Really Bummed. Lost my FoxFace

[Nonfamous]

So I'm really bummed. Got home today to feed the fish and found my One Spot FoxFace dead on the bottom of the tank. It was fine last night. Never any sign there was a problem. I had him for nearly 2 years.

I did my standard tests today to see if anything was out of whack.

Temp 77.7 - 80.1
Ammonia 0.0
Nitrite 0.0
Nitrate 0.0
Ca 480
PO4 less than .25
pH 8.1
SG 1.021

My SG has been low and I have raised it from 1.019 to 1.021 over the last week by doing 3, 11 gallon water changes. I still have a ways to go to get it back up to 1.026, but I'm taking it slow. I use only RODI and my filters are good. 0.0ppm out. All my mixing tools, buckets, heaters, etc are clean and in good shape. So, I guess it was just nature. Still, I feel rotten about this.

The only thing out of the ordinary that has been done is that I dipped my torch coral. Its pretty sickly. Nearly bleach white. I'm thinking this had something to do with the SG being all wacky. Any chance the dip effected the OSFF?

 

[FishyReef]

I'm sorry to hear about your foxface :( What kind of dip did you use?

 

[Waddi]

Totally possible it was his time. +1 Fishy though. Im assuming you followed instructions on dip? (Not trying to insult but if you did, then there should be nothing to worry about if the dip was ok to use.)

 

[FishyReef]

The only reason I asked about the dip is that there is a new dip out there that is so strong that it can kill fish if the coral is put directly into the tank after the dip (brain fried and can't think of the name of it right now) - also possible that if it was a weaker dip the foxface might still have been affected by it if it went to pick at the coral or coral skeleton right after it was placed back in the tank. I'm just kind of shooting in the dark here but I suppose its always possible. Most likely it wasn't related to the dip (and I really don't think it was related to the SG), and was just something that happened for unknown reasons - which I think is always the worst because then we never know how to prevent it next time! Hang in there

 

[AnthonyTheNewbie]

How large was it? If it was really large, you may have just gotten a older fish. Not sure what the life expectancy of one spot fox faces are though. Also, 1.019 SG for fish, is perfectly fine. And you're raising it to your target the correct way, so that shouldn't of done it. Maybe a parasite or fungal? Look into a Neon Cleaner Goby. They stay small, like 2" or under. And they are GREAT at cleaning fish. From Clownfish, on up to Tangs/Foxface/Angels. Sorry about your loss, and I wish you the best.

 

[Nonfamous]

The dip was REEF by Seachem. Mixed as directed, one cap per gallon. Let sit for 10 minutes then put in tank. I was doing a WC so I used a 5 gallon bucket of old tank water for the mix and put the coral in it while I finished my WC. Good news is that the Torch is not looking any worse, no better, but no worse.

Everyone is accounted for this morning. The FF was about 5". Not too big and not too small. Its weird how they can appear fine at one time and be gone the next. When I fed the tank it ate up like usual and looked fine. This really has me bummed out.

I have room for several fish in my tank now. After losing the FF, my Snowflake clown and a Chromis, only 3 of my original tank inhabitants are still alive. I just can't seem to decide on what to put in to replace them.

 

[Nonfamous]

Just an update.

My son, who actually HAS been listening to me when it comes to the aquarium, bought me a new One Spot Fox Face for my birthday. Looks like a really good one too! He took care of it and even started the acclimation process for me. Keep in mind, this kid is only 9. He knew what to do and how to do it. He just needed a little help reaching things.

The Coral, well, its not doing so well. Looks like I lost 2 heads and the color isn't returning. I wish I knew what happened to cause all of this. I also got a $250 gift card for my favorite LFS. I'm going to wait for the coral to either kick the bucket or come back before I do much else. Since the Copper Penny Palys are taking over, It looks like I will be doing some rock swapping to get rid of them. I wonder if the LFS wants them?

 

[mojuave]

just to add my story it kinda happened to me with no reasoning one nigjt my foxface was out eating great next day didnt see it second day went looking and was behind arock dead two nights later before work feeding all fish alive and active morning tank check naso tang dying and sucked uo in a circ pump

 

[wontonflip]

I lost my beloved foxface after 4 years, too :( I was devestated. Sorry to hear about yours. They're awesome fish! I think mine got an infection...one day, I noticed he had lock jaw. Next day he was a goner. That's probably why I got a bit disheartened with my tank lately.

 

[Reef Raf]

No other anything you noticed? Nothing else seemed "off?" The salinity could have been at fault. How long was it like that? Pretty low. Especially if was like that for a while. Get an Auto top off if you do not have one. They are a life saver. I think they do more than anything else to keep levels of everything stable.