2 Clownfish Dead

[Runnin'Reefer]

I just got some new clownfish ordered from a company. They are the first fish in my tank. I have completed my cycle. There was an issue with the shipping and the company messed up the buffer in the shipping water which caused the ammonia to spike. A friend ordered the fish for me. Some other guys ordered some too. 5 fish out of about 25 arrived dead. The sales rep from the company notified us and said they would replace any fish that had died and any fish that were struggling or stressed, and he said he theorized that more fish would die over the weekend.

Well, fast forward to now (that was Wednesday this past week).. I had 3 clowns in my tank I woke up at 4 am and thought I would check my fish tank. My biggest one was swimming upside down along the bottom of the tank on one side. I frantically looked up what was wrong and settled on bloat. Seemed like there was not much to do other than wait and hope the fish made it. It did not. It was dead when I woke up again at 9 this morning. I tested the water, and ammonia was around 0-0.25, nitrite was 0, and nitrate was 10. That didn't seem like that much ammonia would be enough to kill my clown, but I wondered if that ammonia had actually come from my clown dying. I left the house for the morning and got back at 12:30. In that time, a second clownfish of mine was face down between two of my rocks dead. I didn't see this one struggle at all during the morning. I have no idea what happened. He was swimming around perfectly fine in the morning with seemingly no issues. I retested the waters ammonia again and also purchased an ammonia detoxifier. It tested around 0.25 again, so I poured in a tiny amount of detoxifier. I have one little guy left. Wondering if ya'll think the deaths are on the ammonia, the poor shipping, bloat, or something else. i am a newbie, so I don't really know what to think.

Let me know! Any and all help or suggestions are welcome. I sadly did not get any pictures of the fish last night when he was swimming upside down or I would post them.

 

[Shibaken3]

oxygen level may be low. do u have any wave makers?

 

[Mr. Mojo Rising]

Do you have a pic of your tank?
Wednesday was 5 days ago, I don't think the death is related to the shipping at this point.
It might be water parameters or acclimation technique, but more info about your tank conditions will help us to help you.

 

[reef_1]

0.25 total ammonia wont kill a clownfish.

I would add oxygen source (skimmer or airstone), carbon and test basic water params, ph, salinity, ammonia, nitrite, nitrate.

Is there anything else living in the tank, snails or corals which are fine?

 

[Runnin'Reefer]

oxygen level may be low. do u have any wave makers?

I do! I have one wave maker on the left side of my tank point down to the right side and I have my return flow pointed up towards the top of the water. It's a 32 g biocube. The water should be oxygenated

 

[Runnin'Reefer]

Do you have a pic of your tank?
Wednesday was 5 days ago, I don't think the death is related to the shipping at this point.
It might be water parameters or acclimation technique, but more info about your tank conditions will help us to help you.

This is a pic of my tank. Ammonia is at 0 now with the detoxifier I used, nitrite 0, nitrate 10, pH 8.0, and salinity 1.026. The temp of the tank is 77.9. When I acclimated the fish I had them all in a little bucket. I would put about a half cup of water in the bucket every 5-10 minutes. I did this for 40 minutes with 6 water additions, and after the first water addition I would take a half cup out before putting more in. After that, I added the fish. My tank is a little cloudy from algae. I need to get a clean up crew. I have two digis that seem to be doing well in the tank. My zoa has been giving me some issues the last two weeks, but I have had it for around 4 with no issues. And I got a mushroom thursday that seems to be doing well

 

[Runnin'Reefer]

0.25 total ammonia wont kill a clownfish.

I would add oxygen source (skimmer or airstone), carbon and test basic water params, ph, salinity, ammonia, nitrite, nitrate.

Is there anything else living in the tank, snails or corals which are fine?

That's what I thought too! So that's why I am at a loss for what could have happened. I outlined all my parameters in my previous reply if you want to check them. Everything seems in good condition to me. My coral seem to be doing fine. I need a cleanup crew to get my algae out but that's the only thing

 

[EricR]

Did you dump the water in your acclimation bucket into the tank? Not saying that's your problem but, ideally, you wouldn't want any of the shipping water to go into the tank. (Shipping water likely has ammonia reducer and possibly medications)

If you did happen to have an ammonia problem and used a detoxifier, remember that's likely only temporary so you might want to think about some water changes. (Not sure what you used so check the bottle but Prime works for like 24 hours to buy you time to do something)

 

[Runnin'Reefer]

Did you dump the water in your acclimation bucket into the tank? Not saying that's your problem but, ideally, you wouldn't want any of the shipping water to go into the tank. (Shipping water likely has ammonia reducer and possibly medications)

If you did have an excessive ammonia problem and used a detoxifier, remember that's likely only temporary so you might want to think about some water changes. (Not sure what you used so check the bottle but Prime works for like 24 hours to buy you time to do something)

I didn't dump any of the water in the acclimation bucket into the tank. Dumped all of the water down the drain and pulled each fish out of the bucket separately and they went into the tank.

I don't think I have an excessive ammonia problem from what I can tell. I am going to do a water change today. I have extra fritz zyme 9 if I need to pour some bacteria in to make sure I have enough. I did use prime but that was mostly to just make sure my 3rd clown isn't going to get killed by that 0.25 ammonia concentration. At this point, he and any leftover food is the only ammonia source in the tank which my bio filter should easily be able to take because at the end of the cycle I added 2 ppm of ammonia that went away in 2 days. I am also going to do a 5 gallon water change today just to get some clean water in their for good measure

 

[Jay Hemdal]

I just got some new clownfish ordered from a company. They are the first fish in my tank. I have completed my cycle. There was an issue with the shipping and the company messed up the buffer in the shipping water which caused the ammonia to spike. A friend ordered the fish for me. Some other guys ordered some too. 5 fish out of about 25 arrived dead. The sales rep from the company notified us and said they would replace any fish that had died and any fish that were struggling or stressed, and he said he theorized that more fish would die over the weekend.

Well, fast forward to now (that was Wednesday this past week).. I had 3 clowns in my tank I woke up at 4 am and thought I would check my fish tank. My biggest one was swimming upside down along the bottom of the tank on one side. I frantically looked up what was wrong and settled on bloat. Seemed like there was not much to do other than wait and hope the fish made it. It did not. It was dead when I woke up again at 9 this morning. I tested the water, and ammonia was around 0-0.25, nitrite was 0, and nitrate was 10. That didn't seem like that much ammonia would be enough to kill my clown, but I wondered if that ammonia had actually come from my clown dying. I left the house for the morning and got back at 12:30. In that time, a second clownfish of mine was face down between two of my rocks dead. I didn't see this one struggle at all during the morning. I have no idea what happened. He was swimming around perfectly fine in the morning with seemingly no issues. I retested the waters ammonia again and also purchased an ammonia detoxifier. It tested around 0.25 again, so I poured in a tiny amount of detoxifier. I have one little guy left. Wondering if ya'll think the deaths are on the ammonia, the poor shipping, bloat, or something else. i am a newbie, so I don't really know what to think.

Let me know! Any and all help or suggestions are welcome. I sadly did not get any pictures of the fish last night when he was swimming upside down or I would post them.

Posting a short video taken under white light will tell us a lot more about what is going on.
0.25 ppm ammonia isn't all that high, but what test kit are you using? Some of the test kits are really not very accurate, and your true ammonia reading could be higher.

How are the fish doing for the other people? If they aren't having on-going issues, that would point more to a problem with your tank. If everyone's fish are having issues, that would point more to a fish quality problem.

Jay

 

[Runnin'Reefer]

Posting a short video taken under white light will tell us a lot more about what is going on.
0.25 ppm ammonia isn't all that high, but what test kit are you using? Some of the test kits are really not very accurate, and your true ammonia reading could be higher.

How are the fish doing for the other people? If they aren't having on-going issues, that would point more to a problem with your tank. If everyone's fish are having issues, that would point more to a fish quality problem.

Jay

Thanks for the reply! About 30 minutes ago, I spotted my yasha goby for the first time since Wednesday night when I put him and the clowns in the tank. He was really struggling that night and I thought he had died. I guess he might be doing well. He is hiding out under the rock directly behind where the clown is swimming. The fish weren't going after the food when I have been feeding. I initially tried flakes. I also purchased some frozen brine and mysis cubes that I tried last night. They didn't seem to go after the food. They just sat where the clown is in the video. I think they are eating copepods that are being pushed around by the wavemaker (I've seen the copepods crawling on the glass). But I figured they should be swimming up to get the big chunks of shrimp when I put it in.

I am using an API test kit. I have wondered about it's accuracy, so I could take my water in to the LFS to get it tested.

The guy who ordered them and another guy have had no mortality with any of their fish. All are doing well. Another guy is claiming all have died, but we don't know if that is legitimate or if he just is claiming that so the company "replaces" every fish and he gets double for no extra price. But all these guys have established tanks with other fish in them.

Heres a vid I took. Let me know if you need more!

 

[Jay Hemdal]

Yes, API ammonia kits are really difficult to read - definitely have your LFS double check your reading.
The clownfish in the video is acting “mopey” but I can’t see any definitive reason why….water quality issues like ammonia can do that for sure.

Jay

 

[Runnin'Reefer]

Yes, API ammonia kits are really difficult to read - definitely have your LFS double check your reading.
The clownfish in the video is acting “mopey” but I can’t see any definitive reason why….water quality issues like ammonia can do that for sure.

Jay

What would you consider acting "mopey" and how much water would I need to take to them for them to test?

 

[vetteguy53081]

I just got some new clownfish ordered from a company. They are the first fish in my tank. I have completed my cycle. There was an issue with the shipping and the company messed up the buffer in the shipping water which caused the ammonia to spike. A friend ordered the fish for me. Some other guys ordered some too. 5 fish out of about 25 arrived dead. The sales rep from the company notified us and said they would replace any fish that had died and any fish that were struggling or stressed, and he said he theorized that more fish would die over the weekend.

Well, fast forward to now (that was Wednesday this past week).. I had 3 clowns in my tank I woke up at 4 am and thought I would check my fish tank. My biggest one was swimming upside down along the bottom of the tank on one side. I frantically looked up what was wrong and settled on bloat. Seemed like there was not much to do other than wait and hope the fish made it. It did not. It was dead when I woke up again at 9 this morning. I tested the water, and ammonia was around 0-0.25, nitrite was 0, and nitrate was 10. That didn't seem like that much ammonia would be enough to kill my clown, but I wondered if that ammonia had actually come from my clown dying. I left the house for the morning and got back at 12:30. In that time, a second clownfish of mine was face down between two of my rocks dead. I didn't see this one struggle at all during the morning. I have no idea what happened. He was swimming around perfectly fine in the morning with seemingly no issues. I retested the waters ammonia again and also purchased an ammonia detoxifier. It tested around 0.25 again, so I poured in a tiny amount of detoxifier. I have one little guy left. Wondering if ya'll think the deaths are on the ammonia, the poor shipping, bloat, or something else. i am a newbie, so I don't really know what to think.

Let me know! Any and all help or suggestions are welcome. I sadly did not get any pictures of the fish last night when he was swimming upside down or I would post them.

What would you consider acting "mopey" and how much water would I need to take to them for them to test?

Mopey = Listless and just hanging around laying there.

 

[Runnin'Reefer]

Mopey = Listless and just hanging around laying there.

Thank you! I figured he was just swimming in the water flow made by the wavemaker. Is there a reason he would do that instead of going to a spot in the tank with lower flow?

 

[vetteguy53081]

Thank you! I figured he was just swimming in the water flow made by the wavemaker. Is there a reason he would do that instead of going to a spot in the tank with lower flow?

High ammonia = lower oxygen, as example, high temperature will make them sluggish
Taking a water sample to a trusted LFS that does not use API test kits and having them test your water to see what results they come up with would not hurt and you can verify accuracy of your results

 

[Runnin'Reefer]

High ammonia = lower oxygen, as example, high temperature will make them sluggish
Taking a water sample to a trusted LFS that does not use API test kits and having them test your water to see what results they come up with would not hurt and you can verify accuracy of your results

Would you suggest getting a airstone for the tank to increase dissolved oxygen, too? How much water do they need to be able to test. A little vial or a cup or more?

 

[Jay Hemdal]

Would you suggest getting a airstone for the tank to increase dissolved oxygen, too? How much water do they need to be able to test. A little vial or a cup or more?

A cup of water is all they should need, but I would call the store first to make sure they aren't using API kits as well.

Jay

 

[Runnin'Reefer]

A cup of water is all they should need, but I would call the store first to make sure they aren't using API kits as well.

Jay

Sadly, both stores use the API test kit, so I am going to take water in anyway and have them double check things for me. I'm also going to borrow a skimmer from a guy to test out to see if I want to buy which should help my dissolved oxygen. Thanks for all the help!! It is greatly appreciated

 

[Runnin'Reefer]

Yes, API ammonia kits are really difficult to read - definitely have your LFS double check your reading.
The clownfish in the video is acting “mopey” but I can’t see any definitive reason why….water quality issues like ammonia can do that for sure.

Jay

Mopey = Listless and just hanging around laying there.

Is this more typical clownfish behavior? I did a water change and got the water tested by the LFS (sadly they used API too but I couldn't find anyone that didn't). He just started acting like this. I didn't know if swimming vertical was odd behavior or not