Flame hawkfish death

[TalkFishytoMe]

I got a flame hawkfish about a month ago. I fed it blood worms once daily. I do weekly 10-20% water changes. I noticed he was loosing some color and today after work I found it dead. I'm really not sure why this happened. It was in a 10 gallon. Tested the water after death. Ammonia .25 nitrite 0 nitrate .5 phosphate 0 ph 8.3. Also I noticed my heater was not working and my temp dropped into the 60s before I realized and got a new one. I am confused were the ammonia came from, could it have come from the fish after it died? I have no idea how long it was dead in the tank. Could the temp stressed the fish out enough to kill it? If the ammonia was in the tank before death would that low number kill it? How would there be ammonia if my tank is cycled and has been running for years. Any and all help is appreciated.

 

[xanthurum]

As for the ammonia I doubt that level would have enough effect to cause its death. The temp getting in the 60's on the other hand I would say yes that could have stressed it enough to lead to its death. Depending on how long it was dead prior to you discovering it that could be the cause of the ammonia spike.

 

[scooter31707]

Temp that low will definitely stress out the fish. Temps that low also may have kill some things like pods/inverts and stuff on your rocks which may have cause the ammonia spike. What brand test kit are you using? If API, they are known for giving a false reading of 0.25ppm, because the color is a little off.

 

[SecretiveFish]

The drop in temperature could have killed off bacteria in your system causing the ammonia reading. The temperature drop in conjunction with some ammonia definitely can kill a fish.

Sorry you lost your fish!

 

[3dees]

is the tank a qt? asking because the tank, if it's the dt is too small for a flamehawk. bloodworms are not the best food for any fish and that much of a drop in temp could cause it to stress out.

 

[TalkFishytoMe]

That makes a lot of sense. The ten gallon is a display tank for inverts, the hawk fish was put in there temporarily until I finished cycling my new tank. @3dees what do you feed your hawkfish?

 

[3dees]

doesn't like flake much. won't touch pellets. loves frozen brine and Mysis and goes nuts for freeze dried blackworms.

 

[Ethan2335]

Your ammonia should always be at zero that probably caused its death.

 

[3dees]

the dead fish probably cause the ammonia spike. doesn't take much in a 10 gal. tank.