What's wrong?

fishphreak

fishphreak

Member
I got a Domino Damsel 3 days ago and all has been fine until now. Today I noticed that he is hovering in the corner of the tank and his mouth is opening and closing very rapidly. What could this be?
It's a 29 gal. with a few baby brittle stars and a yellow tail blue damsel. It's only been set up for 1 month but my ph, nitrates, nitrates, and amonnia levels are perfect.
This is my first marine tank and I don't know much about illness in marine fish. Any help would be greatly appericiated.
Thanks
 
zman

zman

Member
i used to have damsels in my tank just after it was done cycling.. i had 3 yellow tail at once and the two bigger ones ruled the tank while the smaller one just sat in the corner.......don't forget damsels are very territorial. and since you added the domino after the yellow tail, the yellow tail has "marked his territory" so to speak. also i think the domino damsel is a little less aggressive than the yellow tail which could be helping to the territorial thing. My experience with that problem was the one that stayed in the corner died a couple days later. Just a heads up. If you have another tank i would take him out and put him in there but if you don't you might want to choose which one you like better, or just let survival of the fittest run its course. Hope this helps. Also when adding new fish i would add the most aggressive last that way they feel as threatened with new fish.
Zman
 
beth

beth

Administrator
Staff member
I think he only has one fish in the tank. Right?
Notice any spots on the fish, or a velvety film? Whatever you do, do not add any more fish right now.
Post up all your water readings.
 
fishphreak

fishphreak

Member
she lol
My domino just died!! I don't have any idea what happened. He was doing wonderfully until today when he started hanging out in the front corner. He just died a few minutes ago. There was no ICK no discoloration, no spots, no sores, nothing. He looked perfect. The PH is 8.2, nitrites is less than .1 and Ammonia is less than .025. I have not over fed or under fed the fish. the gravity is perfect. When I set up the tank I let it go for a week before adding live rock. Then waited 3 weeks before adding my first fish, the yellowtail. and then another week before adding the domino. in all that time i had been doing a full water test every other day and the levels were always perfect. The yellowtail was slightly aggressive towards my domino the first day I got him, he butted him a few time but didn't bit. And after a few hours in the tank together there weren't any more problems with the pushing. I don't understand what I did wrong. Should I be concerned about my yellow tail blue damsel that is still alive in the tank? Any ideas on what may have killed my baby domino? I guess it's a baby it was about 3/4".
It isn't a big loss as far as money but I get so attached to my fishies so quickly it's hard losing one.
I don't know if this matters but the domino were almost exactly the same size.
Thank you so much for all your help,
Jessica
 
fishphreak

fishphreak

Member
I also don't think it is an aggression problem. my yellow tail butted my domino in the side 3 different times in the first 2 hours he was in the tank. After that nothing else happened.
 
fishphreak

fishphreak

Member
NO, I have not noticed any scratching. The test kits are good, I have only had them for about 3 weeks.
I don't have a quarantine tank. When I get the 125g finished I plan on moving all my fish from the 29g to the 125g. Then using the 29g for a quarantine tank and live food storage. I may also keep a starfish and a spong or 2 in the 29g also as my 125 will have metal halide lights which are not approiate for sponges.
Is that how it is usually done? quarantining a fish for 3 weeks?
the pet store didn't tell me anything like that. they told me to acclimate my fish for 5 minutes.
Thanks for the help,
Jessica
 
S

shouse

Guest
it doesnt sound like this lfs is very good store to go back to.
I would suggest trying to find another store to continue your marine hobby with.
there are lots of diseases for fish that we do not even know about.
 
zman

zman

Member
there are some posts at the top of the disease and treatment forum on how to set up a quarantine. The same thing happened to my damsel that died....it stayed in the corner and never came out after about a day or so of being in the tank. maybe yellow tail scared it enough with the butts. but that is just a possibility. I wouldn't go back to that lfs if i were you if they told you to acclimate them for 5 mins. Check out the acclimation guide on this site. i have used it many times and never had a problem with it. Good luck!! and keep us posted on any new developments.
Zman
 
fishphreak

fishphreak

Member
Thank you so much for all your help. I really apperciate it.
have any of you bought fish from saltwaterfish.com? Is this a good place to get fish?
There are only about 3 pet and fish stores in my area and I have come to the conclusion that at least 2 of those 3 have no idea about the fish they sell. They are sales people not fish experts.
Thanks for the quarantine info!
Thank you all,
Jessica
 
zman

zman

Member
this is a very good place to buy fish and other livestock for you tanks, the only drawback is they only ship live orders of $75.00 or more. Just a heads up if you do buy anything from this site i would make sure to have a signature required when you recieve the shipment that way the 6 day guarantee won't be void. From personal experience i have never had a problem with orders from this site. When you make an order you can tell them what day you want to recieve it and any other special directions. Good luck once again.
Zman
Have you checked out the accimation guide yet?
 
bsktmom

bsktmom

Member
If your tests show that you have ammonia and nitrites you may not have finished cycling yet. Some fish won't live with ammonia and nitrites present. Wait until they're 0 and nitrates are lower than 20. The lower the better. Good Luck.
 
fishphreak

fishphreak

Member
Thank you again for all your help.
I was just checking out the quarantine tank setup and maintainance info. On the the acclimation page now.
I don't know if I can do the $75 min order because I thought you could only add one fish at a time unless they are schooling fish or aggressive fish. I was told to buy aggressive fish at the same time because they would be less territorial that way. All the fish I want are less than $75. Oh well i will find something else to buy so i can make the order.
Also, are there any meds that I should keep on hand for the most common illnesses? I don't have a QT so the meds would need to be safe for invertabrates, does such a thing even exist?
I also have a crushed coral substrate (I think that's what it's called) do I also need live sand?
I am begining to realize how little I really know about saltwater tanks and fish so I really apperciate all the help an information.
Thanks so much,
Jessica
 
fishphreak

fishphreak

Member
bsktmom,
My ammonia level is 0
PH 8.2
Nitrites less than .1 My Nitrite test doesn't go any lower than .1
so I can't say exactly what it is, just that it is less than .1
 
bsktmom

bsktmom

Member
Sorry, I thought that when you said ammonia was less than .25 that it wasn't at 0. Just trying to help figure out what was wrong. I'm fairly new at this also. This site has been a great help to me.
 
zman

zman

Member
i hear live sand is better cuz in contains helpful bacteria for the fish and other inhabitants. but i think it is mostly preference as to what you put in your tank.
The only way i make the $75 minimum is my brother and i both have a tank and we put our orders together. I know a couple of other sites that sell fish, but im not sure if they have a minimum dollar amount. I can't post them here but if you would like the site send me an e-mail at Buffmo87@mchsi.com
Zman
 
zman

zman

Member
if you are having trouble finding enough stuff to add up to $75 here are a couple ideas.
Cleaner Shrimp (clean fish...helps fight off sicknesses)
Feather Dusters (look pretty)
Hermit Crabs
Snails (clean glass)
Conchs (cleans sand and some clean algae off glass)
Emerald Crabs
Peppermint Shrimp (eats aiptasia....aiptasia=bad)
Percula Clowns (good personality)
hope the rough start doesn't scare you away from this hobby. I had a similar start only with ich.......but i overcame that with a lot of patience. right now i have a 29 gallon that im about done with, im getting a new order in tomorrow with some new items. In a month or so im gonna be looking for a new tank which pretty much means starting all over. If there are anymore questions don't be scared to ask. Hope the list helps.
Zman
 
fishphreak

fishphreak

Member
bsktmom,
I did say .25 first, I'm sorry, that was my mistake.
yeah, all my levels are perfect.
I am wondering if I just got a bad fish. And I also had no idea that I should have had a quarantine tank.
I am convinced it wasn't my tank that killed my domino but I still don't know what did. Now I am just basically trying to find out everything I can do to prevent any further loss.
This is my first saltwater tank so I really don't know what I am doing yet. So I am just trying to learn as much as possible.
Thank you for your help,
Jessica
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Top