demoto

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Yesterday, we bought a pair of firefish and a yellow watchman goby. At the LFS, the firefish were in one tank and the goby in another. Got them home, acclimated them and put them in our already cycled QT with perfect parameters.

Within minutes, one firefish took to the goby and never left its side. The 2nd firefish kept to itself. Once, while watching them, I saw the goby 'nip' at the loner firefish, but didn't think anything of it at the time. We kept all sides of the tank covered and dark so if other bullying went on, we don't know.

Before bed last night, I found all three cuddled under a rock and thought they'd all be fine. It was so cute to see the three faces looking back at me thru this tiny hole.

Sadly, this morning, we wake up and the loner firefish is dead and almost eaten in half. The remaining firefish is swimming around and eating. The goby appears to suddenly have lymph on its mouth. They both still rest side by side in the hole.

I'm thinking that in addition to the stress of the move, for some reason, the firefish and the goby bullied the loner firefish until it died from stress. That stress also caused the lymph on the goby. Could this be what happened?

Did the firefish and the goby pair up for some strange reason?

Any other ideas?
 
A

Anonymous

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I think you are probably right that the bullying on top of the stress from the move killed the firefish.

Sometimes, when fish are at the store they are very weak, they have traveled quite a long way to get there, and often don't receive the best care at the store.

Firefish often bicker amongst themselves, there is a possibility that the firefish had been harrassed but the other one in the store and not eating well. They are a sensitive fish and the harrasmant can be subtle.
 

Len

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Do you hear any clicking sounds from the tank? I wonder if a mantis or pistol shrimp got to it.
 

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