My bad moving experience

[AC2020x]

My experience moving my tank did not turn out well. However I think it may have just been my my poor timing of things and wanted to know what you think.
About 4 weeks ago I had a 125g FOWLR tank with a huma + clown trigger, 15" snowflake eel, foxface, a blue dot toby puffer and a firefish. The fox face was the newest addition to my tank however he only lasted about two months... Because of my current situation, my tank was in a house that was on the market with no one living there and I could only visit it only once every few days. (not enough to properly care for a 125g)...

I came home one day and my foxface was gone, however I found bits of bones/ other material from him showing that he had been eaten.. I'm not sure if he died first or was just eaten... because he would always sleep under a rock motionless and almost look like he was dead. I believe that the culprit was the eel. About two weeks later, the time came for me to move my tank to my current location. I place the two small triggers and the snowflake in a 29g that I had for about a week while we moved the 125g. This tank was fine for about 4 days. When I arrived on the 6th day, the tank was cloudy from the snowflakes peeling skin and the snowflake and clown trigger were dead with the huma following soon after. This came as a large surprize to me as everyone was doing well and these are quite hardy fish.

My thoughts are that it is due to the eel because he never ate again after consuming the foxface.. and because they are poisonous it caused him to eventually die even though it took a couple weeks. Does this seem like it would be reasonable? Then i'm assuming his death caused the sickness and death of both triggers... When I last saw the 29g everyone seemed fine and healthy and I wasn't worried about the snowflake as I've had him about 2 years and he has gone for over a month without eating before. Now all I have left is my blue dot puffer and firefish who were in a 20g but now I've moved to a 29g thats living with me. I think I'm gonna take a break from the 125g after this event and possible get a few clowns and start a small reef tank in the 29g. Its kinda a bummer because now that I finally got the 125g lving with me, I don't have any fish to go inside it.

Anyone have any other thoughts as to what could have happened? Does it seem reasonable that the eel died from eating the foxface? Let me know if you have any ideas or thoughts?

Thanks,
-AC

 

[Mental1]

I don't know about the snowflake eating the foxface ... seems unlikely but anything is possible with aggressives. I just wonder if the 29g went downhill from water quality versus ingestion of venomous spines.

 

[CPL_DSM]

I would say it was a mixture. The Triggers dieing, in such a small space. Water quality went down. I'd say it was the eel that went last.

 

[Toddrtrex]

What was the filtration on the 29?

If the eel had eaten the foxface, and then was in the 29, that could have been a lot of waste released. Thinking that an ammonia spike occurred, and once that started it was all downhill.

 

[AC2020x]

I guess its possible that it was just the waste since these fish do let off a lot of waste. I figured that they'd be okay for a few days though while we got the tank moved. Especially since none of them are very large. Also just for clarification the foxface was pretty small probably about 4". Anyway, that will be the last time i put an eel and two triggers in a 29g. I feel horrible about the whole thing.

 

[StayPuft]

Was the 29gal cycled? Did it have any live rock? What filtration did you have for it?

Reason I ask is because those fish should be able to live in a 29gal for a short period of time as long as it's cycled, has some established live rock, plus good filtration, preferably a skimmer.

Sorry about your fish.

 

[AC2020x]

I took about about 15-20lbs of live rock from my cycled 125g that they had been living for about 2 years (clown trigger about 1 year). And the water came from that tank as well. Everyone seemed fine and made the transition well. The 125 has good filtration and a reef octopus skimmer that gets a bunch of gunk out. I however did not have a skimmer running on the 29g for the 4 days they were in there. Just the live rock, a heater, and a powerhead.

 

[Mental1]

It does not take long for an ammonia spike to occur. The live rock could also have had some die off simply from being moved. I am sorry you lost your animals. Heartbreaking when these things happen. I would say that was what happened ...