) clown does appear to have ich. So I'm thinking I'll have to set up a hospital tank for these guys to treat it. But as of yesterday they both developed black spots all over them. I read online that it might be a reaction to a strong coral sting, but I haven't added any stinging corals lately. The only corals that could have stung them are a few small hammers I have but I don't see the fish hanging out there. Any idea how I should treat them or what it could be?

No additions (except a few zoa frags) since the original post.

 

[Jay Hemdal Verified Community Expert]

Hey Jay. Thanks for all the help.
So the smaller (and maybe even the larger) clown does appear to have ich. So I'm thinking I'll have to set up a hospital tank for these guys to treat it. But as of yesterday they both developed black spots all over them. I read online that it might be a reaction to a strong coral sting, but I haven't added any stinging corals lately. The only corals that could have stung them are a few small hammers I have but I don't see the fish hanging out there. Any idea how I should treat them or what it could be?

No additions (except a few zoa frags) since the original post.

Even small hammer corals can cause hypermelanization on clownfish like that. They could have blundered into the corals at night.
The other cause of black spots are digenean flukes or turbellarian worms, but those both create smaller black spots.

Jay