unknown death, help.

[palmer373]

just came home to my royal gramma dead. i have no idea what heppened. yesterday he was fine, swimming around and following me for food. i pulled him out and did a quick water test, ammonia, nitrite and nitrate were all 0ppm with a ph of 7.8 (its usual for me, i know low but its normal for my tank). when i pull out the gramma i did a quick exam. ive had it since january or earlier probably so its not a new addition. the gramma is bout 3 inches with tail, well rounded (not distended belly but was plump from food) but had glazed eyes. i am not sure if that is from after death or before so any opinions are appreciated. the scales were also ripped off (eaten i presume) cuase 4 hermits were on him. any idea? this sucks i need to make some WC water.

the tank mates are a yellow tang, sixline wrasse, 3 chromis, YWG, lawnmower blenny and a sleaner shrimp in a 75. no aggression at all from any of them. no new tankmates since march or april i would have to say.

 

[snorvich]

My first guess would be the sixline wrasse. But it is only a guess. What is your temperature and SG?

 

[palmer373]

i keep my water salinity(?) at 1.024-1.025 (i dont remember if the salinity is the 1.--- or is the # like 32 or whatever lol) and my temp ranges from 78-82, i dont have a thermometer on it right now cuase its on my 55, im going to buy a new one soon. i know the temp wasnt wack without visually seeing the temp cause ive had it over heat (and threw out the faulty heaters) and i know when its getting hot, if i think its pushing it i check with the thermometer in the 55.

my best guess is old age, he is the largest one ive seen in person (most are like an inch) and ive noticed his colors fading slightly for a while. hopefully it is a natural thing, ill feel a lot better.

 

[snorvich]

Watch your temperature, it is easy to cook a tank since heaters tend to fail in the "on" position. Personally, I use a controller for this (ranco) rather than relying on heaters not failing. Was the fish eating vigorously?

 

[palmer373]

ya i always watch them temp, discovered the temp at 89 at 8pm, went to bed at 11 (after frantically figuring things out) and got rp every 2 hours until like 8 or something like that. i later used the same heater (i have 3 of them and got mixed up so i didnt know this was the same one) to mix so saltwater and the temp was 99 in about 45 minutes i tossed it imediately. the royal is the first one always to get food when i feed. i try feeding twice a day, once at 3ish and once at 7-8ish.