Found my Yellowtailed Blue Damsel Killer

[bubblepuffer]

Just checking on him 20mins ago.. no sick or nothing.. The Yellowtailed Blue Damsel swim around happily like always.. just 2 weeks old fish with a 3 weeks old tank... Got killed after 20mins.. found out the killer.. it is my Maxi-Jet 1200 for the Remora Skimmer.. that poor little fish sucked into the pump and stuck at the entrance of the pump... Learnt to put a net around the water intake opening..

*** learnt my first lesson for my first Saltwater Tank ***

 

[grav]

I am sorry to hear that.

It is hard to believe that a healthy fish got stuck on a MJ 1200 like that.

If the screen guard was on the MJ I'd lower the probablity to nill.... unless he was tinie tiny.

My guess is that he died of some other cause, and floated into the pump.

 

[bubblepuffer]

Unless my 2 Cleaner Shrimp killed him.. I guess I can prevent the accident happen. He always love hidding near the corner where the Heater and the Pump is.. if any movement around the tank.. he will quickly swim to the pump area to his heater hidding spot at the corner.. and also seeing him swim around the pump circling it all the time... that fish just around 1".. I thnk he might accidently bumped into the intake when he see some shadow near the tank and tried to hide in hurry

 

[grav]

I think many people assume something "killed" the fish when the vast majority of the time it is stress, water quality or some other natural cause.

I care for 18 tanks, most have MJ1200s on them and I dont think one has ever killed a fish.

Especally in a new tank and with a new fish. My point is: don't blame the powerhead, look into other potential causes.

 

[bubblepuffer]

My 2 Cleaner Shrimp, 1 Peppermint and 5 Snails, couple of blue legged hermit and 1 Nassarius snail doing great.... the shrimp monkey around showing no problem. The Feather duster always opening up, 1 Hammer Coral keep getting bigger and 1 Candy Cane Coral opening up fine..

Tested the out the water.. All the parameter is fine.. no ammonia, nitrite and around Nitrate between 0.5-1ppm. The LR blooming with little feather duster and Coralline algae..

I understand what you mean. The fish didn't show any problem since the first day I got him.. he always swim around the tank when nobody around and popping in and out around the LR. The only time he will hide when he see people around ..then he will mostly hide between the Pump and the heater or near the corner of the heater..

Unless there is something in the tank that I can't see within that 20mins.. He was still swimming around when I turn off the light in the room and went downstair and peeking on the aquarium glass..

 

[Anonymous]

The tank may have been cycling which led to his death.

But I'd say he did you a favor! Most people regret that as a 1st fish choice, only because they end up being so mean.

 

[jandree22]

IMO the yellow tailed damsel, like all damsels, are very strong swimmers and despite their size, I don't see how that'd happen to a healthy specimin. Maybe it was weak or dead when it got sucked in? Just thoughts...

only because they end up being so mean

...and they're a b*tch to catch :lol:

I care for 18 tanks

Good lord man, how do you have the time/money?! 8O

 

[bubblepuffer]

I love that Damsel.. so cute. I am going to get another Yellowtailed Damsel today. They are small and cute. Damsel actually is my 2nd choice of fish to get. I love to get Yellow watchman Goby, but my GF told me that fish look ugly so I end up getting Damsel..

 

[minibowmatt]

I also would think the fish was sick or dying. I had a damsel that would swim almost into the output of a MJ1200. If one could do that, than one could definetly swim away from one.

On another note, keep an eye on that tank, IMO your overstocked for a 3 week old tank. 8O At three weeks, you arent even done(or barely done) cycling yet. What size tank is this, how much LR, and lighting etc?

 

[bubblepuffer]

The fish doesn't look stress or sick since the day I got him. I checked him out every day .. there is no mark or any sign of sick. I got a 13g tank with 16lbs of LR. The LR rock is from a show tank and already in a tank for 2 month.. some even got a mushroom on it. That is why it take less then a week to table in the tank. I test the water 2 time yesterday after the dead fish and test the water today. NH3/NH4=0, NO2=0, N03=around 0.5

Tested it with 2 different test kit and same result. Everything else in the tank look great, just the fish is dead.

 

[Anonymous]

That is strange, then.

It's possible he was sick to begin with (something internal) and then died and was sucked into the pump.

But, don't worry too much, you can buy another in a few weeks and he'll probably live a long, long, long time.

 

[Anonymous]

I am sorry to hear that.

It is hard to believe that a healthy fish got stuck on a MJ 1200 like that.

If the screen guard was on the MJ I'd lower the probablity to nill.... unless he was tinie tiny.

My guess is that he died of some other cause, and floated into the pump.

I agree. An mj1200 doesnt have enough power to suck and keep a fish there.

 

[Anonymous]

Tested the out the water.. All the parameter is fine.. no ammonia, nitrite and around Nitrate between 0.5-1ppm. The LR blooming with little feather duster and Coralline algae..

Testing for the 4 basics in no way means water is fine. Thats just the starting point for new tanks to see if the bio cycle has been completed, and every once in a while for an established tank to make sure the tank is still biologically stable.

What is your alkalinity? Calcium? Magnesium? Have you tested for copper at any point? What is your sg/salinity? pH? Phosphates?

 

[Anonymous]

The fish doesn't look stress or sick since the day I got him. I checked him out every day .. there is no mark or any sign of sick. I got a 13g tank with 16lbs of LR. The LR rock is from a show tank and already in a tank for 2 month.. some even got a mushroom on it. That is why it take less then a week to table in the tank. I test the water 2 time yesterday after the dead fish and test the water today. NH3/NH4=0, NO2=0, N03=around 0.5

Tested it with 2 different test kit and same result. Everything else in the tank look great, just the fish is dead.

What is your acclimation process?