Yellow Watchman Goby - Sick?

[Border09]

Hi guys,

I recently got a yellow watchman goby and 2 false percs. They were all added on the same day to the tank along with 1 electric blue hermit, 1 sand sifting hermit and 4 snails.

The goby looked and acted really healthy and was eating great. As of last night he seemd to be breathing heavy and not standing on his usual little front fins. He still eats, but seems different to me. Everything else is going well (I bought him on Saturday).

Hope he gets better.

I have to test the water tonight. I tested it on Sunday and everything was good. Temp 80, pH 8, Nitrate, Nitrite, and Ammonia all = 0.

Salinity = between 1.021 and 1.022

Thanks for the help

 

[Deanos]

What's the question?

How long was the tank running before the fish additions?

 

[Border09]

One month

 

[Zoous]

IMO 1 month seems too short to be adding so much livestock. How big is the tank?

 

[Border09]

34 gallon

 

[Border09]

Question: What do you think could have gone wrong?

 

[Deanos]

A spike in ammonia levels may have occurred when adding 3 fish to a pretty "sterile" environment. The increased levels would affect the breathing patterns and activity level of a goby.

 

[Border09]

If it is ammonia, will the levels go back down? I'm going to run the tests again when I get home from work.

 

[Deanos]

With sufficient mature live rock or other filtration methods, the levels should return to 0.

 

[Border09]

Sadly when I got home from work Toby the goby was dead :grumpy: :frown:. I tested the waters for Nitrate, Nitrite, and Ammonia. They all are 0, the pH is 8 and the water temperature is 80. I don't know what's wrong...do you think it's a poison or something?

 

[dsgray16]

did you aclimate it properly? maybe he was stressed out from the move and aclimation process. And retest your ammonia.. are the other fish absolutely fine?