RIP Little Powder Blue :(

Adamant · 04/21/2015, 01:41 AM

I lost my first ever fish this morning, and I'm actually really upset about it

My powder blue was bought from the LFS about 4 weeks ago and has been swimming and learning to come to us at feeding times and putting on loads of weight (spine was almost invisible now whereas it was very prominent when we get her).

Last night feed, I noticed she wasn't as aggressively getting food but put it down to her nori being all eaten and she was still grazing on the LR. I did, however, do a full suite of water tests which were all perfect. No signs of any parasites etc on her.

This morning, I've got up and she's dead on the bottom of the tank

I'm just really mad with myself right now that maybe I could have done something else for her (who knows what) but I'm really beating myself up!

neonpoke · 04/21/2015, 01:44 AM

I've always thought powder blues were hard to keep.

sorry to hear. it happens to the best of us.

gone fishin · 04/21/2015, 04:31 AM

Sorry to hear. How did the fish behave before other than not eating? Was the fish small or large? Is the Tang the only fish or do you have other fish?

You may never really know what happened but you may be able to get a decent idea if something was off.

Adamant · 04/21/2015, 06:17 AM

Tang was acting normally, grazing on rocks and had been eating that day as the Nori was well eaten (none of the other tank inhabitants bothered with Nori on the clip).

I have 2 x Onyx Clowns, 1 x Cleaner Shrimp, 1 x Camel Shrimp and 1 x Diamond Goby in there also.

The Tang was about 4'' long.

Only change to the tank recently was that I added another powerhead in at the front of the tank on Saturday as the flow was a little low there and I didn't want junk to settle there.

scooter31707 · 04/21/2015, 08:23 AM

Was there any change in color or parasites on the PBT. have you check your parameters?

Adamant · 04/21/2015, 08:36 AM

Colouration was good, that's kinda the reason I got this specimen as looking at lots of LFS around here all the Powder Blue's were really pale but this one had rich colours and dark blacks.

The colouration was the same until death. The dead body looked pale and blotchy this morning but the death could have happened any time after 9PM yesterday evening so almost 12 hours could have passed before my finding the body.

No visible parasites at any time, and I was *seriously* paranoid about checking the fish daily - rumors of them being "ich-magnets" had me on ich-watch daily!

Parameters are the same as always

Temp: 25.6C (fluctuates between 24.9 and 26.5 at worst)
Salinity: 1.026
Ammonia: 0
Nitrite: 0
Nitrate: <5ppm (a very faint non-yellow look to the colour but way less than 5)

I'll run calcium / magnesium etc when I get home tonight but don't think they would really have affected a fish?

rt67ghy · 04/21/2015, 09:46 AM

Sorry to hear about your loss.

scooter31707 · 04/21/2015, 09:53 AM

Ok. Future reference maybe start quarantining your fish,tangs especially. It could have possibly been flukes. I recommend keeping an eye on your tank real closely now especially the other fish make sure they are during normal.

Adamant · 04/21/2015, 10:16 AM

Thanks,

I did plan to QT but reading all about how stressed the Powder Blue's get, I didn't want to upset the fish more by being in a small QT tank!

I should have really, but that's Cap'n Hindsight...

I'll monitor all the other fish closely and treat if necessary.

Thanks,
Adam

brett559 · 04/21/2015, 10:20 AM

Sorry to hear that. It broke my heart when I lost a blonde naso, the only fish I've lost. It happens in this hobby. A few months ago, I asked my buddy (who helped me set up my tank) what his dream fish was. So as a thank-you I got his dream fish, an Achilles Tang. We both knew this was a very hard fish to keep, but he's a very experienced reefer. The fish did well for a few months, and then he woke up one morning and the Achilles was dead.

cincyjim · 04/21/2015, 10:35 AM

I'm sorry to hear about the loss of your fish.

brett559 · 04/21/2015, 10:50 AM

Try another one.

gone fishin · 04/21/2015, 10:53 AM

Nothing obvious really jumps out. Maybe something internal or on the gills. No real way to know for sure now. It may just have been the little guys time.

I would look into QT and also keep an eye out on your other fish.

Adamant · 04/22/2015, 02:57 PM

Well,

My clowns have now come down with small white spots and looking at pictures all over the Internet it certainly looks like MI.

I still don't see how the PB Tang didn't have any visible but still, I've got to deal with it now.

I setup a 2ft Hospital Tank (17 gallon) tonight for the clowns so I can monitor / treat them and used a filter sponge from my existing canister filter which I put in with them along with tank water.

This does mean there's likely "ich water" in there but they were in that already I figured!

Goby had already gone to ground for the night so I will catch him in the morning.

I've also put my skimmer on this hospital tank for now and will need to keep a close eye on the ammonia.

I'm thinking of putting copper into the hospital tank tomorrow, I'll pop to the LFS and see what they have.

As soon as the goby is out of the DT then I guess tomorrow will be day 1 of fallow.

Any advice / suggestions (other than to use a QT before putting a tang in my tank next time!

)

Adamant · 04/23/2015, 01:53 AM

My smaller clown didn't make it through the night in the hospital tank.

Lights haven't come up for the day on the DT yet so I can't be 100% sure but my Goby hasn't come out to see me yet. If I've not seen him by tonight then I'll start ripping my display apart to see if I can find him.

Off to the LFS as soon as they open to get some copper to start treating the other clown and hopefully he'll live

Dkuhlmann · 04/23/2015, 04:45 AM

Manually turn on the lights, then feed.

I'm sorry for your loss. I just lost my GBTA yesterday. Got it from Petco and knew of the chance I was taking. Their water was 1.020 sg and mine is 1.026. I did drip acclimate it.

I've got a buddy here in town that has a nice RBTA that I'll be getting from him in a few weeks of water changes. It sucks when you lose any creature in our care.

I wish you well in saving your others.

jminick2 · 04/23/2015, 04:51 AM

Sounds like an aggressive strain of ich if it is ich. Usually doesn't kill that quickly.

Adamant · 04/25/2015, 01:59 PM

Just a quick update that I'm becoming more hopefully day by day that the other clown will make it as the white spots are now gone (but what looks like scarring left where they were is pretty bad) and the fish is acting more normally again (hosting the filter in the HT, swimming around more normally and eating aggressively).

Fingers crossed that all goes well...

Oh, and my ammonia alert and Seachem copper tests turned up (My LFS sells Cupramine but not copper tests... what use they think that is who knows?!) Anyway, it got me started while waiting for online delivery of the test kit I suppose!

reeferstace · 04/25/2015, 04:19 PM

Please go to the Disease and Treatment forum here and read ALL of Snorvich's stickies about ich treatment and quarantine procedures.

Kearnel · 04/25/2015, 06:34 PM

That's the worst when an inhabitant dies for what looks to be no reason. My lipstick tang died the other day for reasons that are a mystery. It did great for well into 2 year's then just stopped eating. I couldn't catch it without destroying the tank so I couldn't do much to help it. Sucks cause I really liked that fish, it was the friendliest thing bothered by nothing, not even me in there poking around.

04/21/2015, 01:41 AM	#1
Adamant Registered Member Join Date: Feb 2015 Posts: 70	RIP Little Powder Blue :( I lost my first ever fish this morning, and I'm actually really upset about it My powder blue was bought from the LFS about 4 weeks ago and has been swimming and learning to come to us at feeding times and putting on loads of weight (spine was almost invisible now whereas it was very prominent when we get her). Last night feed, I noticed she wasn't as aggressively getting food but put it down to her nori being all eaten and she was still grazing on the LR. I did, however, do a full suite of water tests which were all perfect. No signs of any parasites etc on her. This morning, I've got up and she's dead on the bottom of the tank I'm just really mad with myself right now that maybe I could have done something else for her (who knows what) but I'm really beating myself up!

04/21/2015, 01:44 AM	#2
neonpoke Registered Member Join Date: Nov 2013 Location: Bay Area, CA Posts: 18	I've always thought powder blues were hard to keep. sorry to hear. it happens to the best of us. __________________ _____________ Current Tank Info: 100 Gallon DSA

04/21/2015, 04:31 AM	#3
gone fishin Registered Member Join Date: Jul 2011 Location: Wyocena Wi Posts: 6,936	Sorry to hear. How did the fish behave before other than not eating? Was the fish small or large? Is the Tang the only fish or do you have other fish? You may never really know what happened but you may be able to get a decent idea if something was off. __________________ Tony Current Tank Info: 180gal DT, BM NAC77 skimmer,3 Maxspect razors, Maxspect Gyre 150, 30g QT

04/21/2015, 10:53 AM	#13
gone fishin Registered Member Join Date: Jul 2011 Location: Wyocena Wi Posts: 6,936	Nothing obvious really jumps out. Maybe something internal or on the gills. No real way to know for sure now. It may just have been the little guys time. I would look into QT and also keep an eye out on your other fish. __________________ Tony Current Tank Info: 180gal DT, BM NAC77 skimmer,3 Maxspect razors, Maxspect Gyre 150, 30g QT

04/22/2015, 02:57 PM	#14
Adamant Registered Member Join Date: Feb 2015 Posts: 70	Think it was Ich :( Well, My clowns have now come down with small white spots and looking at pictures all over the Internet it certainly looks like MI. I still don't see how the PB Tang didn't have any visible but still, I've got to deal with it now. I setup a 2ft Hospital Tank (17 gallon) tonight for the clowns so I can monitor / treat them and used a filter sponge from my existing canister filter which I put in with them along with tank water. This does mean there's likely "ich water" in there but they were in that already I figured! Goby had already gone to ground for the night so I will catch him in the morning. I've also put my skimmer on this hospital tank for now and will need to keep a close eye on the ammonia. I'm thinking of putting copper into the hospital tank tomorrow, I'll pop to the LFS and see what they have. As soon as the goby is out of the DT then I guess tomorrow will be day 1 of fallow. Any advice / suggestions (other than to use a QT before putting a tang in my tank next time! )

04/21/2015, 06:17 AM	#4
Adamant Registered Member Join Date: Feb 2015 Posts: 70	Tang was acting normally, grazing on rocks and had been eating that day as the Nori was well eaten (none of the other tank inhabitants bothered with Nori on the clip). I have 2 x Onyx Clowns, 1 x Cleaner Shrimp, 1 x Camel Shrimp and 1 x Diamond Goby in there also. The Tang was about 4'' long. Only change to the tank recently was that I added another powerhead in at the front of the tank on Saturday as the flow was a little low there and I didn't want junk to settle there.

04/21/2015, 08:23 AM	#5
scooter31707 Registered Member Join Date: Feb 2015 Location: Virginia Posts: 4,971	Was there any change in color or parasites on the PBT. have you check your parameters?

04/21/2015, 08:36 AM	#6
Adamant Registered Member Join Date: Feb 2015 Posts: 70	Colouration was good, that's kinda the reason I got this specimen as looking at lots of LFS around here all the Powder Blue's were really pale but this one had rich colours and dark blacks. The colouration was the same until death. The dead body looked pale and blotchy this morning but the death could have happened any time after 9PM yesterday evening so almost 12 hours could have passed before my finding the body. No visible parasites at any time, and I was seriously paranoid about checking the fish daily - rumors of them being "ich-magnets" had me on ich-watch daily! Parameters are the same as always Temp: 25.6C (fluctuates between 24.9 and 26.5 at worst) Salinity: 1.026 Ammonia: 0 Nitrite: 0 Nitrate: <5ppm (a very faint non-yellow look to the colour but way less than 5) I'll run calcium / magnesium etc when I get home tonight but don't think they would really have affected a fish?

04/21/2015, 09:46 AM	#7
rt67ghy Registered Member Join Date: May 2014 Location: Dhaka, Bangladesh Posts: 984	Sorry to hear about your loss.

04/21/2015, 09:53 AM	#8
scooter31707 Registered Member Join Date: Feb 2015 Location: Virginia Posts: 4,971	Ok. Future reference maybe start quarantining your fish,tangs especially. It could have possibly been flukes. I recommend keeping an eye on your tank real closely now especially the other fish make sure they are during normal.

04/21/2015, 10:16 AM	#9
Adamant Registered Member Join Date: Feb 2015 Posts: 70	Thanks, I did plan to QT but reading all about how stressed the Powder Blue's get, I didn't want to upset the fish more by being in a small QT tank! I should have really, but that's Cap'n Hindsight... I'll monitor all the other fish closely and treat if necessary. Thanks, Adam

04/21/2015, 10:20 AM	#10
brett559 In Memoriam Join Date: Sep 2014 Location: Visalia, CA Posts: 1,790	Sorry to hear that. It broke my heart when I lost a blonde naso, the only fish I've lost. It happens in this hobby. A few months ago, I asked my buddy (who helped me set up my tank) what his dream fish was. So as a thank-you I got his dream fish, an Achilles Tang. We both knew this was a very hard fish to keep, but he's a very experienced reefer. The fish did well for a few months, and then he woke up one morning and the Achilles was dead.

04/21/2015, 10:35 AM	#11
cincyjim Registered Member Join Date: Sep 2011 Location: Northern Virginia Posts: 1,147	I'm sorry to hear about the loss of your fish.

04/21/2015, 10:50 AM	#12
brett559 In Memoriam Join Date: Sep 2014 Location: Visalia, CA Posts: 1,790	Try another one.

04/23/2015, 01:53 AM	#15
Adamant Registered Member Join Date: Feb 2015 Posts: 70	My smaller clown didn't make it through the night in the hospital tank. Lights haven't come up for the day on the DT yet so I can't be 100% sure but my Goby hasn't come out to see me yet. If I've not seen him by tonight then I'll start ripping my display apart to see if I can find him. Off to the LFS as soon as they open to get some copper to start treating the other clown and hopefully he'll live

04/23/2015, 04:45 AM	#16
Dkuhlmann Registered Member Join Date: Mar 2015 Location: NW Iowa Posts: 8,823	Manually turn on the lights, then feed. I'm sorry for your loss. I just lost my GBTA yesterday. Got it from Petco and knew of the chance I was taking. Their water was 1.020 sg and mine is 1.026. I did drip acclimate it. I've got a buddy here in town that has a nice RBTA that I'll be getting from him in a few weeks of water changes. It sucks when you lose any creature in our care. I wish you well in saving your others.

04/23/2015, 04:51 AM	#17
jminick2 Registered Member Join Date: Jan 2015 Posts: 1,226	Sounds like an aggressive strain of ich if it is ich. Usually doesn't kill that quickly. __________________ “Out of every one hundred men, ten shouldn't even be there, eighty are just targets, nine are the real fighters. Ah, but the one, one is a warrior, and he will bring the others back.” Current Tank Info: 300g sps tank

04/25/2015, 01:59 PM	#18
Adamant Registered Member Join Date: Feb 2015 Posts: 70	Just a quick update that I'm becoming more hopefully day by day that the other clown will make it as the white spots are now gone (but what looks like scarring left where they were is pretty bad) and the fish is acting more normally again (hosting the filter in the HT, swimming around more normally and eating aggressively). Fingers crossed that all goes well... Oh, and my ammonia alert and Seachem copper tests turned up (My LFS sells Cupramine but not copper tests... what use they think that is who knows?!) Anyway, it got me started while waiting for online delivery of the test kit I suppose!

04/25/2015, 04:19 PM	#19
reeferstace I'm a little people Join Date: Sep 2008 Location: Over Yonder Posts: 1,392	Please go to the Disease and Treatment forum here and read ALL of Snorvich's stickies about ich treatment and quarantine procedures. __________________ Stacy

04/25/2015, 06:34 PM	#20
Kearnel Registered Member Join Date: Feb 2013 Location: Brantford, Ontario Posts: 315	That's the worst when an inhabitant dies for what looks to be no reason. My lipstick tang died the other day for reasons that are a mystery. It did great for well into 2 year's then just stopped eating. I couldn't catch it without destroying the tank so I couldn't do much to help it. Sucks cause I really liked that fish, it was the friendliest thing bothered by nothing, not even me in there poking around.