Quarantine help

[dolfan]

Well, I seem to have to worst luck with getting a diamond goby through quarantine! I have a 10g dedicated tank that has been running for quite some time for QT and last Wednesday I picked up a good size Diamond Goby. I've had others jump out on me but now my QT is secure. I dose the tank with Paraguard according to the direction or even a hair light on the amount. I did a 25% water change Sunday and all and I've been testing the tank regularly as months back I missed an ammonia spike and lost a fish in QT. I do have a little sand bed in that QT to try to make the gobies more comfortable.

Today my wife found this fish dead about 4:00 and he was fine last night. So I tested my water and this is what I found:

PH - 8.1
Temp - 79-80
Ammonia - 0
Nitrate - 0
Nitrate - 20



My understanding is the dark spot on the bottom of the jaw is normal so ruling that out. I fed his once a day and while he didn't swim after the food directly each time after I fed and I backed away he would react to the food and scoop up sand and sift. I would assume that the goby was getting food that was in the sand from previous feedings as well.

Anything I'm doing wrong here? This same process has worked fine for Cardinals recently but between jumping and this, I can't win with a goby.

 

[dolfan]

I didn't' get any responses but I do have another general question. If there are no signs of an issue with the water in my QT I'm considering it is safe to just move on with other inhabitants? If I saw something specific it would make sense to break down the tank and clean it.

Any thoughts on this.

 

[ZapataInc]

@ActiveAngel any suggestions?

 

[Adam]

Diamond Goby's and other sand sifting fish can be a bit harder to QT. They get the vast majority of their food from the micro fauna and bits of food in the sand bed. They will eat Mysis and pellet but it's best to get it to the bottom. Keeping a cover on all tanks with them is a must.

Here's a post on R2R about using sand in a QT.

Go ahead and use sand in QT

I've never liked the bare bottom QT look, and have noticed how some fish seem uncomfortable in that environment. Especially sand burrowing wrasses, gobies and other fish who utilize sand as part of their daily routine. I've also seen tangs, angels, etc. fight their reflection on the bottom...

www.reef2reef.com

 

[ActiveAngel]

I agree with @anit77

Additionally, we all have to learn the hard way that all fish can jump, and take precautions. And There are many fish that are highly likely to jump.

For beginners to remember which ones these are, I say “Are they shaped like a torpedo?” If so, they’re natural jumpers. This includes gobies, wrasses, dartfish to name a few. Meanwhile, tangs, clownfish, and cardinals are typically not considered regular jumpers.

personally, I would drop the temperature by 1-2 degrees if able, just to decrease stress slightly (my opinion that above 78* is stressful for most fish, even if slightly). How are you measuring temperature; with a glass thermometer?

What’s your salinity? And how is that measured? Generally salinity isn’t an issue for most fish. Nonetheless, it’s an important centerpiece of the puzzle.

 

[ActiveAngel]

I didn't' get any responses but I do have another general question. If there are no signs of an issue with the water in my QT I'm considering it is safe to just move on with other inhabitants? If I saw something specific it would make sense to break down the tank and clean it.

Any thoughts on this.

And not necessarily; if it was a disease or parasite (external or internal), it risks contamination to immediately add a new fish to QT. It’s beneficial to either clean with vinegar and dry everything thoroughly, or to wait several weeks/months to allow some of these probable bad guys to die off.

 

[Tanster2]

Where did you purchase the fish? It may not be your fault necessarily. Many fish stores still buy fish that are captured via cyanide fishing and sometimes they don't show signs of fatal cyanide poisoning until days later.

 

[Adam]

I agree with @anit77

Additionally, we all have to learn the hard way that all fish can jump, and take precautions. And There are many fish that are highly likely to jump.

For beginners to remember which ones these are, I say “Are they shaped like a torpedo?” If so, they’re natural jumpers. This includes gobies, wrasses, dartfish to name a few. Meanwhile, tangs, clownfish, and cardinals are typically not considered regular jumpers.

I've lost several fish to carpet surfers, including a female Blue Throat Trigger. Triggers aren't known jumpers but any fish can jump if spooked hard enough or pestered by a bully. Wrasse's can find the smallest gap to jump through as well. Had everything covered on my 210 display except a small area at the return. A wrasse jumped through the gap, bounced off the turn PVC and a light only to land on the screen mesh and die looking at the water below. Also had a Melanarus jump from my frag tank right into the sump a couple feet away. Now all my tanks will have screens or acrylic that covers every opening. I hate losing a fish over something I, myself, have complete control over.

 

[dolfan]

This case was not a jumper issue. This tank is completely locked down, I can barely get into it! The more I think about this I think he was not eating well. He would not actively swim around and grab mysis or frozen brine shrimp when I fed, but would seem to get stimulated by the smell I imagine and sift the sand. I'm thinking this was a combination of stress and low feeding. I get frustrated with myself when I feel a marine create dies due to my failure, but hey we are human! Duh!

I did check salinity with the same refractor that I use on all tanks and I was running it at roughly 1.25 as I remember, I'll check it tonight. I did run the temp at 79-80 as it is in my basement and at this time of year I worry about extra cold night having it dip but I could probably back that off a degree.

As far as when I purchased the fish it was from Optimum Aquarium and I have had pretty good luck with their livestock. I can't blame them for jumping gobies before I had the tank secured.

 

[ActiveAngel]

Yes, jumpers are just 1 of many reasons that fish die.

while it’s possible that this particular goby’s death could have been preventable, it’s also possible that it wasn’t your fault at all. We can all just do our best. So far, it seems like you’re doing a great job learning as much as you can and trying to avoid future mistakes. Keep at it!

As for the temp dropping, that’s a true concern, especially for only a 10g tank. You could insulate the bottom, back, and sides with a Mylar sheet (heat blanket, astronaut blanket). While I haven’t done this before; these sheets are incredibly cheap, and good to keep on hand or in a first aid kit for emergencies.

Your salinity is good! 1.025
Given that it’s a 10g tank, so evaporation has a larger effect: If your QT doesn’t have an ATO, maybe consider running at 1.024. This way evaporation will keep it under 1.026. ...That said, it’s totally unnecessary. Fish have a much larger tolerance for salinity, with only a few species preferring the precision that corals require.

 

[Adam]

Not knowing if the fish had problems when you got it or not is part of the problem for us to identify any particular thing you did wrong. All you can do going forward is set the optimal conditions to your QT before adding a fish. Before buying ask to see it eat if you're picking it up locally.

Fish aren't stressed by a drop in salinity quickly but are from rapid increases. Knowing what the salinity is in the store you're buying from goes a long way with how you need to deal with it when you get home. I don't know what Optimum keeps their systems at. Many stores keep their salinity low as it's less costly for them and helps with parasites. I really like Nemo's in Duluth for fish. Simon keeps his tanks at 1.025 which is where I keep all of my tanks. This makes the handling at home quick and easy because I don't need to acclimate for anything but temp by floating the bag.