Mysterious death: Gold spot rabbitfish

[NC2WA]

My 6" gold spot rabbitfish that I've had for 7 months was dead this morning. Has been eating well, and was hanging out with my 3" blue throat triggerfish that I added to the tank last week.

Besides checking the regular water parameters (ammonia, nitrite, nitrates, pH, temp, salinity), is there something else I can check. I don't believe the triggerfish could have caused this, but I have no other ideas to support these sudden and mysterious death.

I may replaced it with a orange spot rabbitfish when payday occurs next week before the wife notices

The wife is not going to be happy. (I get to hear again from her, "boy, your hobby is expensive)

any ideas, suggestions??

Kirk

 

[Herefishyfishy]

any ideas, suggestions??

Kirk

Yeah, honesty is the best policy when it comes to wifes

Buying secret replacement pets rarely works out. Fish typically die for a cause and no reason to go from bad to worse on a sore budget issue when there is as of yet no clear explanation.

Good luck!

 

[ronj]

try sneaking a 125g tank in the house!!!! i got in a lot of trouble for that trick!!!!!:badgrin:

 

[NC2WA]

I would like to find a cause or some type of plausible reason before I replace it. only had two other fish in the tank, blue throat triggerfish and a orange diamond goby. The rabbitfish was the biggest fish in the tank, so I dont believe it was being bullied.

Just odd it was eating and grazing one day and the next day it is found dead on the sandbed. (still scratching head)

 

[ronj]

did it have any wounds or anything out of the ordinary on its body????

 

[Herefishyfishy]

Batch of Tough luck going, first the Majestic, now the rabbet. Using RO water? Other contaminants? Running any fresh carbon?

 

[NC2WA]

no wounds, no illness, eyes and fins clear, appetite was good. it got cleaned every nite by the cleaner shrimp.

yes, I use RO water with spectrapure filters (sediment and carbon) and membrane; they are 7 months old.

I believe the issue with the majestic was the QT tank.
what other contaminants would I look or test for?

I would think if my water quality is not adequate, I would be losing sensitive inverts first, like the cleaner shrimps or sand sifting starfish I have. But they are both alive.

I have all the necessary water kits (except ammonia and nitrite). Will be going to a LFS tomorrow to have my water tested just for a sanity check.

will post results
thanks

kirk

 

[Herefishyfishy]

Try running high grade carbon in a canister or sock

 

[NC2WA]

if i run carbon in a sock can it be placed in a pre-filter chamber..my pre-filter chamber is in my sump.

thanks
kirk

 

[Herefishyfishy]

Carbon can be placed wherever you want. High flow, low flow. It is not like phosphate removers which require a slow flow. Perhaps it will get used up faster as the first step in the filter, but wherever matters lees than what quality and freshness. IMO carbon can cure a multitude of sins, even if their ID is still a mystery.

 

[NC2WA]

will have to look into this...the wife asked about the tank today and I was honest with her..she basically gave me "find a cause" or think about getting rid of the tank...blasphemy I say, blasphemy

 

[Herefishyfishy]

Tell her not enough Carbon being run and some unknown household contaminates built up. Now that cause has been corrected. (Keep looking for other more specific causes)

 

[ronj]

What!!!!! she said find a cause or get rid of the tank!!!!! that's crazy...tell her you might have to find a replacement for her..just kidding:badgrin: it could have just been that fishes' time.

 

[Jan]

Set up a tank-cam so you can supervise what that trigger is up to... :lol:

 

[NC2WA]

I did not think my water parameters were the cause, but just for a sanity check, here they are:

Ammonia-0
Nitrite-0
Nitrates-0
Phosphates-0.4
(the LFS mentioned this value might be a concern for any type of angelfish). I thought if the value is below 1.0 it is OK.

(Would anyone like to comment on the phosphate value this please).


pH-8.2
temp-76
salinity-1.025

The only other thing that might be a factor (and my wife mentioned this), is the majority of the tank is in the garage. Would the opening and shutting of the garage door and/or the door to the house from the garage caused undo stress on the fish??. (I think not, but thought I would throw it out there).

here is a old pic of the tank in the garage (from inside the garage):

http://www.flickr.com/photos/7329275@N05/494382956/
-----------
Ron,

there is no way in hell that I am selling this tank. I have several thousands of dollars in it.
For now, I like Mike's reply and this is the answer I am going with

(thank you Mike !!!!!!!!)

Kirk

 

[Jan]

Kirk, what test kits do you use? Most kits are not able to get a good reading on phosphate, partly because they are not designed to test the very low ranges and partly because they tend to test inorganic rather than organic phosphate. Also, any algae present in the tank will take up PO4 so quickly out of the water that you might get a very low reading only because the algae is using it before it can be registered by the tester.

As far as whether that would be the issue for your fish, I really doubt it. From what I understand, most fish are pretty tolerant of moderate phosphate levels (same with nitrate).

 

[NC2WA]

The LFS that performed the tests used Salifert for everything including PO4. I do have some algae on the back and sides of my tank (intentionally done), but that was there for the rabbitfish to nibble. I also provided algae strips on a clip soaked in selcon. These strips lasted, ooh, about 30 secs..it loved them...

Someone suggested flukes and I suggested intestinal worms. I am ruling out worms as the fish was eating well and was not thin. I have to research flukes and see what the symptoms are, as I am not familiar with this disease.

 

[trido]

Sorry to hear about the loss. You need to remind your wife about how much your tank calms you, is your hobby, and how much it truely satisfies you second only to her and your kids. Works for me anyway.

 

[tdgates10]

So last week I had my Kole Tang bit it, and prior to that my Blue Throat died. Couldn't figure it out until someone told me to check and see if I had any stray voltage in the tank. I sure did and now everything is great in the tank. Just a thought, but that's what was causing my mysterious fish deaths. By the way, the voltage leaks were from a heater and a maxijet. Hope you find your culprit!

 

[NC2WA]

trido, thanks...

tdgates..how did you check for stray voltage? I do not have any powerheads in the tank..all closed loop...(don't know if closed loops can still generate stray voltage or not). The only power supplied devices are two titanium heaters in the sump.