Diamond Goby Died after 3 Days [HELP]

[Maxsango]

Hi Fellow Hobbyist,

 

I'm new to the forum, and like to start by saying Hi to all~ I had a Diamond Goby that I bought at a local LFS about 2 min from my house, and brought it home. I temperature acclimated it for 1hr, and then put him in my tank. He seems to be doing fine, coming out during feeding time, moving sand bed from one side of tank to the other, grabbing hermit crabs with his mouth and moving them away from his new home (tunnel). However, after the third day, he didn't come out during feeding. Later in the afternoon, he was dead at the corner of my tank, with the crab feasting.

 

I have a BioCube32, with stock lighting, PH=8.4, Ammonia, Nitrate, Nitrate all 0ppm, Salinity 1.025 (although LFS said they tested 1.021). I have a Blue Tang, 2 Clown Fishes, and Fire Shrimp as his tank mate, so nothing aggressive I can see. The only difference I can see that was different from Nemo/Dory acclimation was I only temp. acclimated, and did not drip acclimate. Do you think not drip acclimate a Diamond Goby could have killed after 3 days? Or could there possible be other reasons?

 

I'm trying to figure out what might have cause his death, and hoping someone knowledgeable can guide me so I don't make the same mistake twice.

 

Also, weird question, but would you feel bad taking back to the local LFS and asking for a refund?

 

-Sango

[1.0reef]

First off, probably should return the tang, even as a juvie it may become stressed due to a lack of space.

its hard to actually say what killed the goby, I doubt the acclimation process did. Likely a disease or parasite, additionally sand sifting gobies tend to not do well in captivity and usually are recommended for larger tanks. Was is unusually skinny? Any spots, lacerations, or patches on it?

[smiz]

Not sure about the goby, sounds like it might have been something other then not drip acclimating. If parameters were way off of what he was in then it could have increased stress and led to some sort of infection. If it is covered by the LFS I would return it. 

 

As for the tang, it is never a good idea to spur of the moment purchase a fish. It really pays of for your system and the fish if you research the fish and make sure it is suitable for what you are intending with your tank. A great source for getting a quick feel for fish would be liveaquaria.com. Here you can see minimum tank size along with a quick list of needs and size. Here you can see that a blue tang grows to be 1 foot long. Which might get a little stuffy in the biocube. It also shows its recommended minimum size tank is 180 gallons.

 

And seeing how your LFS sold you a blue tang for a 30g tank I would be very weary of advice that they give!

 

Good luck! 

[Oldsalt01]

AI agree with smiz about ur LFS. The temptation to get a new fish into our DT's is always there, but u run a huge risk of introducing a parasite or disease to an otherwise healthy tank. ALWAYS quarantine new arrivals, no matter how long they've been at a store. That means a MINIMUM of 2 weeks, but 4 is much safer. That way u can be pretty sure the fish is healthy as most diseases will have run their life cycle and if they are present u can treat them in isolation. I also quarantine my new corals as well as dipping them. I also ask my very dependable LFS to feed a fish so I can see if they're eating. A full belly without feeding can mean intestinal parasites, but if they're eating than issue is less chancy. Get recommendations from ur local reef society about local LFS's. I've had great success doing that. All that being said, fish die anyway, sometimes for no apparent reason. It just goes with the game. Good luck with your reef.

[Maxsango]

Thanks Everyone for your feedback/advice.

 

@1.0reef There isn't any signs of damage, wound, or skinny body. He was very active in the sand bed, and ate frozen mysis shrimp and A+ spectrum pellets the morning before. Only thing I can see is probably the black spot under his jaw and on top of his head, but I believe that's normal from what I can see of pictures online.

 

@Oldsalt01 I agree, I think in future I will have a quarantine tank. Better safe than sorry. The LFS excuse is fish died cause got scared and hit something. I know this does happen, but sounds like a convenient excuse.... The LFS got 4.5 yelp review from over 300+ people, so seems to be reputable. Anyways, this seems like an educational expense.

 

The blue tang is small size right now and is doing fine. Swims, plays around, and dives for food like crazy~ At night, he sleeps between a hole in the live rock that he found and made it his new home. I think when the blue tangs gets bigger, I will have to switch to a larger tank.

[Clown79]

The problem even with the tang being small now is that they need even at juvanile size, a lot more swimming room.

 

The lack of room will cause it stress.

 

Blue tangs in particular get stressed out easily and are highly prone to ich, which isn't fun to deal with. 

 

They also eat alot of algae and need it in their diet, producing a lot of waste in the tank from feeding nori and then their poop.

 

I would never trust a store that would sell a blue tang to someone who doesn't have at least a 100g tank. Then they sold you a diamond goby which does best with a refugium. 

 

I had a yellow tang in a 55g(my first tank) and it was small, it didn't do very well, it was in a tank half the mandated size it needs.

 

As for the goby, most temp acclimate their fish so I doubt it was the issue. 

It may have been ill or stressed.

 

I had a sand sifting goby- it lasted 4 days. It cleaned all the sand and then died. Theres only so much microfauna in small sandbeds and without a refugium its hard to compete with their appetite

[Oldsalt01]

If my LFS told me my new fish died because it got scared and hit something........ I'd tell them to hit something..... THE ROAD! I think they may be a bit unscrupulous. I know for sure I'd never walk thru their door again. The whole idea of selling you the tang for your small tank is a bit shady to begin with. And now telling you the goby injured itself in your tank just smells bad. Dump 'em, go on your local reef society site and pick the member's brains about LFS's with better reps. We're all newbies at some point in our obsessions. I've been keeping saltwater tanks on and off since 1971 but when I set up my 14g biocube 2 years ago I had to start all over, and I'm still learning. As smiz said, "liveaquaria.com" (Dr's Foster & Smith) is a great site for learning about appropriate tank size for selected fish and they also have a great compatibility chart. Get ur QT set up, isolate ur new fish for at least 4 weeks, and slow down.

[Clown79]

12 minutes ago, Oldsalt01 said:

If my LFS told me my new fish died because it got scared and hit something........ I'd tell them to hit something..... THE ROAD! I think they may be a bit unscrupulous. I know for sure I'd never walk thru their door again. The whole idea of selling you the tang for your small tank is a bit shady to begin with. And now telling you the goby injured itself in your tank just smells bad. Dump 'em, go on your local reef society site and pick the member's brains about LFS's with better reps. We're all newbies at some point in our obsessions. I've been keeping saltwater tanks on and off since 1971 but when I set up my 14g biocube 2 years ago I had to start all over, and I'm still learning. As smiz said, "liveaquaria.com" (Dr's Foster & Smith) is a great site for learning about appropriate tank size for selected fish and they also have a great compatibility chart. Get ur QT set up, isolate ur new fish for at least 4 weeks, and slow down.

Very well said?

[GregEmmitte]

IME you need a dirty tank for a sand sifting goby. People who have successful acro tanks tend to have cleaner tanks which doesn't provide enough food in the substrate. They also need to be able to pass the sand through their gills. I'd get one just to clean cyno or brown algae from the sand and then trade it back to the LFS.