Livestock dying off

[jschiavi]

Hey guys,
Last night, I found my pepermint shrimp dead under a piece of live rock. Thing is, he was alive before... Today, I found my clown... dead, and sucked into the powerhead. Im wondering.... Do you think this was caused by foul play (an agressive somethingorother) or was it maybe he fell asleep near the poerhead and the rest is history. I just added 20lbs or so of LR to my tank. Yes, it was cured, but it had aptasia that I was killing. Anyone know if aptasia juice is bad for fish? Im real frustrated with all of this, and am thinking of getting something agressive.. like a small trigger to eat everything in the tank...

 

[nitrofish]

Hey guys,
Last night, I found my pepermint shrimp dead under a piece of live rock. Thing is, he was alive before... Today, I found my clown... dead, and sucked into the powerhead. Im wondering.... Do you think this was caused by foul play (an agressive somethingorother) or was it maybe he fell asleep near the poerhead and the rest is history. I just added 20lbs or so of LR to my tank. Yes, it was cured, but it had aptasia that I was killing. Anyone know if aptasia juice is bad for fish? Im real frustrated with all of this, and am thinking of getting something agressive.. like a small trigger to eat everything in the tank...

maybe a mantis shrimp on that live rock you got

 

[starrfish]

Are you sure you didn't create a mini cycle with the addition of the live rock? Have you checked your water parameters?

 

[jschiavi]

parameters were all within a very close margin of what's normal for my tank. There was really nothing here I could see killing a tank-raised perc.

Also, if I created a mini-cycle... wouldnt my old and new livestock die off? All of my older snails and hermits are fine, as well as my snails.

 

[dz6t]

Power head does kill clown fish. You need a sponge to cover the powerhead intake.

 

[Mini4x]

Any fish that gets stuck in a PH could die easy...

I had a peppermint shrimp get stuck in an unblocked venturi port on mine.. DOH.. I blame myself..

I have this AC power head on left.. and my camel shrimps seem to like to 'host' on it now.. and idea why?

And YES I did clean the algae off since.. this tank is about 2 months yong now.. and already too small, trying to resist the urge to go buy a 72 bow..

 

[jschiavi]

So you guys think think it was the powerhead that killed my little guy? (RIP)

 

[dz6t]

I am pretty sure the powerhead killed the clown fish but not sure about the shrimp.

Clown fish are poor swimers.

 

[NateHanson]

I really don't think the Powerhead killed your fish. Much more likely that the corpse floated into the intake, IMO. I'd say you had a cycle when the new rock was put in, or your aptasia treatment killed the livestock. You mentioned "aptasia juice". Do you mean "joe's juice" or kalk paste? Or are you referring to the inards of the anemone?

In a small tank, kalk paste or a lot of anemone inards could ruin water quality enough to kill livestock.

At this point I'd test sg, ph, temp, amm, nitrite, and nitrate. Not a bad idea to cover all your bases when a couple creatures die for unknown reason.

Nate

 

[~Flighty~]

I don't think a powerhead killed an otherwise healthy clown. A dying one I could see, a dead one, I would expect to find there, but a healthy one could definitely swim away. Prppermints tend to kill eachother, but wtih the clown death at the same time, I would look towards other causes.

 

[Moe_K]

Are you sure the peppermint shrimpo is dead?
When shrimp grow the need to get rid of their exoskeleton - they molt.
The molt left in the tank may look exactly like the peppermint - maybe the color will be a bit off. Just after molting shrimp go into hiding because their new exoskeleton isn't hardened yet.
Many people have posted here before thinking their shrimp or crab was dead, only to find the crustacean alive & well a few days later.

Could just be a coincidence that your clown died.

But, if you examined the shrimp corpse and the guts were there, then my post here is not very helpful.

 

[Greg Hiller]

I wouldn't use a sponge filter on a powerhead, to much trouble to clean all the time. I would however use a small intake screen, but as others have mentioned, not likely that the clown was killed by this, but not impossible. I lost a mandarin this way once, and I am sure that the mandarin was fine not 2 hours before.

 

[jschiavi]

1) yeah. The pepermint was dead. He had molted before. The molt was clear. This time, he was red, and was cut in half. His carapace was lifted off of his "back" and his innards were out.

2) Yeah, i think it was the powerhead. This guy WAS fine at 1030. I left to go seem y girlfriend, and at 1215 he was gone. This guy was swimming around, happy as can be at 1030...

 

[JWeb]

What is meant by an "intake screen"? Is it the small plastic cone that, for example, comes with the MAG pumps (the pumps with which I am most familiar). I guess I'm asking if the increased area for flow on the longer plastic cone reduces suction compared to the intake hole alone and, thus, makes it safer for weaker swimmers like mandarin or clown.

(Don't mean to hijack, jschiavi... just looking for more info on your topic.)

 

[jmkeary]

sounds like the shrimp was killed by something and was being eaten do you hear loud clicks from your tank at night? what else is in the tank?

 

[nunofs]

Jeff, the intake screen is exactly what you're describing, although in powerheads it's a much smaller cone/cylinder than the ones on the Mag pumps. And like you said, they help by spreading out the suction over a larger area...

I still don't see how a healthy fish (even a poor swimmer like a clown) could be sucked into a powerhead, there's even reports of clownfish "hosting" in powerheads with no ill results. Btw, like Greg said, I would also avoid using a sponge cover on a powerhead intake, it's a hassle to keep clean, and if not kept clean will be a source of nitrates.

Nuno

 

[jschiavi]

I dont know if I mentioned this, but all of the parameters for the tank are A-OK. Ammonia was a little high, around .25, but I attribute that to having 2 things die in my tank in 2 days. Im really not fond of this powerhead, as I had lost a fish in it when it was in a previous tank. And no, I dont think there is a mantis in the tank. I havent lost any snails or hermits.. And there was no real damage to the fish, except the damage done by the powerhead (he was darker on one side... caused by the suction. Im frustrated.

Parameters as of 6:45 PM

Ammonia = <.25 ppm (all others are ppm)
Nitrate = 20
Nitrite = 0
Alk = 300
pH = 8.0 (not ppm [duh])

 

[Moe_K]

your nitrates are high for a reef tank, but that wouldn't do the damage here.

 

[starrfish]

Why don't you just replace the powerhead with a better one if you feel that's the culprit. They're cheap enough so you can avoid this in the future.