Fish dying Help!

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osprey440

Guest
My orange lined decus goby was barely breathing when I woke up this morning. I moved him to a small quarantine tank but he is not swimming at all. I tried to feed him mysis shrimp and he wouldn't go after it, then I tried pellets with no luck. He ate less every week for about 3 weeks now, I have noticed but I don't know why. The only other fish I have in my tank are a clown goby, bangaii cardinal and swales basslet.
Tank params:
nitrate: 0ppm
phosphate: 0ppm
temp:78.9
SG: 1.024
calcium: unsure
KH: 7dKH
All my other fish are eating and doing great, I don't know whats wrong with this guy. Can anyone think of something for me to do?
 
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osprey440

Guest
I have had him for about 4 months now. Perfectly healthy up until 2 weeks ago. It is possible that he sifted a large chunk. I have a mix of 25% coral rubble and 75% fine sand. The only thing is he looks very skinny so I don't know if that is it. There are a few things that have changed in the last two to three weeks:
Added a custom 5 gallon fuge to my tank with copepods
Added a protein skimmer on the return side of the fuge (just got done breaking in 2 days ago)
A lot of micro bubbles in the tank from the protein skimmer
The other thing it might be is that my kenya tree keeps getting a branch caught in my hydor pico 180 powerhead. My bubble coral seemed to be reacting to it, so I have to check it every night to make sure to get the branch out.
 
btldreef

btldreef

Moderator
I have had him for about 4 months now. Perfectly healthy up until 2 weeks ago. It is possible that he sifted a large chunk. I have a mix of 25% coral rubble and 75% fine sand. The only thing is he looks very skinny so I don't know if that is it. There are a few things that have changed in the last two to three weeks:
Added a custom 5 gallon fuge to my tank with copepods
Added a protein skimmer on the return side of the fuge (just got done breaking in 2 days ago)
A lot of micro bubbles in the tank from the protein skimmer
The other thing it might be is that my kenya tree keeps getting a branch caught in my hydor pico 180 powerhead. My bubble coral seemed to be reacting to it, so I have to check it every night to make sure to get the branch out.
He may be starving from not enough fauna to support him in the sand. Sand sifters will deplete your sand bed of beneficial organisms and that may be the issue. It could very well be the coral rubble. They do not like that.
 
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osprey440

Guest
How do I create enough fauna to support this type of fish? I had a refugium in the back of the tank that was seeded for over 6 months before I got him 4 months ago.
 
flower

flower

Well-Known Member
Quote:
Originally Posted by osprey440 http:///t/394601/fish-dying-help#post_3512679
How do I create enough fauna to support this type of fish? I had a refugium in the back of the tank that was seeded for over 6 months before I got him 4 months ago.
A refugium is great, but sand sifters need sand...they take the sand up and feed as they allow the sand to fall back into the substrate....mixed with crushed coral makes the ability to sift near impossible. The sad thing is that once their belly does that caved in look, they are beyond help....even if you give it a ton of food it can't digest it anymore...that's what happened to my goby years ago.
 
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osprey440

Guest
I would see him sift sand quite often ... but I think both of you are right that the coral rubble was the problem. I will keep this in mind if I ever get a sand sifter again. Thanks for the help.
 
dereklawler

dereklawler

New Member
If you are keeping your fish in a bowl, that is the first and foremost problem. fish need about 10g of water PER fish, plus a filter and if they're fancy fish, the also require a heater.
 
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