Dead Damsel

[RNicorvo]

Wow, this little guy didn't last long.
I have a 14g tank for approximately 6 weeks. I have:
1 peppermint shrimp
1 skunk cleaner
1 tiny red leg leg hermit crab
1 narscissus snail

Everyone is doing fine for a week and 1/2 so Wednesday I checked all the levels which were:

1.020 sg
0 ppt Nitrate
0 ppt Nitrite
0 ppt Ammonia
8.2 pH

I check everything, every other day and it's been pretty consistent.

So, I purchase my first fish, a yellow belly damsel and a watchman goby. They are both acclimated approx 1 hour by removing some of the lfs water and replacing 20% with tank water, every 10 minutes. Both are released and seemed to be doing very well. At night everyone is fed and the shrimp were going crazy as if they were starving. Goby found a nice place to hide, but would come out to check things out and the damsel was swimming in all his glory!

Today, before I went to work, everyone was cool! I did another water test this evening and the pH was 7.4 !! Ouch, I made a water change of approx 1 gallon and added 1 tsp Marine buffer. I went to check things out and my damsel was upside down next to a rock. I didn't expect that!

So, what did I do wrong? Should I have checked everything after adding fish? (like yesterday , the next day?) Goby is out right now, looking pretty good. Shrimp and crab are fine, and the snail is somewhere underground.

I hope I provided enough info to get some helpful hints.

Thanks,

[vdituri]

Great info. Very thorough!
Hard to say. Damsels are usually the last to go.
Since your goby is doing well, I would say it's the damsels fault.
We never know how they are collected, how long the fish store has had them and what they had to go through to get to us.
Maybe it was just one move too much.
At least you have the more expensive fish.

[Royalscott]

Damsels are tough little suckers so I would bet to say that the Damsel was ill/stressed when you got it from the LFS.

[PEMfish]

cyanide

[vdituri]

Originally Posted by PEMfish

cyanide

Are you suggesting it was "MURDER!"
dunt dunt dun!
No one leaves until the inspector gets here.

[RNicorvo]

PEMfish and Vdituri;

Interesting theories. My neighbor has a Peacock fish (Mrs. Peacock of course), my tank is in the living room and there was a tiny candlestick next to the dead damsel. I didn't realize I had a damsel in distress!

I'm filing a police report and will have crime scene tape up shortly! I'll let you all know the outcome of the crime!


LOL Thanks for all your quick replies. Very helpful.

[rmlevasseur]

1 TSP OF REEF BUFFER TREATS 40 GALLONS!!!!! You have a 14 g tank...

methinks it was murder

dunt dunt dunnnnnnnnnnnn

[Royalscott]

Originally Posted by rmlevasseur

1 TSP OF REEF BUFFER TREATS 40 GALLONS!!!!! You have a 14 g tank...

methinks it was murder

dunt dunt dunnnnnnnnnnnn

Then the real question is, why wasnt the Goby killed too? Was the Damsel having other relations?

[Frankie]

Originally Posted by rmlevasseur

1 TSP OF REEF BUFFER TREATS 40 GALLONS!!!!! You have a 14 g tank...

methinks it was murder

dunt dunt dunnnnnnnnnnnn

I am guessing the same. I'll finish up his post though. The damsel took in to much when added to the tank and the Goby was out of the way. I bet the damsel was first in line during feeding time. He thought you were feeding him and went right into the concentration i bet. Next time you dose do it in the filtration. If i am right that is.

[RNicorvo]

No, the buffer could not have killed him instantly like that. I mixed the buffer as directly and it states that 1 tsp is good for up to 20g tank and stablilizes it to no more than 8.3. I was a little shy of the full tsp. The added water was put into the back filter of the tank slowly and not directly in the main tank.

He was on the ground and lost his color and was a little "sticky" looking, so I think he was dead for a couple of hours.

Thanks for all the posts and giggles, I believe have been through a lot more stress before I got him.

Have a great weekend all!

[lcstorc]

While I don't think this is the cause of the damsels speedy death I do think it is worth mentioning. That was a lot of fish to add to a newly cycled small tank. Had the damsel lived you were on your way to parameter issues. Keep in mind the stocking limit for that tank is only 2-3 inches of adult fish.
Like I said I don't think that was the problem with the damsel since it happened so quickly and your parameters are still good. Just something to keep in mind.

[vdituri]

Thanks for the laugh. I needed it this morning. lol

Originally Posted by RNicorvo

PEMfish and Vdituri;

Interesting theories. My neighbor has a Peacock fish (Mrs. Peacock of course), my tank is in the living room and there was a tiny candlestick next to the dead damsel. I didn't realize I had a damsel in distress!

I'm filing a police report and will have crime scene tape up shortly! I'll let you all know the outcome of the crime!


LOL Thanks for all your quick replies. Very helpful.

[Craig Manoukian]

I agree with Lynn that with a newly cycled tank, too much bioload at once could have been the problem. You are limited by 14 gallons to one adult 2" adult fish. Hope all is well with the Goby.

[revhard05]

Originally Posted by rmlevasseur

1 TSP OF REEF BUFFER TREATS 40 GALLONS!!!!! You have a 14 g tank...

methinks it was murder

dunt dunt dunnnnnnnnnnnn

the marine buffer says on the bottle that you can add without "overbuffering?

[burning2nd]

once you start down the dark path for ever will it dominate your (tanks) destiny

why did you decide you buffer? the ph swing is normal... thats a little low. but your tank is young...
you dont have a sump do you? If you do you can run the lighting on your sump opposite of the main tank, 2 help stable that.