Lost one of my bristle noses tonight...

[Jaster]

I'm so bummed... went to do a quick vac tonight and when I came up on my BN he didn't budge. Normally he runs away the second my hand hits the water or the lights come on. Well I gave him a little poke and he still didn't budge... Then I realized he was dead. :(

Now I haven't really seen this guy in about week... not unheard of with males I'm told so I haven't worried too much since I've seen him quickly here and there. But after checking him out tonight he's still the same size he was when I got the set. The other two are twice his size. He was also very white... even for an albino. Like paper white. The other two have a bit of a yellowish tint to them.

My ph was a bit high tonight (8.2) when I did my testing but everything else was normal. kh=4, gh=2, ammonia=0, nitrites=0, nitrates=10. I ended up doing a 25% change through cleaning and retested. Ph went back to the normal 7.6-7.8 and nitrate went to 5-10.

Everyone else in the tank is doing well. Any ideas on what might have done him in?

I'm a little concerned because I got a school of rummy noses over the weekend. (sitting in QT right now)

[Mith]

Sorry to hear about your fish! I'm already learning the joys of losing fish and I just got my tank going! Hopefully your water change fixes your problem.....wonder if it was the PH....?

[mommy1]

sorry for your loss. :11: . how long have you had the BN, maybe he was ill when you bought him.

[slimey]

Sorry to hear that Jaster, we all know how ya feel, hopefully your water change will have fixed your problem.

[Sharon]

Sorry, Jaster. :scry: There must be something in the tank that is raising PH...substrate, rocks,etc.

[bluebluecow]

sorry for your loss

i panick when i lose sight of one of my babies

liz

[Mith]

So did we find out if it was the PH?

[Sharon]

I don't think the PH reading would have caused the death, unless fish were subjected to a sudden drastic change in PH. The fish may have just been weak...

[Jaster]

I don't really think it was the ph... only because I would think that if it was that, everyone would be sick or at the very least more then one would have an issue. Could be wrong though. I checked it this morning and it's still at 7.8 which is normal for my tank. I don't think that the small jump to 8.2 would be enough to shock anyone.

My normal tap water has very stupidly low ph/kh/gh water (6.0,0,0... I HATE treated city tap water) so I have two small pieces of reef rock (instead of crushed coral) to help bring things up a bit and keep it level. The only chemical I use is API tap water conditioner and with that I use 1ml for every 20 gallons.

I was thinking about this (all night) last night and I think this was my little Kamikaze BN. When I first got the set a couple months ago I was getting them into the tank when I went to take them from the bag to the tank, he jumped from the net and landed on the floor. I scooped him up as soon as I could and got him in the tank. He did act odd at first but after a couple days he seemed ok. I had learned that males are hiders anyway so I didn't think too much on not seeing him as much as the other two. (Still too young to really tell sex... so with one hiding and two active I'm assuming I have one male and two females.) So now I am wondering if this was the jumper and he didn't quite recover as much as I thought.

My other thought, my tank is pretty clean and I don't have a lot of alge. I do put some cucumber in there once a week (lasts about two days). Normally with the amount of food I put in, since my other fish are pigs, not a lot makes it to the bottom. Now I'm kind of curious if he basically starved to death. It would explain the poor color and lack of growth.

Could even be a combination of everything... The good thing I guess is that no one else in the tank is showing any bad signs at all. I'm going to do a better vacuum job today and probably get another 25% water change out of that just for giggles. When in doubt... do a water change...

Well thank you all for your condolences. I really appreciate it.

I just hate loosing fish... first thing I always think of is what did I do wrong? Then I get all paranoid about everyone else.

Guess I'll make that Rummys wait a bit to see the main tank until I'm sure it's not the water. (that was a bright spot of the weekend got a school of 9 and do they look cool! I took my fish guys entire group since he only charged me $3 each and only charged me for 7! my fish guy rocks!!) These guys are going to look awesome in an 80g tank! Can't wait!!

[Rue]

So sorry!:scry:

That's the one aspect of fish-keeping that I dislike. There's often no way of knowing what went wrong.

Was it the water? Food? The age of the fish? Did it eat something that impacted? Was it harrassed to death? Was it poor genetics? Just a run-of-the-mill health issue?

[Jaster]

Of everything to do with tanks I think this is the most frustrating part for a newb. I've lost 3 fish so far and everytime I go into a bit of a panic mode thinking I did something wrong. The not knowing for sure is killer. There are so many things that can go wrong either with the tank or the fish. (lost two in a tragic filter accident...)

Then add newb learning curve to the mix....

A few weeks ago I stupidly added a dozen fish at once and did a complete cleaning right down to cleaning/replacing filters. (thank god I left the bio wheels alone... saved my but) Thinking, "lets make the water perfect for my new adds." Opps... This sent my tank into a mini-cycle from hell. I luckly noticed this happening the morning after the big add and cleaning as my ammonia went up some and so did the nitrites. Did 2 weeks of daily water changes... now that everything is ok a fish dies... grrr... so did that have a factor?? Then like I said before was he getting food? bla bla bla..... ???? lol

The other two from the filter... (long story short) well a molly and neon got stuck to the intake vent. I was thinking I did something wrong with the filter and had it set to high or something. It was sucking pretty well. Then learned a healthy fish should have been able to pull out of most currents... so back to why were my fish weak? What I do?? Well, probably nothing...

It's a hard concept to get use to that I just have to accept some fish die and I may never know why.

I need the guys from CSI and NCIS to do an autopsy.... !!! lol

I guess the best sign is that the water tests normal, the tank is clean and clear, and everyone else is ok and looks fine. As long as I have that I guess I'm ok with what I'm doing.

[Wild Turkey]

That's the one aspect of fish-keeping that I dislike. There's often no way of knowing what went wrong.


Agreed, it can be frustrating on some occasions.
Sorry for your loss pal:11:

[sandy_n]

Sorry to hear about your bn. :scry: They are such cool little guys.
I agree, it is very hard to lose a fish and not know why.

[Cameron]

did he have plenty of food, and driftwood in the tank? They need driftwood in the tank, from what i know.

[Jaster]

Yep I do have a nice piece of driftwood in there. They love the thing. lol
Food though... I'm kind of questioning if he was getting his fair share.

Thanks all