A Mystery

[melliemom]

I bought a Golden Head Sleeper Goby a few weeks ago. Last week, after I had to empty my tank to move it to install my new sump and Fluval filters, I put him back in a never saw him again. This week, we replaced it with the same thing. We saw him for a couple days and then, we haven't seen him since the day before yesterday. Yesterday, I added a Royal Gamma. He was in hiding for awhile but came out for awhile last night. Today, I still can't find the Goby and now, I can't see where the Gamma is hiding.

I have a 55 gallon tank which I had to put in a divider when we temporarily adopted a panther grouper that I am now stuck with. the divider is secure and I can't see there is enough room for a fish to jump over. The tank has about 50 lbs. of live rock with a lot of nooks and crannies. My tank is stocked with a ruby anenome, an atlantic anenome, a few blue mushrooms, a fuzzy ruby, some green star polyps, 2 clown fish, a blue tang, and a skunk shrimp (yes, Finding Nemo fish-I have a 3 year old). There are also 9 nacirius snails and 4 hermit crabs. I have covers on my tank except there is a small opening (about 3 inches where the overflow box hangs and the inlet hose comes in, next to a power head.

My question is, where did my fish go?

Thank you,
Ann

[Parrothead]

If I had to guess, I'd say they are either hiding in the rocks still, too shy to come out.

Or a couple of your ane. are known to dine on anything that gets close enough to snag.

Did you check behind the tank just to make sure they didn't jump out?????

[Ninong]

Hi Ann,




I'm afraid I've never heard of a "ruby anemone." Do you know any other names for that one? How large is it?

By "Atlantic anemone," you probably mean Condylactis gigantea. How large is this anemone? If it is large enough it will eat small bottom-dwelling fish. It's certainly a risky choice in an aquarium with small fish and not a good choice as a surrogate host for your "Nemo" clownfish. Obviously it's not a natural host for any clownfish as there are no clownfish in the Atlantic.

If any of your anemones are large enough, that might explain where your small fish went. It all depends on how large they are relative to the size of the fish.

If you haven't done so yet, I urge you to google the words "panther grouper." This fish grows very fast. It has a maximum adult size of 24" but can easily get to 12" or more in a home aquarium. It will eat any and all fish that it can fit into its mouth. You really have no choice here but to find another home for your grouper. And the sooner the better. If necessary, just give it back to the store.

Once you remove the divider in your 55-gallon aquarium, your other fish will have more room. Right now your tank is over-stocked. Even with the divider gone, a 55-gallon aquarium is really not large enough for a regal tang; however, you already have it so you will have to make the best of it. Removing the divider will help a lot. The divider has to go very soon if you want to save the tang.

You say you have nine Nassarius snails, so I assume you have a sand bed of some sort, right? These snails require sand to bury in.

I'm afraid whoever is selling you these fish is not a very responsible person. They should have asked you the size of your aquarium before selling you that panther grouper. I realize you have a few anemones and some mushrooms in your tank but it's really more like a FOWLR tank at the moment (especially with that grouper in there), so I'm going to copy your thread to Lee's forum because he can provide you with links to some of his threads on how best to get a good start in this hobby. That way you will have the thread in two forums.

Good luck!

[leebca]

Ann,

From what I can tell, Ninong is correct. Whoever's guidance or advice you are following, you should stop listening to them.

It isn't clear to me where in the setup stage of your aquarium you are at. Is this a new setup or an old setup? If you 'took everything out' to change the setup, it would be like starting a new aquarium. In this case you'd follow these guidelines: Setting Up a FOWLR Aquarium

At least, for the time being, stop adding anything to your tank. Provide us with more information. Most importantly I want to know that you are testing your water, what tests you're doing and the test results.

Following is a good set of question for us to being determining what is going on. If you really want help with this, then you must answer all the questions in detail, don't skip any questions, and be forthcoming with information.

If any words in the below questions or posts are unfamiliar to you, check out their meaning in the glossary: Glossary of FOWLR Terms

Here's the long list of questions we need answers to:
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 along with their maintenance.
Do you have live rock in the system? How many pounds or amount and where is it put?
Other than live rock hitchhikers, list all marine life & 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 – Do you test for Phosphate, alkalinity, calcium and magnesium? Please give actual current numbers for everything. I would like test kit test results, not dip stick results and actual numbers even if you think all is fine/okay. 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?

[melliemom]

Thank you so very much for your help and attention to detail. I'd love to be able to put this information in the aquarium log but it won't let me go to step 2 because it says I am missing some "security token". I have no idea what that is and when I clicked and sent a message to the site admin, I haven't heard back.
How old is your tank? When did it originally cycle?
A: We bought the tank set new in Dec. 2006. It didn’t take but 6 weeks to cycle or start growing things.

What is the size (dimensions and gallonage) of your aquarium? Does the gallonage include the volume from the sump and any refugium?
A: 48”L x 18”W x 20”H. The 55 gallons does not include the volume from the sump. And no, I don’t have refugium

Do you use carbon, skimmer, mechanical or other chemical filtration? List all along with their maintenance.
A: I was using carbon and a white pad as a bio-filter with my old set up, but I just recently bought a used Fluval FX5 and the sump and heater. So now I use a carbon bag Purigen bag which sit on a white pad, and ceramic rings in the Fluval, and sock filters in the sump. I cleaned the sump for the first time last week and will be cleaning the Fluval this week. So my plan for now is hopefully bi-weekly until I can get away with it monthly.

Do you have live rock in the system? How many pounds or amount and where is it put?
A: Yes, just over 50 pounds of rock and about 3 inches of crushed coral on the bottom. The rock is spread through the length of the tank down the middle, not resting on the sides of the tank, and piled upwards with a lot of nooks and crannies for the fish to swim in and out of.

Other than live rock hitchhikers, list all marine life & sizes in the tank (fish, inverts, corals, clams, snails, crabs, shrimp, etc.).
A: 2 clown fish (false percula), 1 Blue Tang, 1 skunk shrimp, 9 nassirius snails, 4 hermit crabls, 1 rose anemone, 1 atlantic anemone, (rock hitchhikers? 1 fuzzy mushroom, 4 blue mushrooms, Zoanthids, and green star polyps). A panther grouper is on the divided side (1/4 of the tank) of the tank with a little of the live rock (about 2 lbs). He’s about 3-4 inches in length.

Do you use a quarantine tank and procedure?
A: No

Foods you use and feeding schedules.
A: Frozen brine or mysis, 1 cube daily. I use a turkey baster to feed the shrimp and anemones first.

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?
A: The fish that are missing? A little history first: I had surgery on my ankle in April and no one in the house knew how to care for the tank the whole time I was unable to walk about 2 months. We had someone from a pet store come in May and did a quick clean and water change. But until the end of June when most of our fish had died because of the tank condition no one took care of the tank. At that time, I was able to give it a thorough cleaning and we replaced the clown fish and bought the Golden Head Sleeper Goby. We had it about 2 weeks. It was the first to just disappear. Then we went away overnight for the 4th of July. When we came home, both clown fish were gone. After a few days, we replaced the goby with another of the same. The next week, I bought the used filter system and sump. We had to empty the entire tank in order to move it away from the wall to install the sump. I put all the fish back in after I put everything else back in and set up the Fluval. I saw the goby go in, but that was the last I ever saw of him. This week I bought the Gramma. He hid in one of the caves that first evening but came out and did a little swimming around. We never saw him again. Every time I add a new fish, I let the plastic bag with the fish sit in the tank for about 20 minutes. Then I slowly add a little tank water every now and then until it’s time to put him in.
Do you use any vitamins? Fat additives? Any elemental or other additives? Please list all.
A: Phyto-Feast & PurpleUp

Chemistries – Do you test for Phosphate, alkalinity, calcium and magnesium? Please give actual current numbers for everything. I would like test kit test results, not dip stick results and actual numbers even if you think all is fine/okay. Have these numbers been changing lately?
A: Right now: Phosphate, Alkalinity, Nitrate, and Nitrite tests. All I use are dip stick tests. PH 8.2. Alkalinity 2.6, Nitrite 0, and nitrate 41, but I still have to clean the Fluval this week as we were gone this weekend. But there hasn’t ever been a large swing in the numbers (except after my surgery when the tank didn’t get cleaned.)

Water parameters – please give actual numbers (pH and your pH range, salinity or sp. gr. & range, temperature range)
A: 80-81 degrees F, PH is anywhere from 8.0 – 8.2, salinity 1.020-1.025.

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.?
A: Just some brown algae because my husband has been out of work and leaves the tank light (T5s) on longer that he should so I know I have to clean the tank and just green growing on the live rock, but it’s not hair algae, or slime. Just the normal that you see.

Water changes (how much and how often).
A: Every other week, about 12 gallons, except once a month, about 20 gallons.

What is your source water? (Tap water, RO water, DI water, RO/DI, distilled, etc.)
A: RO water

List what you added or taken out of your aquarium system (living, decorations, and equipment) during the past 6 weeks.
A: Everything at least once to put in the Fluval and sump, the live rock and snails and hermit crabs twice, replaced the filters, and removed the barrel heater.

Maintenance schedule. What have you done lately?
A: A couple times a week, I use the turkey baster to fluff the crushed coral on the bottom, and clean off loose stuff off the live rock. Last week, I did a 12 gallon water change and cleaned the sump and replaced the filter socks. This week I will be cleaning the Fluval which I would have and needed to do last week but was trying to track down all the media. Every couple of days, I use the magnet on any spots of algae growing on the side of the tank.

[Ninong]

Ann,

I don't want to interrupt your conversation with Lee but I would like to point out that your tank (48 x 18 x 20) is not a 55-gallon tank. It's a 75-gallon tank. That's a big improvement. A 55-gallon tank would be 48 x 13 x 20.