Coral shark died with no obvious reasoning

[Tliguors]

I have a 220 g aggressive salt water tank that I have had up and running for about 6-8 months now. The current inhabitants are
- porcupine puffer
-dogface puffer
-2 voltan lionfish
-banded cat shark

When I first got the cat shark I also purchased a coral shark which died a few days later with pink blotchy spots on his underside and was really stiff (see picture). I figured this was due to my tank being fairly new This occurred about 3 months ago. Last night i checked all my levels in the tank and they were all perfect so I went and got another one figuring that my tank is established enough and everything was stable including the fish that I have in there already. The new shark has the same symptoms as the other one and I have no clue what could have caused it. There are no scrapes, cuts, or abrasions at all on the shark.

 

[silverado61]

Can you show us a picture of your tank so we can see how it's set up as far as sand and rocks. Most sharks need to be constantly on the move and don't do well with corners in the tank or too much rock.

 

[Tliguors]

Can you show us a picture of your tank so we can see how it's set up as far as sand and rocks. Most sharks need to be constantly on the move and don't do well with corners in the tank or too much rock.

The tank is 7 feet long with about 2 inch sand on the bottom. There are 3 spread out live rock piles evenly distributed in the middle of the tank so they can maneuver around as they please. My banded cat shark has no problems and he is much larger than the new guy that just dyed who was about 8-10 inches. When I finished the acclimation process the marble shark looked like he was itchy and was turning sideways and swimming into the sand. Kinda like a person would do with the corner of a wall to scratch their back. Then after like an hour he seemed fine. I will take a picture of the tank as soon as I get home.

 

[beth]

Possibly aggression. The shark in the pic looks like a massive infection.

 

[Tliguors]

Possibly aggression. The shark in the pic looks like a massive infection.

I would have thought so but two of the same sharks having the same thing happen to them 3 months apart is a little strange. And all the rest of the fish being completely fine is a little strange.

Also the picture was taken when the shark was already out of the water for about 20 -30 mins so the oxidation made it look worse.

 

[beth]

Did you notice wounds, chewed fins, scratches? How long before the shark passed?

Pink blotches are a sure signal for bacteria infection, and that is what it looked like to me. Very likely related to stress, transition handling.

 

[Tliguors]

Did you notice wounds, chewed fins, scratches? How long before the shark passed?

Pink blotches are a sure signal for bacteria infection, and that is what it looked like to me. Very likely related to stress, transition handling.

I looked all over him and didn't notice any abrasions or even bumps. I did a 2 hour drip acclimation. This isn't my first tank just my first aggressive tank. What I don't really understand is it has seemed to just be this type of shark. Is there a way I can test the water for some sort of bad bacteria that may only affect certain types of fish? the cat shark is very happy, eats well and swims around a lot. And the other fish don't really seem to be bothered by anything they all follow me back and fourth in the tank and all hang out in a group and the puffers don't even bother the sharks at all. I don't really know what a lion fish sting looks like on a fish but I would assume it would look like a bee sting and I didn't see any type of bump or discoloration. I've gotten the sharks all from the same store and made sure they ate before I bought them.

 

[beth]

No test sold in the hobby to test bacteria but that fish did look like it had an infection in my opinion based on looking at the pic.. A test would require a professional assessment of some sort of your water. But don't bother. Its not bacteria in the water. There is no way of really knowing the history of the fish. It may be that two sharks in the tank are just not going to be an option.

Any time a fish is taken out of water during water transfers poses some degree of risk for the fish. And you were not the only one handing the fish. Bacterial infection usually occur due to transfer or poor environment. What are your water parameters?

 

[Kristin1234]

Man he was really pretty.

 

[Tliguors]

Can you show us a picture of your tank so we can see how it's set up as far as sand and rocks. Most sharks need to be constantly on the move and don't do well with corners in the tank or too much rock.

Here are some pictures of the tank

No test sold in the hobby to test bacteria but that fish did look like it had an infection in my opinion based on looking at the pic.. A test would require a professional assessment of some sort of your water. But don't bother. Its not bacteria in the water. There is no way of really knowing the history of the fish. It may be that two sharks in the tank are just not going to be an option.

Any time a fish is taken out of water during water transfers poses some degree of risk for the fish. And you were not the only one handing the fish. Bacterial infection usually occur due to transfer or poor environment. What are your water parameters?

I can't speak for the fish store ( I noticed he just grabbed her and put her into the bag for transport) but I did the acclimation process for 2 hours and when I removed her I put sterile gloves on to ensure that I didn't harm her. My water parameters are ph 8.1, ammonia 0, and both nitrate and nitrite are 0. I would not purchase a new inhabitant for my tank if my parameters were not perfect my salinity as of this morning fluctuated between 1.025 and 1.026 ( I use two different hydrometers just to be sure)

Could it be the difference in their water compared to mine. I use rodi water I make at home with a 6 stage rodi system and coral life salt.

The sharks are the only ones I have ever bought from them and when I got the cat shark she seemed a little weary for the first two weeks and didn't want to eat. I understand from research this is a normal occurrence. She eats plenty now.

Man he was really pretty.

I know she was beautiful that's why I was so upset and am trying to figure out what happened to her.

 

[beth]

Perhaps not buying from this store again if you plan to try again. I know that may be difficult to find a shark at another location nearby. You may also request that you do the transfer yourself, rather than the store personal. I don't really like having fish out of water during transfers, but I've never transferred a shark either so perhaps that is just necessary. With a demise so quickly, it is obvious that the shark was either already ailing and/or succumbed to the transfer or he simply did not make it through stress. How long was the ride home? Was the water and holding container big enough? Was it oxygenated with a pump? Did the guy at the store also use cleaned gloves (probably not)? How long was the shark in the LFS? If he was recently brought in to the LFS, then he was already stressed from that transfer.

A lot of variables to consider some of which will be unknowns.

Your comments sound like you know what you are doing, and are applying best practices for your animals.

Did you attach pics? I don't see them and love to see your tank.

 

[Tliguors]

Perhaps not buying from this store again if you plan to try again. I know that may be difficult to find a shark at another location nearby. You may also request that you do the transfer yourself, rather than the store personal. I don't really like having fish out of water during transfers, but I've never transferred a shark either so perhaps that is just necessary. With a demise so quickly, it is obvious that the shark was either already ailing and/or succumbed to the transfer or he simply did not make it through stress. How long was the ride home? Was the water and holding container big enough? Was it oxygenated with a pump? Did the guy at the store also use cleaned gloves (probably not)? How long was the shark in the LFS? If he was recently brought in to the LFS, then he was already stressed from that transfer.

A lot of variables to consider some of which will be unknowns.

Your comments sound like you know what you are doing, and are applying best practices for your animals.

Did you attach pics? I don't see them and love to see your tank.

The only other place I have located this type of shark is online. If someone has a good suggestion of the best website that I can get one from I would def take a look into it bc I think it may be the store. The ride home was about 15 mins. He did not wear gloves when handling the shark. I'm not sure how long they had it. He did not use an air pump. Just a really big bag that he scooped a lot of water and closed it up. Then placed the bag in a big cooler. I'm going to go to my normal store that I haven't had any problems with and see if they can possibly order one for me or locate another one.

 

[Tliguors]

Those are half and half pictures.

 

[beth]

You would need to supply the pump if you used one. I don't know how big the shark was, etc. Good idea to ask the store what they do for transfer, or better, see if they let you do it. Also, ask them how long they've had the fish before buying. I would not get a new arrival. What did the tank he come from look like? Well maintained, suitable?

One thing I'd sometimes do with a stressed new arrival is actually leave a little room light on overnight. Not the tank light but just a bit of light in the room. I have no real scientific bases for doing that, but my feeling is that it is less stressful, rather than leaving a newly acquired stressed fish in the dark.

I don't see the other shark in your pic.

 

[Tliguors]

You would need to supply the pump if you used one. I don't know how big the shark was, etc. Good idea to ask the store what they do for transfer, or better, see if they let you do it. Also, ask them how long they've had the fish before buying. I would not get a new arrival. What did the tank he come from look like? Well maintained, suitable?

One thing I'd sometimes do with a stressed new arrival is actually leave a little room light on overnight. Not the tank light but just a bit of light in the room. I have no real scientific bases for doing that, but my feeling is that it is less stressful, rather than leaving a newly acquired stressed fish in the dark.

I don't see the other shark in your pic.

The tank he came from looked clean however it was only a 55 gallon tank. I will def try the light thing next time. And the other shark is in the second picture under the rocks. Here's a picture of the two of them in the tank when I first got them.

 

[beth]

I suppose you do not have a quarantine tank for isolation for these large fish?

 

[Tliguors]

I suppose you do not have a quarantine tank for isolation for these large fish?

I don't really have the room for such a big tank. The most I could get a quarantine tank is a 30 gallon. I don't have much more room. I do have a 65 gallon hex tank which is my reef tank I'm sure I could get something like that as a quarantine tank but that wouldn't provide much swimming room.