Dead Fish!

[Homburger]

HELP!!! what do I do? My Catalina Goby has died in one of the many caves deep within a large piece of Fiji live rock! I tried everything short of draining the tank to get the body out. I am sure he is in there. Do you think I should drain the tank and try to flush it out or can my tank withstand the nitrate spike? I do not want to disturb the many polys and corals that have flourished in the tank. If I do leave it in there, will the bacteria within the rocks contain and control the ammonia and nitrate? Will the tank eventually stabilize? Here are the specs

24 gallon nano
36 lbs of live rock
9 hermits
2 emerald crabs
1 clown
1 clown goby
1 firefly goby
(as you can see, I don't have many fish)

I change 10% of the water religiously every week.

Thanks in advance for the advice. Let's say that I trust this forum more than the advice of my LFS

 

[crazyelece]

I would say that the cleaners will or already have disposed of the body for you. I have had fish die, or disappear may be the propper term, without a problem for the tank. If you don't have any means of nitrate export you may want to do more frequent water changes if you see the nitrates start to rise.

 

[Chac]

I would leave it to your Clean upi crew & keep up the water changes

 

[Aquascaper]

I agree with the others....keep an eye on your parameters and regulate with water changes as required.
The main reason of having a good cleanup crew is that they will dispose of any dead fish pretty quickly as they would in the wild. I had a Snowflake Moray Eel die and it never even caused a blip on the ammonia readings it was dealt with that fast.

 

[Homburger]

I agree with the others....keep an eye on your parameters and regulate with water changes as required.
The main reason of having a good cleanup crew is that they will dispose of any dead fish pretty quickly as they would in the wild. I had a Snowflake Moray Eel die and it never even caused a blip on the ammonia readings it was dealt with that fast.

But, if the fish is lodged in the rocks, I don't think the clean-up crew can get to it. I will keep up the water changes though and test the water every 2-3 days for the next month.

 

[J-Money]

if the fish could get in there, the hermits prolly could too, unless they have big shells

 

[superman]

Yet another reason not to put non tropical fish in our tropical tanks Catalina gobies are beautiful, but they can't handle temps over about 74 degrees F for extended periods of time. Thrive in colder water tanks in the mid to high 60s.

 

[Aquascaper]

But, if the fish is lodged in the rocks, I don't think the clean-up crew can get to it.

As J-Money said, if the fish got in there so can a cleaner - remember that bristleworms are considered cleaners too and they roam around in the rock.

 

[Navarre]

Your hermits might not be able to reach it but Bristleworms can reach just about anywhere. Be asured that they are already homing in on the body

 

[Opcn]

I had a clown fish die from pH swings, a few weeks later I switched tanks and found several bristle worms as big around as a pencil.

 

[Homburger]

I had a clown fish die from pH swings, a few weeks later I switched tanks and found several bristle worms as big around as a pencil.

it's comforting to know that bristle worms are chomping on the remains of a $20 fish! sure beats the fish o filet i had last night from mc donalds. they eat better than me!

 

[Navarre]

Yeah but they are saving your entire tank from increased toxins and endangering the lives of your entire livestock. Now if i knew a bloke that could do this forme im sure i wouldnt mine buying him the best salmon fillets i can afford!