HELP!!! New Sailfin Blenny on his way out

[UncleMike]

Hi Guys,

I purchased a Sailfin Blenny on Wed. He seemed fine after acclimation. Today I get home from work and he's laying awkward with his face towards the rock and his breathing is labored. I went to touch him with a net and he darted into a crevasse in live rock. He seems to let the current push him around the tank from spot to spot. I checked my water parameters and everything seems fine and none of my other inhabitants seem stressed. Should I remove him now or wait to see if he makes a recovery?

 

[Mattl22]

Keep lights off leave him alone


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[UncleMike]

Thanks. So, just to clarify, what does the light have to do with him being stressed?
As I am a noob, this may be a dumb question but I have never heard of the light effecting fish.

 

[xxxAngeloxxx]

Thanks. So, just to clarify, what does the light have to do with him being stressed?
As I am a noob, this may be a dumb question but I have never heard of the light effecting fish.

the light prevents your fish from not stressing to much n also so fish your can get use the environment inside your tank.

 

[JonnyJ]

how old is the tank? how big is the tank? what test kits are you using?
Temperature? Salinity?

we need a bit more than just you saying the levels are good.

I would suggest leaving him alone

 

[wonderballz]

Anything beating him up?

My sailfin blenny got right to beating up my Yellow watchman goby. Defi try keeping the lights off to decrease stress.

 

[UncleMike]

how old is the tank? how big is the tank? what test kits are you using?
Temperature? Salinity?

we need a bit more than just you saying the levels are good.

I would suggest leaving him alone

My tank is about 4 month old. It's a 36 gallon front bow. Test kit... I'm not sure the brand but it's the liquid drops in glass vile that test pH, Ammonia, Nitrite & Nitrate. I keep the Temp at 76?F & the Salinity at 1.024

I kept the light off until now. (10am EST) It appears he died. I really wish I knew what I did wrong. It could have been picked on by my chalk bass. He went after the chromis I got for a while but then settled down. My banded coral shrimp did nip at him once he was looking ill but seemed to leave him alone prior to that point.

I think I'm going to take him and a sample of my water to the shop where I purchased him from. They are fairly knowledgeable.

Any suggestion for down the road? This is the first fish I've had die on me. It's very discouraging.

 

[JonnyJ]

Hey sorry to hear he didnt make it. The fish could have been sick prior to you buying it. . Don't stress or get discouraged.

Remember, you could have bought the fish that was poorly collected or shipped, you really never know with livestock when you purchase fish. Its always a gamble.

When you buy a fish you should be doing the following, Ask when it came in, Is it eating? [watch to see it eat] Check eyes for cloudiness or any imperfections, check the fins and body for any spots/scrapes/etc .. etc..

Im a little concerned about your test kits. How old are they? you dont have the box they came in?

Best bet is to have the store check your water or even a local MR reefer.


I would not add any fish for a couple of weeks. I dont personally know if there is anything wrong with your tank but i would do your weekly water changes for a couple of weeks and then test and try a new addition pending results.





can you post some pictures of your setup?

 

[wonderballz]

Hey sorry to hear he didnt make it. The fish could have been sick prior to you buying it. . Don't stress or get discouraged.

Remember, you could have bought the fish that was poorly collected or shipped, you really never know with livestock when you purchase fish. Its always a gamble.

When you buy a fish you should be doing the following, Ask when it came in, Is it eating? [watch to see it eat] Check eyes for cloudiness or any imperfections, check the fins and body for any spots/scrapes/etc .. etc..

Im a little concerned about your test kits. How old are they? you dont have the box they came in?

Best bet is to have the store check your water or even a local MR reefer.


I would not add any fish for a couple of weeks. I dont personally know if there is anything wrong with your tank but i would do your weekly water changes for a couple of weeks and then test and try a new addition pending results.





can you post some pictures of your setup?

All good info. Sometimes some thing as simple as asking to see the fish eat can show you a lot. It won't give you all the answers, but if it doesn't eat you'll know to be cautious.

You could bring the water to a LFS or a local reefer (that is what I did) or both. At least you can tell if you have good test kits or not.

 

[UncleMike]

Ok. I took the dead blenny & a sample of my tank's water to the shop I purchased him from. The water & in-turn my test kit are fine. I was comped a new blenny. he is acclimating as I type this.

The kit I have was given to me free by a local LFS which is why I didn't know the brand. It had already been opened and used a few times and was provided to me in a plastic bag.

I will try to post pics once the new addition is finished acclimating and I can clean up a bit.

Thanks for all the info guys. I really appreciate sites like this and the people on them. I don't know where I would be if I started this hobby pre-internet.