Fish dead after 2 days

[Tangster]

i just got a small 4 gallon tank from cadlights, i set up the tank on wednesday using LR from my established 90 gallon reef and cycled water from the 90 gallon. the tank parameters were perfect and i assumed that the tank wouldn't have to go through a cycle due to the LR and cycled water.

On saturday i took a trip to the fish store, this time i didn't really have time to make the drive out to Aquarium Village(my usually and well trusted fish store), and instead tried a different LFS called Aqua Hut. there prices were reasonable, and i ended up getting a bicolor blenny and Ocellaris clownfish(both for the 4 gallon), and a sail fin tang(for my 90 gallon). all of the fish looked very healthy, and, and accepted mysid shrimp later that night after acclimation.

Now tonight as i came home the first thing i am greeted to is a bicolor blenny lying on the sand, dead! i quickly got the fish out of the tank and have just completed a water change using water from my 90 gallon. i changed a little less than a gallon, which turned out to be half the tank.

i cannot understand why the blenny has just randomly died without any symptoms at all. it was eating last night, and swimming around happily. i tested the water and all parameters are fine the nitrates are the only thing that is high 20 ppm as oppose to 0ppm wednesday. could this be the beginning of a cycle or something, or was it something to do with the fish itself, and the store. i understand the great stress the fish go through and i realize that it is most likely not the fault of the store. i am only concerned about the clownfish i currently have in the tank. is this a freak accident or should i be concerned.

not sure if this would matter but i also had a super tiny single zoanthid polyp on a piece of rubble, and a closed up star polyp frag in the tank, in case it creates any variables.

 

[KathyC]

Sorry for your loss.
It's almost impossible to tell you why the blenny died.


Unless the water already had nitrates in it (I see you said it had zero on Wed, but that doesn't make sense unless the ammonia or nitrites were already elevated..did you test for them?)


Is there anything in this tank that is providing oxygen exchange for the fish?

 

[piranhapat]

Like Kathy stated very hard to find out for sure. But did you test the Salinity of the fish bag water. Seeing if salinity was different can cause death to fish. Some LFS can keep low Salinity. Example if LFS can keep it 1.18 and your tank 1.26 that's a big jump for a fish even in 24 hours. .

 

[bkstang]

It's most likely the stress due to different water quality. When I buy something from a LFS I test their water to be prepared how long and how to acclimate the livestock. There are different parameters that could be very, very different than yours.

 

[NYreefNoob]

did you acclimate and if so how ? did you treat the fish ? if so what did you use

 

[masterswimmer]

How long was the LR out of water between the 90g and the 4g tanks? Could you have had some die off resulting in a cycle?

 

[Tangster]

i never tested the water from the fish store, and i was just thinking that that could be one of the causes for death. i only just thought of testing the LFS water for salinity after the fish was put in.

i acclimated the fish by floating the bag in the tank for about 30 minutes, then opened the bag and exchanged small amounts of water between the two. after doing this a few times i let the bag go to the bottom and waited for the fish to swim out.

the LR was out of the tank for a little less than a minute, while going between tanks and buckets.

 

[masterswimmer]

Letting the bag float to the bottom tells me you allowed the LFS water to enter your tank. That is a HUGE no no. Taboo. Frowned upon. Possibly problematic.

Russ

 

[Custom05Taco]

Letting the bag float to the bottom tells me you allowed the LFS water to enter your tank. That is a HUGE no no. Taboo. Frowned upon. Possibly problematic.

Russ

+1
Look into the drip method much more effective for sensitive fish.

 

[OOtzie]

to avoid ANY issues, in the future so a slow acclimation. As a hobbyist, your willing to shell out serious bucks for livestock but 3 out of 4 of us don't acclimate that goes for fish and coral. I have a small tank I throw up the night before I purchase just for the purpose of acclimation after three days i'll move the coral over.

 

[Giannas99]

simple as can be, 10 blennies come in a local fishstore. 8 of 10 will make it . you happen to get a bad one. could be internal issue stress. dont get paranoid and change water. sorry for loss.

 

[homegrowncichlid]

Assuming the fish was healthy, we can investigate other possible factors to prevent this from happening again.
With only 2 gallons of actual water in the tank, maybe
not enough oxygen/circulation,
or too much CO2? causing a chain reaction of lowering pH?
A temperature heat spike also lowers O2 solubility?


On the other extreme, if water flow is too strong, then the fish will die from exertion.

I remember when I was young, I was told the only fish I can keep in a bowl was a goldfish, guppy or a Siamese fighting fish, since they can tolerate those conditions. Well, I tried putting tetras in and needless to say they died.


The true test will be to get another blenny and try again and if you are unwilling to bet on this, then this nano may not work out except for goldfish guppies or fighting fish. Well maybe a tiny blenny.