Pygmy Angelfish just ..died! Help!!

[A.k.135]

Ok , so I bought this active Pygmy angelfish about a week ago and it seemed to be healthy it was swimming getting along with tank mates eating ect. And then when I was working on my other tank and I checked on him he was fine then when I came back less than 1 min later he was just dead on the floor of the tank . Nothing seemed to be wrong I recently did a water change and tested water nothing seemed abnormal. Anyone have any surest ions on what could have happened??? ( he was 1inch or smaller)

 

[reefbroao]

stray voltage? I've actually been at my lfs when they were cleaning tanks and one of their coral beauty's literally dropped dead, like it had a heart attack.

 

[Dkuhlmann]

Anything else dead at the same time? If not it can't be stray voltage but only something specific to that one fish. I've got one and they're pretty hardy fish so has to be something off.

 

[carrots]

Sorry for your loss. If I had to guess, maybe something to do with water change or source or just forgetting to use a water conditioner if needed.

 

[AquaFrenzy]

sorry to hear that, ive always wondered why this happens, I had a princess parrot fish for a year or two and was perfectly fine one night eating and swimming around and next morning was stuck to side of power head, no signs of disease and no warning, parameters and other tank mates were fine....

 

[oseymour]

Sometimes it's hard to pin down the exact reason a fish died. I would do as large a water change as possible for peace of mind.

What were the parameters? You said everything was fine but it would be nice to know the levels.

 

[michellejy]

With such a recent purchase, I would guess parasite or disease.

 

[billdogg]

With such a recent purchase, I would guess parasite or disease.

I would also guess that there was no QT?

 

[CarrieB]

I've read that sometimes there are delayed problems due to collection practices.

 

[ca1ore]

New fish die for lots of reasons, many of which are not outwardly recognizable. Sometimes that can literally be 'scared to death'. I've had this happen with anthias a lot and also with a flame angel. Could also have been collection issues. What kind of angel was it?

BTW, 'stray voltage' is a big old red herring IMO. Seems to be the default explanation when a more precise cause is unavailable.

 

[reefbroao]

Yeah idk I just threw it out there. I wouldn't think it's stray voltage. I agree that it must be stress/parasite/disease.

 

[A.k.135]

It is a Pygmy angelfish. I don't think it could have been scared to death because when I went to its tank it never minded just jerked back a bit then just casually kept on swimming just like the other fish did. And all my other fish are alive. (1 yellow watchman goby 1 yellow goby and 2 ocellaris clowns). I'm gonna do a water test today and a major water change

 

[A.k.135]

The only thing off about it when I found it dead was that it's mouth was open as if it choked but I didn't feed it then. I had a fire worm in a rock that I thought I killed and when I checked the tank I found bits of the worm could it have died if it are a price of it ??

 

[Sk8r]

Fire worms are extremely rare. Bristleworms should be in most tanks as valuable cleaners, and no, a bristleworm wouldn't have harmed the angel. Fish anatomy is not ours, so choking is not likely. But it might indicate it died in a spasm. What is your oxygenation? Skimmer? SIze of tank? Size of pump? Downflow box?