Mysterious death

sueandherzoo

sueandherzoo

Active Member
I'm sorry if this post doesn't belong in the New Hobbyist section but I truly didn't know if I should put it in the fish forum, the invert forum, or the seahorse forum so compromised with this one. Mods: please feel free to move it wherever you see fit.
I have a 46 gallon bowfront set up for seahorses. I did reading on compatible tankmates for them so I moved my two fire gobies in the tank, as well as my tiger pistol shrimp and a large blue-spot goby. Those are all supposed to be OK with horses and they were all very happy and healthy when I moved them. I got the call Wednesday that my horses had arrived so I brought them home Wednesday night and all is well. Except this morning I woke up to find two dead fire gobies! This makes no sense - what might have killed them and are my horses in danger?
I can only guess the firegobies decided to go hide in a burrow (which they do often) and happened to pick the one where the pistol shrimp was and the shrimp shot them? I doubt the big blue-spot goby hurt them - there were not bite marks or any sign of injury on the two dead fish. They always hung out together and they died together, but WHY?
I'm puzzled, but I'm also scared to death. Will whatever killed them also kill my horses? In order for me to remove the pistol shrimp I'd have to tear the whole tank apart which could be dangerous for the horses, not to mention traumatic for me.
Any thoughts on what would cause both of my healthy fire gobies to be dead at the same time with no apparent injuries or illness? They were also side by side at the bottom of the tank..... very strange, and sad.
Sue
 
mboswell1982

mboswell1982

Active Member
oh wow sue, thats awful, and im sorry to hear about that, i honestly have no idea what coulda caused it, but id love to find out the same as you, and i hope your horses do ok. if you ever need any help, and its something i can help with, dont hesitate to ask
mike
 
lkgrenegade22

lkgrenegade22

Member
My only guess would be the pistol shrimp. I myself was going to get one for my shrimpgoby this weekend but after watching numerous videos of them I decided against it. I don't know if they frequently decide to kill other tankmates or not but IMHO it's just not worth the risk...Maybe some people can chime in who have experience with them.
 
saka bra

saka bra

Member
i think the pistol shrimp whooped out his 9 mill when they were sleeping

jk. sorry to hear about that man
 
sueandherzoo

sueandherzoo

Active Member
I guess it was stupid to put a pistol shrimp and goby in the seahorse tank but the compatibility chart says they are safe for horses, so who knew? So far the horses still ARE safe, but am I on borrowed time? I can only guess it has to do with the fact that the shrimp just molted and might be feeling extra vulnerable, and the two fire gobies may have ducked into the wrong cave at the wrong time. Luckily seahorses don't hide in caves so maybe they'll be ok.
I would literally have to remove everything from the tank to get the shrimp out and the stress and stirred up stuff alone could cause damage to the new horses. Tough call -- not sure what to do. Thanks for the thoughts.
Sue
P.S. The big blue spot goby has been out in the open all day today acting wierd - it's almost like even HE doesn't want to be near the shrimp! (PMS?)
 
lkgrenegade22

lkgrenegade22

Member
I think catching it would almost be a lost cause...I saw one at a LFS and the guy had a hard time catching it with only 2 rocks in the tank that were a good ways apart from each other. It was a pretty small pistol though.
 
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