[Garrett]

Everyone,

Just tonight i have lost the Bar Goby "Slick". I found him upside down and kinda swimming around. It has been a couple of days since he ate anything. I tried everything different food i feed them formula two, and i also incorporate brine shrimp and seaweed salad. My levels were all ok accept my nitrates were at 20. Here are the rest

Ammonia - 0
Nitrate - 20
pH - 8.2
Nitrite - 0
Temp - 76.9 F
Salintiy - 1.026

Once i got him out he looked brown just behind his eyes down his back and his belly was bulged out some what. Does anybody have any ideas of what might have happened? I know it's not a lot of info or any pictures. The camera i have is terrible. Any help is appreaciated...

Thanks in advance,
Garrett

[leebca]

Hi Garrett.

One of the most difficult things to try and do is determine, after death, how or why the fish died. The job becomes easier with a post mortem, which is probably beyond your ability and probably too late to do, now.

Even if you provide additional information (see below), the results will just be what is most and least probable. But if you want to go through the exercise, provide all the information I've listed below, that you haven't provided already. You need to be thorough in providing each and every bit of information and any and all details.

How old is your tank? When did it originally cycle?
What is the size (dimensions and gallonage) of your aquarium? Does the gallonage include the volume from the sump and any refugium?
Do you use carbon, skimmer, mechanical or other chemical filtration?.
List all specimens & sizes in the tank (fish, inverts, corals, clams, snails, crabs, shrimp, etc.).
Do you use a quarantine tank and procedure?
Foods you use and feeding schedules.
How long have you had this fish? If the fish was recently acquired (6 weeks or less), two more questions: Did you treat it or give it a dip before it went into the aquarium? How did you acclimate it – what procedure?
Do you use any vitamins? Fat additives? Any elemental or other additives? Please list all.
Chemistries – you gave some. Do you test for Phosphate, alkalinity, calcium and magnesium? Please give actual current numbers. Have these numbers been changing lately?
Water parameters – please give actual numbers (pH and your pH range, salinity or sp. gr. & range, temperature range)
Do you see any of the following in your system: hair algae; micro algae; cyanobacteria growths (red slime algae); dinoflagellate (zooxanthellae) growths; brown algae; diatom growth; slimes; off-colored patches on rock or substrate that are not coralline; etc.?
Water changes (how much and how often).
What is your source water? (Tap water, RO water, DI water, RO/DI, distilled, etc.)
List what you added or taken out of your aquarium system (living, decorations, and equipment) during the past 6 weeks.
Maintenance schedule. What have you done lately?