At what point do you pull a dying fish?

FishyReef

Broke Reefer!
Crappy weekend for my tanks. Purple firefish is on its way out. At what point do I pull it? It didn't come out to eat and I found it with a flashlight breathing really heavily hiding under a rock. Can't tell if its still breathing or not - clearly not going to make it another day. My tiny tank has had so many hardships lately, not sure if can handle processing a dead fish - should I pull the guy now, or wait until the morning when its really dead?
 
If I'm 99% sure a fish isn't gonna make it. I'll pull it out and freeze it.Mainly because I can't stand to see anything suffer. But in a small tank,I'd also be worried about the parameters after having a fish die.
In a big tank,the ammonia from a decaying fish don't make much difference if the fish is removed within a couple of hours. In a small tank,it could get outta hand pretty quick.
 
Thanks everyone. The firefish is still alive, but the other pink skunk died during the night. Good news is that everyone in my 90 is still alive - after the weekend I had I fully expected to come in to work this morning and find a mess of dead fish here too.
 
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Sorry about the sucky weekend.
 
Thanks everyone for the support! It was a crappy weekend and I lost both of my pink skunks BUT my firefish is still alive and doing better - actually out swimming around and eating again! Not sure how she turned it around but I'm happy that she appears to be doing better :)
 
Oh noes! I'm so sorry. What do you think is the problem?
You know, I really don't know. I have 2, maybe 3 guesses.

The first is starvation or nutritional deficits. Although she looked just fine and was acting fine, she wasn't gaining weight (though didn't look emaciated at all). I've been feeding mostly mysis in this tiny tank with an occasionally 1/2 cube of emerald entree. It might just not have been enough algae and too infrequent feedings of emerald entree to meet her needs.

My second guess is stress from limited space. In the quick stats on Live Aquaria, it lists a 10g minimum for this particular blenny, but in the description it says 30g. I went with the quick stats and put her in my 10g, but perhaps this was incorrect and she really needed a 30g. She swam all over and occasionally would just swim up and down at the edges of the tank as if looking for more space. She seemed to be doing okay in a 10g for a while (I've had her since May), but if she really needed a 30g, then after 4 months of being cramped the stress may have gotten to her.

My final guess is that even though she made it through the temp swings, salinity swings and cycle two weeks ago, it may have taken its toll and I just saw the results later than expected.

I would like to replace her but will go with a different species in case her death was space related. So sad :(
 
I wish I could offer advice, but I'm sure you already know the usual. Limit stocking, keep params stable, feed a varied diet, etc. All that being said, I really wish you luck on your tank. These little reefs can be really unforgiving sometimes.......
 
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