Reef nutrition

why does my firefish always die?

hi, im currently running a 24 gallon nano cube and i have some live rock, live sand, clown fish, dragonet goby, pajama cardinal fish, some red mushrooms, hammerhead coral, and 2 cleaner shrimp. i had one firefish before but it didnt make it past a few days and recently purchased another and it suffered the same fate. what might be wrong. oh yea i also have some sort crab in there which i have seen once or twice since it was in there.
 
I have a firefish that had ich. I did a hyposalinity treatment and kept her in QT for about a month. Now she's back in the display tank, but is being extremely reclusive. The ich is gone, but I'm worried that she's not well in some other way. I don't know for sure. :-/

It's hard to tell what might have caused yours to die. I think it's likely, though, that if they only lasted a few days they were sick, injured, or overly stressed to begin with.
 
jetblackg
Are you buying heathly firefish? Are you checking with LFS to find out how long he has had the fish? Are you asking your lfs to feed the fish prior to buying and make sure it feeding? I always make sure the fish I am buying is feeding prior to purchase.
 
yea both of them look really good and seems to do well. they ate and everything but some how after a few days they just die. there was no spots on them or anything. everything else are doing fine. maybe i should pick up another one. anyone has any tips for properly picking up another one and putting them in the tank?
 
Just a thought.... how old is your tank and how much live rock and live sand to you have? Just thinking about 4 fish+newer tank may have been to high of a bio load? maybe? I'm thinking it may be a water quality issue, again just a thought.
 
Is your tank in a high traffic area? Whenever my firefish gets startled it hides away for a while until it comes back out to feed. If its constantly scared it may just starve itself.

If your not finding bodies, look behind your tank...these guys are pretty good jumpers..
 
I stopped using them in my service accounts years ago, I'm not sure if they are handled differently (packing light) or what, I don't use PJ cardinals either for the same reason. Sure they're hardy cute fish when they acclimate to a system, but when you need something that's bulletproof, they just don't seem to fit the bill on a consistent basis IME.

Gresham, you have any input on the above? I haven't done wholesale in 13-14 years.
 
[quote author=tuberider link=topic=4153.msg49803#msg49803 date=1216849632]
I stopped using them in my service accounts years ago, I'm not sure if they are handled differently (packing light) or what, I don't use PJ cardinals either for the same reason.
[/quote]

Out of curiosity, what do you use?
 
I think part of the problem with my fire fish being shy is that my cleaner shrimp, Hands McGroperton, always tries to cop a feel when the firefish comes out of hiding. Hmm.
 
[quote author=pixelpixi link=topic=4153.msg49804#msg49804 date=1216851131]
[quote author=tuberider link=topic=4153.msg49803#msg49803 date=1216849632]
I stopped using them in my service accounts years ago, I'm not sure if they are handled differently (packing light) or what, I don't use PJ cardinals either for the same reason.
[/quote]
Out of curiosity, what do you use?

[/quote]
Rocket and Barred Gobies mostly in lieu of. I do drive some of my customers crazy though as I try to take the ethical route and not put tangs in 20 gallon tanks, or use wild Bangaii cardinals, wild clownfish, Goniopora, Indo Elegance etc. It has cost me business, but so be it, I'm still able to eat a couple of times a day, and can buy food for my one eyed cat, and my weiner dog, and pay the rent.
 
i really dont know whats wrong everything seems normal. the first firefish i found had parts of it missing and the second i found was normal ( but dead ). i really like these gobies and would like to keep them. i mean if somethng were wrong with the water conditoin wouldnt the other fishes / corals be affected also, these gobies should be quite hardy. if the firefish doesnt work out any recommendation to replace them? oh yea this tank have been running for a little over 4 months now. i added everything slowly and the firefish was the last to be added but the first to go.
 
i had one go also, very quickly, it was because the other fish in the tank didn't like it being in the tank and stressed it out to the point of death. poor fella may he rest in peace
 
I've spent over $150 on purple firefish. I really want one in my tank, but they always end up dead in the first week. I suspect my clowns are bullying them. Check to see if one of your other fish are picking on your firefish.

I've just given up until I can make a helfrichi species tank.

And a mandarin in a new 24 gallon? I'm sorry to tell you this but it's gonna starve. You might want to think about giving him to someone with a much larger, established tank.

B
 
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