Clownfish tail eaten off... what does this???? SO... confused right now

oceanluvr · 05/26/2009, 11:43 AM

Ok, SO, I've been treating my tank for ICH because my 2 clowns started showing whit spots on them. Whats strange though is that my other 2 firefish goby were fine not a spot on them. Well anyways... one of the clowns died last week but the other one started looking better and the spots all went away. Then This morning I wake up to find white patches all over one side of its body. Then I just now got home from work and it looks like this:

It's tail looks like it's been eaten off by something :O ***!?! AND it just died maybe a few seconds ago.

I just want to find out whats causing this. I'm SO extremely confused.

My tank is a 30gal tank and my water params are:
PH: 8.2
Ammonia: 0
Nitrite: 0
Nitrate: 0-5
Salinity: 32
Specific Gravity: 1.023

Ugh.... what the heck is going on??? Please someone help me so I don't have this keep happening

oceanluvr · 05/26/2009, 11:47 AM

This is how my other fish look:

From what I can tell, nothing is wrong with them... but I don't feel like I know anything now

Does the firefish look ok?

golby · 05/26/2009, 12:16 PM

Your water quality looks good. As for the tail disappearing...any hitchhiker crabs that could be in there?

oceanluvr · 05/26/2009, 12:34 PM

I don't know. I do have 2 blue legged hermit crabs though and a strawberry crab. Would they do something like that?

1602reefer · 05/26/2009, 12:34 PM

Might be fin rot but thats mainly due to poor water quality. If the clowns are showing white spots, the other fish are susceptible also and I would quarantine them right away and treat with copper if you have an extra tank. I had a problem with marine velvet a month ago and i just thought I could control it with proper nutrition, and it wiped out all six of my fish in 72 hours. It could also be caused by hermits if you have them, because the fish usually lay on the bottom before they are about to die and the hermits attack them.

oceanluvr · 05/26/2009, 12:46 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by 1602reefer
Might be fin rot but thats mainly due to poor water quality. If the clowns are showing white spots, the other fish are susceptible also and I would quarantine them right away and treat with copper if you have an extra tank. I had a problem with marine velvet a month ago and i just thought I could control it with proper nutrition, and it wiped out all six of my fish in 72 hours. It could also be caused by hermits if you have them, because the fish usually lay on the bottom before they are about to die and the hermits attack them.

Oh wow, that sucks. Ya, I've got 2 hermits (blue legged ones). I wonder if they're to blame.

1602reefer · 05/26/2009, 12:59 PM

It's probably them, when my fish started dieing, I had a royal gramma that died behind the rocks and when I re- aquascaped I never found a skeleton. I have at least 20+ blue leg hermits and they pretty much ate whatever there was left of it. They are very efficient at there jobs.

oceanluvr · 05/26/2009, 01:02 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by 1602reefer
It's probably them, when my fish started dieing, I had a royal gramma that died behind the rocks and when I re- aquascaped I never found a skeleton. I have at least 20+ blue leg hermits and they pretty much ate whatever there was left of it. They are very efficient at there jobs.

So, I don't need to get rid of the hermits?

romsoccer12 · 05/26/2009, 01:20 PM

no! they wont attack you live fish, just the dead ones or the ones that cant survive there attack which means there gunu die.

oceanluvr · 05/26/2009, 05:31 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by romsoccer12
no! they wont attack you live fish, just the dead ones or the ones that cant survive there attack which means there gunu die.

Oh, oky doky. Thanks

05/26/2009, 11:43 AM	#1
oceanluvr Registered Member Join Date: Mar 2009 Location: Texas Posts: 150	Clownfish tail eaten off... what does this???? SO... confused right now Ok, SO, I've been treating my tank for ICH because my 2 clowns started showing whit spots on them. Whats strange though is that my other 2 firefish goby were fine not a spot on them. Well anyways... one of the clowns died last week but the other one started looking better and the spots all went away. Then This morning I wake up to find white patches all over one side of its body. Then I just now got home from work and it looks like this: It's tail looks like it's been eaten off by something :O ***!?! AND it just died maybe a few seconds ago. I just want to find out whats causing this. I'm SO extremely confused. My tank is a 30gal tank and my water params are: PH: 8.2 Ammonia: 0 Nitrite: 0 Nitrate: 0-5 Salinity: 32 Specific Gravity: 1.023 Ugh.... what the heck is going on??? Please someone help me so I don't have this keep happening

05/26/2009, 12:16 PM	#3
golby Registered Member Join Date: Apr 2009 Location: Bethesda, MD Posts: 242	Your water quality looks good. As for the tail disappearing...any hitchhiker crabs that could be in there? __________________ Unless I explicitly state otherwise, assume that I have tested my parameters recently and they are: Temp: 80F Salt: 1.023-1.024 pH: 8.2 Amm: 0 'trite: 0 'trate: 0 Phosphate: 0 Copper: 0 Calcium: 360-420 dkH: 9 Current Tank Info: 90g internal overflow; 30g sump; ~325 Watts 6500K CFL bulbs; 100 lbs LR; mixed reef with LPS (frogspawn, torch, trumpet and bubble) and softies (leathers, mushrooms and lots of zoas)

05/26/2009, 12:34 PM	#5
1602reefer Registered Member Join Date: Mar 2009 Posts: 93	Might be fin rot but thats mainly due to poor water quality. If the clowns are showing white spots, the other fish are susceptible also and I would quarantine them right away and treat with copper if you have an extra tank. I had a problem with marine velvet a month ago and i just thought I could control it with proper nutrition, and it wiped out all six of my fish in 72 hours. It could also be caused by hermits if you have them, because the fish usually lay on the bottom before they are about to die and the hermits attack them. __________________ want to learn. Current Tank Info: 55 gallon reef tank, 4 x 54 watt t5 light, 60+ lbs of figi live rock, backpack2 skimmer, 2 korallia 3's.

05/26/2009, 12:59 PM	#7
1602reefer Registered Member Join Date: Mar 2009 Posts: 93	It's probably them, when my fish started dieing, I had a royal gramma that died behind the rocks and when I re- aquascaped I never found a skeleton. I have at least 20+ blue leg hermits and they pretty much ate whatever there was left of it. They are very efficient at there jobs. __________________ want to learn. Current Tank Info: 55 gallon reef tank, 4 x 54 watt t5 light, 60+ lbs of figi live rock, backpack2 skimmer, 2 korallia 3's.

05/26/2009, 01:20 PM	#9
romsoccer12 Registered Member Join Date: Apr 2009 Location: ohio Posts: 2,625	no! they wont attack you live fish, just the dead ones or the ones that cant survive there attack which means there gunu die. __________________ Colin R Current Tank Info: 3rd tank working fine!(29gal oceanic biocube) 5-6months old

05/26/2009, 11:47 AM	#2
oceanluvr Registered Member Join Date: Mar 2009 Location: Texas Posts: 150	This is how my other fish look: From what I can tell, nothing is wrong with them... but I don't feel like I know anything now Does the firefish look ok?