HELP! I have a sick yellow watchman!

[sharper]

I am completely new to this marine tank stuff. I have a 12 gallon Nano that has completely cycled and we got our first fish, Yellow Watchman Goby. We've had him for a week and he'd been doing great. He was eating, he found a cave to call home, he was healthy all around.
A couple of days ago, we got a pulsing xenia frag and a couple of green mushroom frags for our first corals. My husband put both corals in the tank with rubber band on the xenia and super glue gel on the green mushrooms.
Last night, I go to feed the goby and he doesn't come out to eat. We look really close to see he's hiding deep within the rocks. He pokes his head out for a second and he was holding his mouth open. To get a closer look, we netted him up and held the net close to the glass to see him. His mouth looks swollen. He closes it sometimes, but mostly hangs it open, and it seemed to be kind of white. And it seems like there's a dark spot halfway down his body.
This morning, we look and he's swimming all over the tank with was very unusual. Instead of crawling on the floor, he's swimming all over the place and will take a rest up on top of the rocks. His face is really turning white, but the dark spot seems to be fading.
Can anyone tell me what's going on?! I'd really like to save this guy. He's the only fish in the tank and we love him!
Thanks!

 

[sharper]

thanks for the help

thanks for the help

Well, I waited a long time for any help from any marine forums and no one responded. I got off of work at noon today, and my Goby was already dead when I got home. He was all white, his eyes were cloudy and his face was swollen.
Please someone let me know what this was so that I can make sure I get my aquarium treated and to be more prepared in the future.
We are devastated at our loss.

 

[hgbarwick]

Ok first, I would not have put any kind of glue in my tank. That may be what killed him. Do not net your fish either unless you are removing him. That put alot of stress on him. What are your water params?

 

[sharper]

I'll have to get with the hubby and ask him what the water params are since he does all of the water testing all of the time. I'll have to answer that one later.

No super glue? Is there a different way to make a mushroom or other frags stick to a rock?
Thanks

 

[hgbarwick]

Use rubber bands and tie them down.

 

[sharper]

Hey, just to give an update. We took our water up to the LFS to get it tested to compare to our tests. They said that our Salinity was at 1.029, which is odd because our hydrometer at home reads 1.022.
So we can't figure out why that is other than our hydrometer is broken. I think we will buy a new one tomorrow.
We got some new water and had it half fresh and half salt. We were instructed to change out a gallon a day till it reads normal. Our PH was a little low, but we knew that.
They guy at the LFS said that with a salinity that high could of easily killed off our goby because of the gravity.
I hope our water gets normal again soon.


As far as rubberbands, we did use them for the xenia, but it seemed like the mushrooms were too hard to use rubberbands with. But I'll definately keep it in mind.

 

[hgbarwick]

OK yeah salinity needs to be lower. Do a large water change. That will help.

 

[Benny Z]

people use superglue to glue frags all the time.

not usually mushrooms, though.

mushrooms will find their own home. just put them in the tank and they will attach themself to something in a few days.

sorry to hear about your ywg.

 

[Sk8r]

I use superglue and putty all over my tank, no problems with fish. Salinity is a big problem, and I'd advise, if you've already gotten another hydrometer, that you take it back for a refund. The things are notoriously inaccurate and hard to read: one bubble sticking to the swing-arm and your reading is shot. A refractometer is easier to use and always accurate [if you rinse out your squeeze bulb as you ought.]

Your salinity should be 1.025, give or take .001 in any direction.