Fish in QT

[trippyl]

I had the following fish in QT:

2 Banggais
1 Hector Goby
1 Rainford Goby

The water quality is good, salinity at normal levels (no indication of sickness), been doing water changes every three days from the main tank into this one, plus adding algae from the sump which contains lots of pods. I did FW dip them before adding to QT.

The banggais were looking really good. the goby's less so, as they looked really starved from the LFS, but they were at least nipping at the food a bit and occassionally sifting through whatever detritus at the bottom of the QT.

Yesterday, day 4, in the morning, one of the banggais was struggling mightily, breathing very heavy, and wasn't swimming very well. The rest of the fish were fine, in fact the other banggai was really fine and ate well. While I saw no signs of ich or anything amiss, I did FW dip the struggling guy in an attempt to try to help. He perked up a little bit after that but still seemed to be struggling.

Last night, I came home to discover that the struggling banggai was dead. However, the rest of the fish in QT seem very healthy. I did a water change last night, and added some more sump algae and the remaining guys had a live food feeding frenzy (esp the other banggai who attacked all the pods like a kitten with a mouse). Even the gobys got a few.

To date, I see no real sign of illness here. The gobies have definitely shown improvement and the remaining banggai is looking just great.

I don't know what to make of this. I am obviously extending the QT period at this point, but I want to understand what killed the first banggai. My suspicion is he died of bullying at the hands of the other banggai, but I've seen no indication of that behavior.

Any advice would be welcome.

 

[waterfaller1]

I would recommend doing a full battery of tests on the water in the QT. It could be elevated levels of ammonia,PO4,nitrite.. or low PH. I don't recommend leaving those gobies in much longer if their stomachs look pinched.It can get to the point of no return. They both need an established tank with an established live sandbed. Not easy fish to keep. However, most gobies have a thick enough slime coat to ward off disease.

 

[trippyl]

Thanks. I was considering that, but wanted to give them some respite before entering the display.

 

[trippyl]

Just an update, all the remaining fish in QT seem to be doing really well, which at this point leads me to believe that the banggai who died was a result of aggression by the first banggai. I am still keeping my eyes open, but so far everyone else seems to be doing better and better each day.

 

[reef10]

It could be anything that stressed the fish in the time before they arrived at the LFS. I never know what to do in those situations. Moving to an established tank will stress the fish even more esp if the main tank has several fish. It also makes it more diffcult to fight for food. However, I can do more for a fish in QT than the main, I can monitor the fish better, and it can not spread disease to the main tank in QT so I leave them in QT until diease free and eatting my food.

 

[trippyl]

Agreed, and for the remaining fish, i am keeping them in QT till I am convinced they are doing well. With respect to Waterfaller's comments, I have added a patch of some hair algae and LR from the sump, which is extremly alive, and the two gobies seem to be enjoying that quite a bit.

 

[waterfaller1]

That is great that they are still doing well for you. Good luck!