Damsel passed away, why?

[DustinWayman]

Hey everyone, for the past week or so my domino damsel was a very happy fish, then after a week he stopped eating. Last night about six i saw him swimming near the bottom brushing aginst the live rocks and just looking pitaful. I remembered the day before that he wasnt eating at all, either. I bought the fish from Petco, was he possibly an unhealthy fish? Now, i can't find him! I think he was burried while trying to find him in the tank. All levels were at 0 and the tank was perfect, the only thing i could think of is the temp being a little high, holding constant at 80 degrees. any help is greatly appreciated!

Thanks!
~Dustin Wayman

[Ed]

Hi Dustin,

Sorry about your Domino. I had a similar experience with one from Petco, so that might be part of it. Shock is a big factor. They don't acclimate them as well as they should when they get them in and generally scare them nearly to death when they net them for a customer. Parasites on the gills could cause the fish to rub the rocks like that. Might have just been an unhealthy fish.

-Ed

[MikeP]

You know the only damsel I ever had die was a domino from Petco. They probably buy the cheapest they can find which means good cahnce of cyanide use and they rarely have people who know how to care for saltwater fish on staff. The fact that they can kill so many damsels proves they should not be in the saltwater fish selling business.

www.petcosucks.com

[witecap4u]

Are there any other fish in the tank? How are they doing. Your temp is fine if it's at 80. I would guess it that it was already sick, and the stress of the move took it out. I have lost several damsels that I got at Petco, however, I have had some nice healthy fish from there also. Also, if you have not found him, watch your amonia/nitrite/nitrate levels, with him decomposing, you might get a spike. If this is a new tank, and/or a small tank, it might even cycle again.

cs

[DustinWayman]

hey all, the tank has been running for 8 weeks now. the ph was right at 8.3. so I assume that is fine. his face was getting very white, but didnt look as if it had ich. It actually did have a few spots of ich a couple of days before, but the cleaner shrimp got em off. the only things I have in the tank are 40 pounds of live rock, 22 of live sand, cleaner shrimp (who looks very healthy, knock on wood) and damsel. I will go and check the ammonia tonight to see if I have a spike going on.

Thanks again!
~Dust

[Tim Marvin]

All I have to say is: you bought it from Petco. Almost as bad as buying from a store near my house. ALMOST.