I suddenly had 3 fish, same species, gasping at the surface and trying to jump out. ONLY this species. They were in dire distress, tails were nipped---probably by other fish as they demonstrated panic.
Emergency.
In an emergency, first thing, test everything in sequence, starting with the basics: salinity and temperature. Then proceed to the chemistry. Then to exotic causes like disease, etc.
Step two found it: salinity was fine: temperature had risen from 80 to 81.7. I can now say definitively that this is a very critical difference for Caribbean Yellow-headed Jawfish, aka Pearly Jawfish.
We'd hit a cold snap and turned the house heater on ---and it's also possibly my main heater malfunctioned; I have that yet to test.
I immediately filled two bags with ice and floated them in the sump, and went to a backup heater set lower. The temperature dropped over the next hour, to 77, and the fish seem ok now.
Species matters. My other fish didn't care. My clams weren't real happy.
Understand that when you come to Team RC or the Mods asking "why did my fish die?" or "my fish is sick, what do I do?" we need that question to come with a full set of parameters: temp, salinity, nitrate, ammonia, calcium, dkh alkalinity, and mg, plus size of tank. All sorts of things can be relevant. If you notice other odd circumstances, like---other fish are acting normal---that matters.
And file it in your notes that the pearly jawfish does not tolerate temps above 80 AT ALL.
Emergency.
In an emergency, first thing, test everything in sequence, starting with the basics: salinity and temperature. Then proceed to the chemistry. Then to exotic causes like disease, etc.
Step two found it: salinity was fine: temperature had risen from 80 to 81.7. I can now say definitively that this is a very critical difference for Caribbean Yellow-headed Jawfish, aka Pearly Jawfish.
We'd hit a cold snap and turned the house heater on ---and it's also possibly my main heater malfunctioned; I have that yet to test.
I immediately filled two bags with ice and floated them in the sump, and went to a backup heater set lower. The temperature dropped over the next hour, to 77, and the fish seem ok now.
Species matters. My other fish didn't care. My clams weren't real happy.
Understand that when you come to Team RC or the Mods asking "why did my fish die?" or "my fish is sick, what do I do?" we need that question to come with a full set of parameters: temp, salinity, nitrate, ammonia, calcium, dkh alkalinity, and mg, plus size of tank. All sorts of things can be relevant. If you notice other odd circumstances, like---other fish are acting normal---that matters.
And file it in your notes that the pearly jawfish does not tolerate temps above 80 AT ALL.
