[Fish R.Ph.]

I think one of the benefits of sites like this is the opportunity to share our failures...as well as our successes.

So....I have to share the sad news that my beautiful Coral Beauty was found dead at the bottom of my 20 Gallon tall tank yesterday. This was really sad as he was the real centerpiece and personality of the tank. The only two other fish in it were a clown (Amphiprion ocellaris) and tiny yellow coral goby (Gobiodon okinawae). My wife called me at work to tell me...totally bummed the rest of the day.

I bought him about 2-1/2 months ago, and he was doing great. Happy, healthy, swimming, active, eating. I left for work Friday morning and he seemed great. I sprinkled some flakes in and left. My wife noticed him lying dead at the back of the tank in the afternoon.....

As for the cause of death, my only real guess is the high temps. We had a few very hot/humid days up here in the North East, and in spite of floating ice cubes (in ziplock bags) in the tank, and turning lights out, it reached the upper 80's (maxing out at 89.9 once). We don't have AC obviously. The funny thing is that Friday was cooler than it had been the previous two days.

In retrospect, I could probably have shut off the two powerheads, as they may have contributed to the tank heat.

My ammonia was zero, nitrites zero, and nitrates about 20 (which is high for me, as I had been running about 10). I added a new powerhead a couple weeks ago, which has a foam pre-filter. I wonder if that is causing my nitrate spike? I do weekly (every 7-10 days actually) water changes (about 2 gallons per change, RO water only). Salinity was about 1.0215. pH was 8.3

We also had a guy in the house sanding our stairs on Friday, but I don't think the dust created any issues with the tank. I didn't even see any dust on the tank or stand.

The Coral Beauty was probably oo big for my 20 gallon. Though he seemed content and happy swimming in and out of the rocks (I have about 30 pounds of LR). Other posts I have read suggest having at least 30 gallons for one of these. (I actually thought I had a 30 gallon, as that is what my friend called it when he gave it to me. But I later did the calculations from the measurements and discovered it was a 20!).

Any thoughts on other things I might have messed up on? Any thoughts on a good fish to replace my Beauty? I currently have a 75 gallon tank getting ready to set up (got a great deal on a used system with built in overflow and stand, 30 gallon sump). But it will be a while before it is up an running.

-Jason

P.S. Here he is, in one of my favorite shots of him swimming between the rock.

http://www.reefland.com/gallery/file...0863_thumb.jpg

[WHOSYOURDADDY]

Sorry to hear of your loss Jason,

My 1st thought, after reading is three fold: temperature, nitrates and feeding

Originally Posted by Fish R.Ph.

As for the cause of death, my only real guess is the high temps. We had a few very hot/humid days up here in the North East, and in spite of floating ice cubes (in ziplock bags) in the tank, and turning lights out, it reached the upper 80's (maxing out at 89.9 once). We don't have AC obviously. The funny thing is that Friday was cooler than it had been the previous two days.

Specific Care Information:
A single Coral Beauty Angel Fish should have an aquarium of at least 30 gallons in volume. The temperature should remain around 78 degrees Fahrenheit (26 degrees Celsius). When kept alone, Coral Beauty Angels should be kept in a salinity range between 1.020 and 1.025. Although the lower part of this range is preferred for a fish-only aquarium, in an enclosure with invertebrates the salinity should be at least 1.023. This is because higher salinities are needed to keep invertebrates healthy. A pH value of 8.3 or 8.4 is ideal. Plenty of hiding places should be available for your Coral Beauty Angel. Although some Coral Beauty Angels may get along with other fish, they are territorial and may not get along with other smaller Angels. Coral Beauty Angels may also show tendencies to nibble on invertebrates in their enclosures, so they should be monitored. Coral Beauty Angel Fish usually do best when they are fed a wide variety of foods. Items like mysis shrimp and flake food are standard offerings, supplemented with a number of other protein and vegetative items. Often, Coral Beauty Angel Fish will nibble at algal growth in their enclosures. To select a healthy Coral Beauty Angel, be sure to choose a brightly colored specimen that is active and alert, and that has no injuries or damage on its body. Usually, it is best to keep the fish in conditions of low light with plenty of hiding places until it has been acclimated to your enclosure.

Originally Posted by Fish R.Ph.

My ammonia was zero, nitrites zero, and nitrates about 20 (which is high for me, as I had been running about 10). I added a new powerhead a couple weeks ago, which has a foam pre-filter. I wonder if that is causing my nitrate spike? I do weekly (every 7-10 days actually) water changes (about 2 gallons per change, RO water only). Salinity was about 1.0215. pH was 8.3

Your ammonia and nitrites are good but your nitrates should as close to zero as possible. Have you been seeing any signs of algae blooms, while your temps are elevated? This would mean that the fish are fighting with the algae for the oxygen (dissolved) in the water.

Did you do a water change within 24 hours of the demise of your Beauty?

Printer Friendly Page for Angelfish - Coral Beauty

From this information, your species is one of the more hardy species of Angels out there.

The other thing that stands out your comment about feeding:

Originally Posted by Fish R.Ph.

I bought him about 2-1/2 months ago, and he was doing great. Happy, healthy, swimming, active, eating. I left for work Friday morning and he seemed great. I sprinkled some flakes in and left. My wife noticed him lying dead at the back of the tank in the afternoon.....

Was flakes the main staple of its diet and was there any algae on the rocks for it to feed off of and did you supplement its diet with shrimp (brine)?

Angels love Romaine Lettuce

Specific Care Information:
Coral Beauty Angel Fish usually do best when they are fed a wide variety of foods. Items like mysis shrimp and flake food are standard offerings, supplemented with a number of other protein and vegetative items. Often, Coral Beauty Angel Fish will nibble at algal growth in their enclosures.

[Fish R.Ph.]

Originally Posted by WHOSYOURDADDY

Sorry to hear of your loss Jason,

My 1st thought, after reading is three fold: temperature, nitrates and feeding.
Your ammonia and nitrites are good but your nitrates should as close to zero as possible. Have you been seeing any signs of algae blooms, while your temps are elevated? This would mean that the fish are fighting with the algae for the oxygen (dissolved) in the water.

Yes, in fact I had an diatom bloom a couple weeks ago, but thanks to some advice from Scott, I reduced my lighting time and was more careful not to overfeed. This cleared in about a week. I am concerned about the oxygen & nitrate issue. I am considering a deeper sand bed for nitrate reduction. Right now it goes from 2-3 inches (front to back). Can I just add some arrogonite (washed first) to my tank to deepen the sand bed? Or do I have to remove everything first? Also, my protein skimmer (BAK-PAK-2) has that blue biological filter media which I should consider removing (I figured it helped with some mechanical filtration). Could I replace it with some live rock rubble? Other than the diatom bloom, no other major algae issues that I am aware of.

As for the oxygen, with a 20 gallon tall tank, surface area is limited. My newest powerhead comes with an air diffuser option, but I haven't used it because I know it will result in some serious salt spray accumulation. However, given the option, I would rather deal with that than sufficating my fish. Should I use it? My tank temp is down around 82 today...much better for oxygen capacity. Also, maybe when it is hot I should replace the glass top with egg crate and get a mini fan going over the water surface. Any thoughts? I will definitely invest in a chiller for my 75 gallon.

Originally Posted by WHOSYOURDADDY

Did you do a water change within 24 hours of the demise of your Beauty?

Due to a variety of demands, I could not do a water change until today. I changed out 2 gallons (maybe 12-13%). I will do another tomorrow or Tuesday, and then check nitrates again.

Originally Posted by WHOSYOURDADDY

The other thing that stands out your comment about feeding:
Was flakes the main staple of its diet and was there any algae on the rocks for it to feed off of and did you supplement its diet with shrimp (brine)?

Angels love Romaine Lettuce

I fed them twice daily with a variety of flakes (Ocean Nutrition Prime Reef & Formula Two, and Omega One). Occassional freeze dried blood worms. For frozen foods I alternated between brine and mysis shrimp. For whatever reason I usually did flakes in the morning, frozens at night. The Beauty ate all the above with great excitement. I also tried some Green Marine Algae (by Seaweed Selects) on a veggie clip. But he never seemed to show any interest, though the Mexican Turbo snails loved it. Romaine lettuce had about the same response (strange, because like you said, they are suppose to love Romaine...personally I prefer iceburg ). Finally, I would occassionaly feed freshly hatched brine shrimp. The clown loves it, the goby too. I think they were too small for the Beauty to be interested in. He would also nip at the rocks all day, so I assume he was finding enough to eat, but now of course I have to wonder.

Thanks for your very thoughtful response! I appreciate the info. Keep the suggestions coming!

Researching deaths like this reminds me of something like a CSI episode for reef geeks like myself...

-Jason

[Reefland]

Sometimes the deaths are unexplained...

The temperature may have been the problem and I notice you mention that you use glass tops. I would remove those immediately as they definitely prohibit the gas exchange needed at the surface. I don;t think you have any jumpers so you could get away without the eggcrate too.

[WHOSYOURDADDY]

It does not appear as though Jason that your bio load is excessive.

The best way to fight nitrate levels is by doing partial weekly water changes of approx 20-25% unless its an emergency then under those conditions as much as 75%

If you have a 75 gallon your starting you will see a big difference: rule of them in marine keeping is "Bigger is better" Think about it the less water you have the more unstable the environment (elevated levels of toxins) can become and do so very quickly.

Like Scott mentioned in enclosed systems gases attach to bubbles and are released when they break the surface, so it pays big dividends to break up the surface tension with either a bubble wand attached to an air pump or water pumps positioned slightly under the surface of the aquarium. By keeping your glass top off its actually easier to keep clean. Glass tops are fine if you have freshwater or deal with jumpers, morey eels or octupi (they can actually lift and open a top on an aquarium) and climb out. I had a morey eel that actually did that. Boy did it freak me and my dogs out slithering around on the floor.

Thats when I was into live eaters (Groupers, eels and Lionfish).

Again think about it waves breaking around the reefs serve many purposes but the most important is filtering and creation of dissolved oxygen in the water for the reef's inhabtants to survive.

[yankeebobo]

What I have done to deepen the sand bed would be to cover no more than about a 1/3 of the tanks bed at a time. I personally believe that covering all the bacteria at once is not the best approach.

[Fish R.Ph.]

Originally Posted by Reefland

Sometimes the deaths are unexplained...

The temperature may have been the problem and I notice you mention that you use glass tops. I would remove those immediately as they definitely prohibit the gas exchange needed at the surface. I don;t think you have any jumpers so you could get away without the eggcrate too.

Thanks to you all for some great support and advice. I've done a couple water changes now, and the nitrates are down in the 10 range. I will keep pressing for zero!!

I've removed the glass top also. Any suggestions on the best way to remove the salt accumulation from the plastic shield on my PC light now? That stuff doesn't scrape off easily...

Also, [BEWARE: DUMB QUESTION COMING ] what is to keep the snails from just crawling up and out of the tank now?

I'm actually considering getting another Coral Beauty for this tank. It is such a beautiful fish, and the last one did so well up till its sudden demise.

Thanks again,
Jason

[yankeebobo]

Originally Posted by Fish R.Ph.

I've removed the glass top also. Any suggestions on the best way to remove the salt accumulation from the plastic shield on my PC light now? That stuff doesn't scrape off easily...

I usually take a couple of paper towels and soak them in tap hot water and when the lights are off, I turn the fixture upside down and just place it on the unclean parts for a while. That's if you wait to the point of needing it.

what is to keep the snails from just crawling up and out of the tank now?

Instinct. Although some defy the odds of instinct. Just ask my wrasse - who plunged to a suicide death from 6 feet to the floor.