biancaj
05-24-2007, 8:26 PM
hey guys,
i'm actually asking these questions in regard to my husband's new aquarium. i don't really know much about marine tanks.
his tank is about 2 months old, it is cycled (ammonia and nitrites 0, nitrates 20) and he used 2 damsels ( 1 blue one that has like a masked looking face and one called yellowbelly) to cycle. i know that at least the yellowbelly one is part of his problems. the fish store owner said these two were less aggressive damsels and i know how listening to fish store owners isn't usually the best thing to do but this one is really great. they will advise you against certain purchases if they know they won't work, they do fish shows all the time, he's just well experienced. so to what's happening:
2 damsels came first along with some snails and hermit crabs. then he added a cleaner shrimp and a sandsifting goby. the goby was fine and eating well only the first day, then it went into hiding.about a week later a flame angel and like a week later i guess he got a pair of black and white clownfish, a white anenome with purple tips and a copperbanded butterfly fish.
first death was the goby. as i said it only ate and swam around the first day and then dug a tunnel under a rock and wasn't seen again until we spotted him semi floating around 4 days later. he was still alive but clearly dying and it didn't take long until he was dead. we think he starved and i think he went into hiding because of the damsel(s) tho we didn't actually see anyone pick on him. he didn't look injured but i found it strange why he came out from under the rock when he hasn't done so the entire time.
the second death was the butterfly fish ( my favourite of his bunch). he died about five days after we got him and he was fine the first four days. hubby bought him mysis shrimp because he's supposed to be a finnicky eater but he ate along with everyone else from day one. he was swimming around and picking on rocks. when hubby first put him in the cleaner shrimp got to excited and jumped on him. on day three i did notice a small abrasion like a bit of skin was scratched away on him. on day four he would hide behind a rock all day and in the middle of the day i noticed his belly looked red like it was bleeding. it got darker and more noticeable throughout the rest of the day and he died that night. the fish store owner thought the shrimp may have injured him. that little abrasion didn't seem like the likely cause of death tho. also the fish store owner said that as fish die they will have color changes and that's probably why his belly turned red.
third is really strange, 99% chance he's dead also. it was the smaller of the two clownfish - he was just gone one morning. they both looked healthy - the remaining one still does. swimming actively, no signs of anything wrong, they were eating (other one still is), and we noticed noone pick on them. really, i watch the tank all the time, the damsels and the angel swim near them/him but have never seen them pick on either one. we looked behind the tank and all around it, in the filter behind everything, my husband checked the rocks all twice, picked each up and looked under and inside, this fish is nowhere to be found. EDIT: forgot to add that the day before this disappearance he added a yellow soft coral with flowery looking like ends.
he bought another goby, same kind. the fish store owner told him that when they are younger it can sometimes be hard to get them to eat so he gave hubby one that he's had for a while and that has been eating well. the thing is he also went into hiding like the same or next day. he however does come out at night and sifts through the sand. i'm afraid he might starve tho. hubby doesn't want to feed him after lights are out because he doesn't want to overfeed the tank exept i think that may be the only time to get him to eat. i have seen the yellowbelly damsel pick on this goby. it just shot out of it's rock, picked on the goby and shot back in. and i do notice him swimming around the goby's rock all the time like he's looking for him. i guess it doesn't help that the goby picked the rock right in front of the yellowbelly's hole as his hide-out.
sorry for the lenghty post. ANY ides, advise, suggestions would be greatly appreciated. hubby is getting pretty discouraged and it's not so cheap either. we paid $80 for the pair of clown and now we've got one lonely one left :(.
please, anything that might help - we'd really appreciate it!
edit: forgot to add that he has algea bad on the sand and glass. it's like a dark brown , grey film over his sandbed some bubbles. i know the sand will turn brown during the cycle and it did but this is different.
bianca
i'm actually asking these questions in regard to my husband's new aquarium. i don't really know much about marine tanks.
his tank is about 2 months old, it is cycled (ammonia and nitrites 0, nitrates 20) and he used 2 damsels ( 1 blue one that has like a masked looking face and one called yellowbelly) to cycle. i know that at least the yellowbelly one is part of his problems. the fish store owner said these two were less aggressive damsels and i know how listening to fish store owners isn't usually the best thing to do but this one is really great. they will advise you against certain purchases if they know they won't work, they do fish shows all the time, he's just well experienced. so to what's happening:
2 damsels came first along with some snails and hermit crabs. then he added a cleaner shrimp and a sandsifting goby. the goby was fine and eating well only the first day, then it went into hiding.about a week later a flame angel and like a week later i guess he got a pair of black and white clownfish, a white anenome with purple tips and a copperbanded butterfly fish.
first death was the goby. as i said it only ate and swam around the first day and then dug a tunnel under a rock and wasn't seen again until we spotted him semi floating around 4 days later. he was still alive but clearly dying and it didn't take long until he was dead. we think he starved and i think he went into hiding because of the damsel(s) tho we didn't actually see anyone pick on him. he didn't look injured but i found it strange why he came out from under the rock when he hasn't done so the entire time.
the second death was the butterfly fish ( my favourite of his bunch). he died about five days after we got him and he was fine the first four days. hubby bought him mysis shrimp because he's supposed to be a finnicky eater but he ate along with everyone else from day one. he was swimming around and picking on rocks. when hubby first put him in the cleaner shrimp got to excited and jumped on him. on day three i did notice a small abrasion like a bit of skin was scratched away on him. on day four he would hide behind a rock all day and in the middle of the day i noticed his belly looked red like it was bleeding. it got darker and more noticeable throughout the rest of the day and he died that night. the fish store owner thought the shrimp may have injured him. that little abrasion didn't seem like the likely cause of death tho. also the fish store owner said that as fish die they will have color changes and that's probably why his belly turned red.
third is really strange, 99% chance he's dead also. it was the smaller of the two clownfish - he was just gone one morning. they both looked healthy - the remaining one still does. swimming actively, no signs of anything wrong, they were eating (other one still is), and we noticed noone pick on them. really, i watch the tank all the time, the damsels and the angel swim near them/him but have never seen them pick on either one. we looked behind the tank and all around it, in the filter behind everything, my husband checked the rocks all twice, picked each up and looked under and inside, this fish is nowhere to be found. EDIT: forgot to add that the day before this disappearance he added a yellow soft coral with flowery looking like ends.
he bought another goby, same kind. the fish store owner told him that when they are younger it can sometimes be hard to get them to eat so he gave hubby one that he's had for a while and that has been eating well. the thing is he also went into hiding like the same or next day. he however does come out at night and sifts through the sand. i'm afraid he might starve tho. hubby doesn't want to feed him after lights are out because he doesn't want to overfeed the tank exept i think that may be the only time to get him to eat. i have seen the yellowbelly damsel pick on this goby. it just shot out of it's rock, picked on the goby and shot back in. and i do notice him swimming around the goby's rock all the time like he's looking for him. i guess it doesn't help that the goby picked the rock right in front of the yellowbelly's hole as his hide-out.
sorry for the lenghty post. ANY ides, advise, suggestions would be greatly appreciated. hubby is getting pretty discouraged and it's not so cheap either. we paid $80 for the pair of clown and now we've got one lonely one left :(.
please, anything that might help - we'd really appreciate it!
edit: forgot to add that he has algea bad on the sand and glass. it's like a dark brown , grey film over his sandbed some bubbles. i know the sand will turn brown during the cycle and it did but this is different.
bianca