any signs of disease?

 

Not that I could see... she had always acted really weird... she would sparatically go into camp mode and lay on the bottom of the tank, but it was happening less and less lately... maybe she was just sick from the beginning?

 

She had done that since we got her... had her a couple of months now...

 

Ok, how about some background.
You started saltwater in Dec.
When did you set up the tank with the Rabbit fish and when did you add each fish in order.

 

A 60 Gallon is small for this species and therefore there was most likely some stress.
How well was it feeding?

 

That was the original tank set up dec 27, 2016. We added the fire fish, wrass and yellow tail damsel on day 3 (yes that was a mistake... we didn't know what we were doing) then about 3 weeks later we added the dottyback. After that in like March we added a diamond goby that died, then a second one that disappeared (may have jumped but we couldn't find him) then about a month later the yellow watchman then a few weeks later the blenny and the rabbit. The dottyback seems to be chasing the goby around tonight for no apparent reason... the whole thing seems super stressful right at the moment!!

 

She was only about 2 inches but we knew we would have to get a bigger tank at some point. She seemed to be eating well... but come to think of it she would sit on top of the nori clips and go into camo mode and seem to just drift back and forth. She may have been sick from the beginning but if I'm going to combine tanks I don't want anything to happen to my clowns!!

 

Well, wait and watch. I think it was probably stress.
Keep an eye out for aggression from the dotty back on other fish.
I would have suspected the Damsel first though.

 

Oh no I'm so sorry to hear that. I don't see anything glaringly wrong (my pH always sits about 8 too). How often were/are you feeding?

 

I have been reflecting on the events of yesterday and I think stress may be an accurate assumption. When I got home yesterday my water had gotten low and air was pumping into the tank... yes, I'm building my ATO system today. At any rate I had been out of the house about 12 hours so there's really no way to know how long this had been going on. The rabbit fish had shown signs of distress the one other time this happened, so I'm thinking if it had been going on for a while she may have just gotten extremely stressed and perhaps that did her in?

Also the dottyback has been a constant problem. My mom picked him out and he is just a jerk, plain and simple. My poor little fire fish has had his tail torn to shreds several times and yesterday he was chasing the goby, so maybe that's why he was hiding at the top of the tank around the round overflow tube? I can't find him this morning... he's not in his little cave but I also don't see him at the top of the tank where he was yesterday. I have a lid on the tank, so he couldn't have jumped... just hope he's ok.

This all brings us back to my previous post topic: with all of this going on I should wait to combine the tanks right?

Thanks for the input everyone, it was a tragedy in our house but if I can identify what went wrong and prevent it in the future then we will just have to press forward in the great reefing adventure!!

 

Yes, wait and watch everything.
And the Dottyback could get lost between tanks when you move everything later.
It would just take a quick trip to the store.

 

Oh the dottyback is gonna go... I wish I could get him out now!! Anyone ever used a fish trap? I would love to take him back like today!!

 

No, I've been lucky. The only fish I needed to remove, 2 Blue Fin Damsels,
Hid in a big shell when the net went in. I just scooped the shell up in the net.
Put it back in to get the other one.

 

Ok so we have decided not to combine the tanks... objectively each tank has its perks and it's downfalls. So, I am looking to add another fish to the 36 gallon SPS tank. Currently it just has two platinum snowflake clowns, conch, peppermint shrimp, and CUC. I was thinking either a tail spot blenny or a red stripe goby... possibly a two spot goby... but I definitely want something that can grow to maturity in such a small tank without having to be relocated.

As for the 60 gal, it clearly has some issue, so we're just gonna wait and watch for now. If there is something wrong that is not AT ALL detectable through testing then I want to fix it before I add anything... I'm inherently opposed to killing anything aquatic!! Frankly I'm still so upset about Ruby the Rabbit Fish that the tank just makes me sad at the moment. On the other hand the Corals are flourishing! Just added frags from the 36gal of a red Monty and the super stunner and even they are doing great! So I'm super puzzled as to what could be/have been wrong with it that would cause the death of both the rabbit fish and yellow watchman goby (who seriously just disappeared into thin air)....

At any rate I definitely want to add something to the 36 gal, so any insight would be much appreciated!! I'm also buying a fish trap for the dottyback in the 60 gal... so I'll keep y'all posted on how that works out!!

 

You are using RO/DI water?

 

No, I thought tap water would be perfectly fine....... of course I'm using RODI! Sorry.. sarcasm just isn't the same inwriting!! We actually bought a. Rand new RODI system from BRS when we decided we were serious about the hobby so we make our own and mix our own salt to a perfect 1.025every time.. I'm a little OCD......

 

And actually to be fair we did start with tap water and add fish after only 3 days... so I humble myself and say no, ever since the very initial startup we have used RODI ever since

 

You would be surprised how many people don't use RO/DI or distilled water.

 

I thought distilled was bad too? And like I said I immediately had to humble myself because we used tap water initially... I honestly can't believe those initial three fish made it and are now the oldest residents of our tank!! Anyway sorry for the sarcasm... is there something I could be missing in the tank that would be harmful to the fish? The only thing I can really think is that the dottyback is terrorizing the other fish (which he is) and causing them to stress? I want to start replacing the losses but I'm afraid to before I figure out what's wrong..... thank you again for the input!!!

 

Distilled water is the same as RO/DI, pure water.
It is just achieved by different means.
I would watch the tank for a while and see what happens.
If you still have problems you can catch the Dottyback and return it to the store or rehome it.

 

I feed once per day/ every other day but I put Nori in the tank basically every day....

 

I would recommend upping your feeding to at least twice a day. The watchman goby needs that (especially in a newer tank) in particular, but it might also help curb the aggression of the dottyback.

 

Will do! I can feed before and after work... will it hurt anything if I extend the light cycle? It would have to come on around 6am and I want to enjoy them a little after I get home around 6... I used to feed daily and the tank got filthy so I cut back but I'm happy to up it if it's going to keep the fish healthy and happy! Particularly the clowns... they seem to want food all the time!!

I am going to watch everything for a couple weeks before I start adding things again. If I start with a small one just until the tank upgrade do you all think I could try another rabbit? She was very much a part of the family and I miss her terribly!!

 

Given the stress you witnessed in the last one I'd wait to get another until you upgrade.

 

Can't you have your lights come on at 8 instead?

 

I live about 90 minutes from where I work... so 6-7 is kinda the bare minimum for lights if I want to feed twice daily.... plus that's just working hours so I get 0 enjoyable hours....