A horrible, horrible end to my day - Nemo was gone...

[andsoitgoes]

One of the things I enjoy most when I come home to my new tank is saying hi to my fish, including my Percula who is always at the front of the tank waiting for me, on a regular basis.

Today, as I was cleaning out my ZooMed PowerSweep, I noticed its flow was really, really low. This thing does pretty well at pumping, and I was a little taken aback.

I took off the bottom...

As girly as this sounds, I almost cried. I pulled out what I thought was a piece of macro, it wasn't - it was my little Nemo. The guy that when my girls would come into the room, would cause them to point at the tank and shout "NEMO!!"

I was speachless for some time. It hurt so much to see one of the reasons I got into salt not only dead, but dead like THAT.

This is the 2nd time this powerhead has taken a life, and it's been banished to my mixing garbage can - it will never see a tank again. I know that I'm to blame, but it hurts... Was looking forward to seeing this little guy grow up, and now, not so much. It's not like he cost a fortune, but man he was the light of my day in the tank.

I know I need to replace the guy, and I think going for a pair is good, I know replacing a pet isn't the best way to grieve, but I'l take whatever I can get right now... Anyone have a good source for quality tank-raised perculas?

sigh........

[Der_Iron_Chef]

I've lost three fish to one of my powerheads. Grrr. Thinking of trading it out for a few smaller ones.

[Chin_Lee]

Its very unlikely that your powerhead killed the fish. Most fish, if healthy, can resist the suction from a powerhead especially a Zoo-Med. Othewise, there would be many of us with many dead fishes on our tunzes. The more likely scenario was the fish was already really weak, dying or dead and its free floating body was sucked into the Zoo-Med. Sorry to hear about your loss but really no need to get rid of your powerhead.

[andsoitgoes]

Hmm - good point Chin. It's just odd that he was so active, healthy and eating perfectly, with no real "enemies" in the tank and this happened so suddenly. My concern with the powerhead is that there are a few broken teeth on the bottom, and with the Zoo-Med the impeller is RIGHT behind the intake.

Also - the powerhead was fairly close to the bottom of the tank, which would be right in a tough place to escape from - but alas, it is done. I was planning on swapping that out at some point anyway, it's just sooner rather than later - I feel better with dual 301s + hydor anyway.

[mixixe]

Awe sorry to hear that. It must have been really heart breaking. Nemo's are so cute! Are you getting another one? Maybe try for a local breeder.

[andsoitgoes]

Words can't describe it :(

And yeah - I'm going to look for someone local. Hoping I can find direction on the boards here - wouldn't mind a pair, either :)

[Scavenger]

I feel sorry for your loss, but I did want to make sure your powerheads have the intake guards on them? I've lost a fish to a guardless pump once and had a fatality that floated up and stuck to a guard, but never one right inside a intake guarded pump if I read your post correctly.

[andsoitgoes]

I do on all the other pumps I have. The intake on the Zoo-Med was broken in a few spots, big enough to pull obviously two fish into it - the first was a small (VERY small) goby in my nano, which is why I took it out there. And now this...

But yeah - he got sucked right up and in - was stuck deeply in between the impeller and the mechanism that causes the zoo-med to "sweep"

[vanreefer]

I agree with Chin... a healthy fish will never get sucked into a powerhead...OA has captive bread clowns... in fact I believe that most of the clownfish we see in stores are captive bread as they are quite easy to breed compared to other marine fish

Sorry for your loss... I think we have all been ther at some point or another

Regards
Dan

[andsoitgoes]

hmm - good to know. I just checked their site and there's a lot of options.

I guess my only questions now are to find out if I want to attempt with a False and see if they'll host in my Anemone or aim for Clark's or other type that natrually hosts there...

Not sure what to do - thoughts? :)

[Beverly]

Because you don't know the reason(s) for the loss of your fish, I would leave the tank fallow (fishless) for six weeks in case ich or some other parasite caused the deaths.

[andsoitgoes]

There are a few other fish in the tank currently - so without removing them I'm kind of stuck :(

I'm making sure to keep a close eye on all fish, no signs of any parasites or inhibited behaviour. I've got the UV system running to ensure no problems, and the flow is enough to destroy any parasites.

It's a little odd that he showed no signs of any disease prior to or after his demise..

[Scavenger]

While decease might be a factor here, I would like to say that while I do respect the opinion, a healthy fish can negate the inflow and avoid it, I do however disagree with that idea. I believe that with a broken or missing guard, a fish would be suddenly sucked into the pumps very focused suction at the broken part of the guard without time to react. It would like being sucker punched while walking in a crowd. There is no time to react to what you don't detect. As the guard is broken, it would be like going from minimal current into a whirlpool in no time flat. Once sealed against the pump there would be no escape.

I am sure that in my case, the fish was very healthy and actively feeding only about one hour before his/her demise.

Either/or, get a guard over that pump. I myself used a wiffleball and it works just fine.

[Beverly]

There are a few other fish in the tank currently - so without removing them I'm kind of stuck :(

Keeping an eye on the fish still in the tank is a great idea. Just don't add any more until you are sure there aren't parasites, etc. in the tank.

[andsoitgoes]

While decease might be a factor here, I would like to say that while I do respect the opinion, a healthy fish can negate the inflow and avoid it, I do however disagree with that idea. I believe that with a broken or missing guard, a fish would be suddenly sucked into the pumps very focused suction at the broken part of the guard without time to react. It would like being sucker punched while walking in a crowd. There is no time to react to what you don't detect. As the guard is broken, it would be like going from minimal current into a whirlpool in no time flat. Once sealed against the pump there would be no escape.

I am sure that in my case, the fish was very healthy and actively feeding only about one hour before his/her demise.

Either/or, get a guard over that pump. I myself used a wiffleball and it works just fine.

that was the thing as well, he was going like crazy just a little while before this happened, he was one of the more active and voracious members of the tank - which again, is a large part of my concern with this.

Either way - the pump has been swapped out for one that has a full inflow cover that I'm much more confident on - at least this time I'll SEE If something got stuck.

[naesco]

I agree with Chin and Dan, Beverly and others
Healthy fish will not get sucked in.

Your fish are dying. Do not add anything else until you determine why this is happening.

Wayne

[andsoitgoes]

I don't think my fish are all dying - This is the only fish that I've had issue with, and this was also the smallest 'fish' in the tank. I've noticed no signs of any illness with any other fish in my tank, and as was stated, and mentioned with Scavenger above, the intake was heavily broken and the impeller is within 1/8th" from the intake.

I'll keep an eye on my tank, and I'm not planning on adding any further fish - but I don't want to make a jump in assuming my fish are ill in my tank when it's an isolated incident.