Fish stuck to Tunze powerhead

[pommie]

I came home from work yesterday to find my foxface and yellow tank stuck to my Tunze powerhead.

The Yellow tang survived but not the foxface.

Is this just really bad luck? My fish appeared healthy and the foxface was pretty big.

 

[AlSimmons]

Healthy fish usually don't get stuck in powerheads IME. How long has the tank been set up for? What else do you have in there?

 

[pommie]

Its been running for about 18 months and i have typical newbie fish..


2 x black and white clown (Juveniles)
Yellow Tang
2 x Banggai Cardinals
Lawnmower Blenny
Flame Angel
Royal Gramma
Watchman Goby

The only thing i did notice recently was one of the fins on the fox face looked like it had been nipped at, but everyone has been getting on fine since day 1.

 

[Joe0813]

How many gallons is the tank

 

[pommie]

How many gallons is the tank

its 700 liters

 

[j.falk]

Healthy fish usually don't get stuck in powerheads IME.

I second that. I'd look the fish over very carefully with a magnifying glass to see if they might be sick...check the water parameters to see if something is wrong with them...temperature...salinity...etc...

 

[pommie]

I second that. I'd look the fish over very carefully with a magnifying glass to see if they might be sick...check the water parameters to see if something is wrong with them...temperature...salinity...etc...

Tank parameters are all in check and i have a profilux monitoring salinity, PH and Temp.

The thing i just noticed is that my Yellow Tang also has had its rear fins nipped, so the only conclusion is that one of the other fish was harassing them both and they became exhausted and stuck to the powerhead?

The only aggression ive seen in the tank is from the Clowns when i put my hand in near the Anemone. Do you think they are the culprits as i dont want my Tang to go the same way.

 

[j.falk]

Tank parameters are all in check and i have a profilux monitoring salinity, PH and Temp.

The thing i just noticed is that my Yellow Tang also has had its rear fins nipped, so the only conclusion is that one of the other fish was harassing them both and they became exhausted and stuck to the powerhead?

The only aggression ive seen in the tank is from the Clowns when i put my hand in near the Anemone. Do you think they are the culprits as i dont want my Tang to go the same way.

I wonder if the clowns are trying to spawn? If so there is a good possibility they are the ones causing the issue as they will become aggressive towards their tank mates in order protect their eggs / spawning site. But if that were the case, I think it would be obvious as you would see them chasing off the other fish constantly.

Even though you have a Proflux keeping tabs on everything, I would still recommend that you manually double check every thing as any technology has the possibility of malfunctioning. Clownfish are a lot more tolerant than tangs and foxfaces where it comes to water conditions/quality.

 

[Joe0813]

i wonder if your powerhead was on low or off for a bit and the fish went up to graze on the power head... then as the power head turned back on the fish go stuck just right that he couldn't get off

 

[pommie]

Actually do run the pump quite low around 20-30% as i have a Gyre creating the majority of flow.

Is it really dangerous having the flow too low?

 

[Joe0813]

just something my LFS told me after my purple tang was found dead stuck to my mp40. my tang was perfectly healthy for months and months then all of a sudden I came home and he was dead stuck to the power head

 

[scooter31707]

I agree that a healthy fish will not get stuck to a powerhead. They don't have the strength to fight the current. You may want to examine your remaining livestock for parasites. I have seen fish go into the powerhead to graze when the blade is completely stop, like doing a water change. If I am not mistaken, a powerhead with different options does not stop completely to change their mode.