Help!! Coral beauty laying on bottom

[bdaniel5278]

Got at cb angelfish Sunday and woke up this morning to him layin in the sand barely breathing. Seemed fine till then. Tested the water everything at 0. Ph was a little high at about 8. I did add some snails and hermits last night. But don't know what happened. Anyone have any ideas??

 

[bdaniel5278]

I did notice my cleaner shrimp cleaning the coral beauty quite often. Maybe he had some desease already from the store??

My clownfish seems to be doing fine

 

[rssjsb]

Don't mean to be the voice of doom, but I've had this happen before and unfortunately, I've never seen a fish recover once it's on its side like that. I suspect it's from poor handling before you got the fish, but if you put it right into the display any disease it had is now in your tank. Keep an eye on your clown(s).

By the way, a pH of 8 is not high in a reef tank. It should be somewhere around 8.2 or 8.3.

 

[bdaniel5278]

Yea he finally died. Clown still seems normal though. I just meant that 8 is a little more acidic then 8.2 or 8.4. Didnt know if that would matter

 

[Recty]

If it came from water that was 8.3 to 8.4 and was quickly put into water that was around 8.0 and probably lower at night, it could had died from pH shock. Depends how you acclimated it and how healthy it was to begin with.

Also if you bought it from a fish store, they might have their salinity low, like around 1.017 and your tank is probably 1.025, which can also shock the fish. I've had salinity related deaths that took a couple days to happen.

 

[bdaniel5278]

yeah my salinity is 1.022 at 78 degrees. i acclimated him by bag floating for 15 mins, then adding a cup of my water to his bag every 15 mins for an hour. I guess ill really never know what happened. Only thing i noticed on the coral beauty when i pulled him out after he died, was a tiny little hole through his tail fin, maybe he had been handled poorly by the LFS. But so far my clown seems fine, although i think he is sad he lost his only friend, lol. Ill keep close watch on my clown for the next month or so.

 

[3rdimension]

I never had much luck with coral beauties even with a u.v. running. they get pop eye and hole in the head real easy. flame angels can be pretty sensitive too, not as much as coral beauties though. Sorry that happened.

 

[bdaniel5278]

yeah, guess my next fish will be something different, i feel like a fish murderer already, haha

 

[3rdimension]

yeah, guess my next fish will be something different, i feel like a fish murderer already, haha

Don't feel too bad, I lost a $150 Imperator angel fish several years ago after only having it a couple weeks. That was when I discovered I hadn't replaced the u.v. bulb in a while and I got too lazy in water changes, because my system at the time was sustaining most of my fish and in good health. Imperators are sensitive, but very cool! passer angels are tough ones, but can be pretty aggressive and territorial as they get bigger, even when they're juveniles they can be that way, not as much though.

 

[2reefnutz]

Sorry to hear about your coral beauty, I've had mine for years and he has always been very healthy and active. But I tried a flame angel once and he didn't last 2 weeks...you just never know sometimes.