Help! Hi Fin Goby Breathing Heavy and Having Difficulty Swimming!

[subversion]

I just bought this guy two days ago from my LFS. He was doing really well, paired with my pistol shrimp instantly, ate, etc. He was fine this afternoon but I just went to turn off the lights after a last feeding and he was floating awkwardly out of his burrow breathing rapidly.

sg 1.024
ph 8.1
0 ammonia
0 nitrites
0 nitrate

79-80 temperature.

Did a 25% water change with ro/di and my usual salt yesterday

I acclimated him and the shrimp together via drip method over two hours.

While typing this he has stopped swimming much and is laying on his side on the bottom of the tank.

Help! Is there anything I can do?!

 

[subversion]

He's already gone. He was eating at "lunch" when I fed him and the shrimp some mysis at 3:00pm. Whatever it was, it was fast. My CUC and the pistol shrimp are still doing well but I'll monitor them closely.

 

[Deftones2015]

It happens sometimes. Sorry for your loss...hard to say what happened but that's why a lot of people quarantine fish on here.

 

[Sk8r]

Hope he didn't contribute parasites to your tank. Don't get another fish for about 72 days.

 

[subversion]

My LFS says they quarantine everything but I'm wondering if that's true... I'll set up a quarantine tank for the next one.

Thanks guys.

 

[atraperegrinus]

My LFS says they quarantine everything but I'm wondering if that's true... I'll set up a quarantine tank for the next one.

Thanks guys.

unless they are housing them individually, or in small groups and sanitizing tanks between shipments, their QT likely isn't up to snuff as to what youd do at home.

ive been in the hobby a year and already had an inch and velvet breakout, its not worth the headaches. Now that i have a few fish again, i wont ever add more without QT.

 

[Marchillo]

2 hours is a long acclimation period. Also when you start your qt protocol you can match the salinity of your lfs and then slowly raise it back to the level of your DT. You don't want the bag open for more than 30 minutes if you can help it.

 

[ZeeSparrow]

I'm sorry for your loss.

2 hours is a long acclimation period. Also when you start your qt protocol you can match the salinity of your lfs and then slowly raise it back to the level of your DT. You don't want the bad open for more than 30 minutes if you can help it.

+1 - deadly ammonia builds up in that bag. I float the unopened bag for about 15 minutes to match temperatures, open the bag and test salinity to compare to my QT tank. If they are within .01, the fish go straight into QT at that point. If not, then I'll adjust the QT to match the bag and get the fish in ASAP.

I only use drip acclimation for sensitive inverts (like that shrimp) for about an hour.... sometimes longer if the salinity is off a lot. But I do not QT inverts, so they must be brought to DT salinity right away.

 

[gone fishin]

My LFS says they quarantine everything but I'm wondering if that's true... I'll set up a quarantine tank for the next one.

Thanks guys.

I trust no one but myself when it comes to QT. Any one can say they QT, LFS may segregate new fish but I would not call anything they do a proper QT.

 

[subversion]

ive been in the hobby a year and already had an inch and velvet breakout, its not worth the headaches

Agreed. Definitely quarantining from here on out.

+1 - deadly ammonia builds up in that bag. I float the unopened bag for about 15 minutes to match temperatures, open the bag and test salinity to compare to my QT tank. If they are within .01, the fish go straight into QT at that point. If not, then I'll adjust the QT to match the bag and get the fish in ASAP.

I only use drip acclimation for sensitive inverts (like that shrimp) for about an hour.... sometimes longer if the salinity is off a lot. But I do not QT inverts, so they must be brought to DT salinity right away.

Gotcha. I'll speed it up next time! Thanks .

I trust no one but myself when it comes to QT.

Yeah I definitely learned that the hard way. But I learned it fast, so I guess that's a plus at least. Won't happen again.

Thanks again everyone!

 

[subversion]

Update: Video of Fish Before It Died

Update: Video of Fish Before It Died

Just wanted to update on the other residents and include a video I took.

In the video, the goby's underside looks discolored. Could it be a parasite? I just noticed when re-watching the video earlier today. It wasn't visible on the fish after he passed.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2hVgTo5oReg

In other news, the shrimp is doing really well on his own. He's regrown the hand he dropped when I brought him home and he's dug a tunnel system along the whole underside of the rock somehow. His hobbies include punching my hermit crabs when they get too close, and stealing food from the snails.

I'll be getting a tank out of storage at Christmas and setting that up as a quarantine, and then waiting the rest of the 72 days before I put anything else in.

 

[subversion]

So I just got my new goby - a Wheeler's - and he's been in my QT since yesterday afternoon. He just came out of hiding now and is gasping just like my last goby. The water quality in the QT should be perfect. 78 degrees, 1.025 salinity same as the store, 0 ammonia, 0 nitrite, 0 nitrate. I did a 30 or so % water change the day before I put him in. Alk is at 9.0, magnesium is a little high at 1470, ph is at 8.1. I'm using the same salt for both tanks, Red Sea Coral Pro. My temporary test refugium causes water motion when it flows into the QT and my pump breaks the water's surface.

Could it be the zoa I have in QT with him?

He's darting around the tank now at weird angles acting like he might jump and gasping like crazy. What the **** am I doing wrong!? Can I save him?!


Edit: He's already gone. I have no idea what's happening to them, and it's really freaking awful.

 

[gone fishin]

I am sorry to read this what bad luck, hopefully we can sort it out.

Did you do any sort of acclimation before going into the QT?

Other than gasping and erratic swimming did you notice anything else sores spots, discoloration?

It sounds like low oxygen.

 

[subversion]

Since my acclimation was so long last time I sped it up this time. I double checked that the salinity was the same in the bag and in the tank, which it was, and then I floated it for 15 minutes, added about a cup of tank water to the bag, gave it another 5 minutes, and then netted the fish and dropped it in the QT.

No sore spots, no discoloration. His gills don't look red or burnt. I intentionally picked the healthiest looking Wheeler's goby they had, and they had 5. He's a great weight, about an inch and a half, really gorgeous coloration. He was peeking out from under his rock at the store and watching what was going on. Just an absolutely perfect specimen as far as I can tell. The store's quarantine procedure even seems to be pretty good. I asked about it since I lost my last goby as well and didn't quarantine that one. They quarantine each individual shipment by species of fish and check for sores, spots, growths, etc. and they make sure each fish is eating and behaving normally, and then after at least a week they enter the main store tanks. I was planning to quarantine this guy myself as well, but since he's already dead I guess it didn't make a difference apart from potentially not reinfecting my main tank.

I'm testing out my HOB refugium empty to make sure it works as intended on the QT right now, and I also have a little Hydor koralia nano 425 pump in there for flow. The QT is an 8 gallon cube. If oxygenation is the problem in both tanks, what can I do to increase it? Is there a test available for dissolved oxygen?

The store has a 7 day guarantee and I'm guessing they'll honor it as they seem pretty good, but I don't want to attempt another fish until I get this sorted out.

I've attached a picture of him that I took moments before I added him to the quarantine tank.

 

[flamingdragon]

http://www.marinedepot.com/Salifert...ater_Aquariums-Salifert-SF1131-FITKSI-vi.html

That kit there tests oxygen levels.

 

[subversion]

http://www.marinedepot.com/Salifert...ater_Aquariums-Salifert-SF1131-FITKSI-vi.html

That kit there tests oxygen levels.

Ordered. We'll see what it has to say. Thanks.

 

[FindingEmily]

This scares me since I'm picking up my goby tomorrow (Bluefin Watchman). You said you matched temperature then floated the bag. Do you think the ammonia in the open bag had anything to do with it? I know you said you floated it for 15 minutes, but how long did it take you to match salinity? What about floating it first, then matching salinity?

 

[Sk8r]

Set the qt to the salinity of the shipper. Have it ready. Float the UNOPENED bag for 15 min, then doubletest both salinities, and within .002 of each other, put the fish in. Acclimation is ALL about salinity. If they match closely enough, no acclimation.

 

[gone fishin]

Set the qt to the salinity of the shipper. Have it ready. Float the UNOPENED bag for 15 min, then doubletest both salinities, and within .002 of each other, put the fish in. Acclimation is ALL about salinity. If they match closely enough, no acclimation.

what she said.

From the pic he would appear to be a good specimen. since you got the fish local and brought him home I don't think your acclimation procedure would have this adverse of an effect on the fish. I would certainly think the koralia would provide enough flow in the 8g QT.

I am now wondering if the fish may have had flukes?

Both fish were bought at the same place and died similarly?

 

[subversion]

I pre-matched my salinity to the lfs as I knew they keep their tanks at 1.025, and then I double checked when I got home. I really just floated him to equalize the temperature so it was a pretty fast transition.

They were indeed from the same place. Different display tanks though. If it's flukes, wouldn't more of their fish be dying on them?

They're going to honor the warranty but I'm going to test my oxygen first, that test should be here tomorrow, and then I'll take a sample of my water in to the store with me in case one of my test kits is messed up. I recalibrated my refractometer today and my water is still reading 1.025 so it's not that.