Clown Fish dying off.. can't figure out why.

legomaheggos

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Water parameters are;

Nitrates - 0

Nitrites - 0

PH - 8.2

Ammonia - 0.

All my other fish are doing fine. I've had all 4 of my clowns die off over the course of a week. Only had them a month. Can't find signs of physical ailments. They just slow down, stop being active at all, then start with apparent labored breathing, and die. Its heartbreaking. Clowns are my favorite fish and I've lost them all :(.
 
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legomaheggos

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Imgur

I took these pictuses just before it died. Broken hearted. Not ordering any more until I know what I've done wrong
.. they've never been noticeably big eaters. Not sure if they didn't acclimate well or what the case may be.. tank mates are

2 blue tangs

1 yellow tang

1 foxface

1 coral beauty

1 ultra green anemone long tentacle and about 50 hermit crabs and 20 turbo snails..
 

Humblefish

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The most likely explanation - Brooklynella - should have obvious physical symptoms (see below).

Brooklynella1.JPG


Velvet will sometimes not exhibit physical symptoms, but your other fish should also be affected by that.

In the absence of any obvious visible symptoms, the most likely (disease) explanation would be gill flukes or internal parasites. Do you notice any head twitching, rubbing or white stringy poop coming out any of your other fish?
 

Deinonych

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Do you quarantine your fish before adding to the display? If not, the fish in your DT could be carriers for parasites (like Brooklynella hostilis as mentioned above) that are affecting your clownfish upon introduction.
 
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legomaheggos

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I've not quarantined because all of my fish were purchased together from the same source (liveaquaria).

I'm afraid it's going to be internal parasites. They did rub rocks and have some light stringy poop. My other fish are still eating and acting okay. What are my options for saving the tank and curing this with inverts?
 

saltyphish

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You should always QT fish even when bought together the reason why is if either one has something yes it would be safe to assume they all would as well but, for ich, or brook your tank now has it in it and the only way to get rid of it is to leave the tank fishless for 5-6 weeks. Trust me I learned the hard way myself.
 
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legomaheggos

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The problem with leaving it fish less is that I have nowhere to put the fish to cure them. I have a 27 gallon tote that I've used to put clean water in the tank after a water change And never had dirty water, but I'm not sure it's big enough to house all my fish.. no medicated foods I can give them to knock this out in display tank? After all my recent purchases to get the last bit of equipment I need I'm sunk on funds for a whole new quarantine setup..
 

saltyphish

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The problem with ailments like ich is there are different stages and while you can treat the fish it can get sick again. The parasite lives in the tank, but needs a fish host to survive. I believe Brook is very similar in regards to always being in the tank. I am not saying this is what you have just you will continue to have your fish dying until you leave the tank fallow for a period of 5-6weeks if it is. You need to be prepared to accept this as a possibility. The problem will not go away otherwise. I'm not sure how many fish you have but any size tote will work. Good luck, also listen to Humble on advice he seems to be very knowledgeable with fish diseases. Fortunately I have not experienced many issues but I QT every fish for at least 6 weeks before adding to my main tank.
 
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legomaheggos

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I listed the tank inhabitants above. They are all fairly small right now.

2 blue tangs

1 yellow tang

1 foxface

1 coral beauty

1 ultra green anemone long tentacle and about 50 hermit crabs and 20 turbo snails

And a red Indian star fish. Would I need to get the starfish and all the inverts out or just the fish? What all will I need to keep the tote stable for them for 5 weeks.. pretty tight budget right now
 
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legomaheggos

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Do I need to put anything in for the fish to hide in..? I'm gonna just bite the bullet and set up the tote as a hospital today. sorry for so many questions. No local resources to turn to.. my lfs told me it's natural for them to have parasites and no treatment necessary because parasites don't kill fish. Afraid to turn to them any more
 

Deinonych

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Before you start pulling fish out of the DT, you need to determine what you are treating for. Have you observed any abnormal behavior like twitching, flashing (rubbing against rocks), rapid breathing, piping at surface or avoidance of light/hiding? Can you post pictures of your fish?
 
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legomaheggos

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Rubbing against rock for most, but that's it, and only the blue tangs. The clown exhibited labored breathing, erratic swimming, and swimming sideways. My tangs are very active and eat plenty. The foxface hides all the time but he's done that since the day I got him. Coral beauty also seems to eat fine but hangs out under rocks. one blue tang had clear poop last week but that's the only time I saw clear poop on any of Them. The clown passed a brown poop before he passed
 

miyags

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Do I need to put anything in for the fish to hide in..? I'm gonna just bite the bullet and set up the tote as a hospital today. sorry for so many questions. No local resources to turn to.. my lfs told me it's natural for them to have parasites and no treatment necessary because parasites don't kill fish. Afraid to turn to them any more
You use pvc plumbing fixtures. leave main tank fishless for 3 months. Look up cupramine treatment.and setting up a hospital tank. that should tell you every thing to do. PS your lfs are wrong.
 
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legomaheggos

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Jeeze.. 3 months. That bites. My anemone, Indian star fish and hermit crab/turbo snails good to stay in DT? I guess u think I need to go ahead and start treatment?
 
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legomaheggos

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Cupramine doesn't seem to touch internal parasite's unless I'm reading it wrong. I was leaning toward prazipro but I'm far from being knowledgeable on this subject
 

Deinonych

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Difficult to determine anything from the pictures. Fish flashing is a symptom of flukes, Cryptocaryon (ich) and Amyloodinium (velvet). I'm going to rule out velvet for now, as it typically wipes the tank upon infection. That leaves Crypto and flukes. I would start by dosing Prazipro. You will need to do two treatments 5-7 days apart to ensure you kill any larvae that hatch from eggs. Just follow the instructions on the bottle, and be sure to turn off your skimmer and remove carbon if you use it. If the fish are still flashing after two treatments, then you may have Crypto. Are any of the fish showing white spots that look like a sprinkling of salt?
 

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