Clown fish

[jaymer]

I started my tank 8 weeks ago. 6 weeks ago I added a pair of clowns. 2 weeks ago they died. I added another pair a few days later and they died within 2 days. I waited a week and added another pair this past Tuesday, 1 of the 2 that I just added died.

From the beginning, a fire goby, yellow watchman, cleaner shrimp and all corals have been thriving. For some reason just clowns won’t survive in my tank.

Any idea why clowns don’t survive?

 

[vetteguy53081]

I started my tank 8 weeks ago. 6 weeks ago I added a pair of clowns. 2 weeks ago they died. I added another pair a few days later and they died within 2 days. I waited a week and added another pair this past Tuesday, 1 of the 2 that I just added died.

From the beginning, a fire goby, yellow watchman, cleaner shrimp and all corals have been thriving. For some reason just clowns won’t survive in my tank.

Any idea why clowns don’t survive?

We can always suggest to post pics under bright white light only, no blue. This is a case of Brooklynella and
If I see correctly- the other fish has secondary infections which stem from long term brook.
The most significant sign is the amount of slime on its body which is noticeable on the fish. This mucus generally starts at the facial area as well as gills and spreads across the body producing lesions as it progresses often confused with ich and can turn into secondary bacteria. Other symptoms will be lethargic behavior, refusing to eat and heavy breathing from the mucus.
Start with a prolonged 60 minute bath of ruby rally pro then at a lower concentration in a quarantine tank. The longer the fish are exposed to the treatment, the more effective it will be at eliminating this issue.
Since a formalin solution is often not available for use, temporary relief can be achieved by giving the fish a FW bath or dip in water same temperature as display tank. Even though this treatment will not cure the disease, it can help to remove some of the parasites, as well as reduce the amount of mucus in the gills to assist with respiration problems.
Treatment is best done in a QT tank using either quick cure (more effective but now harder to find) or Ruby Rally Pro. Ruby takes a little longer and initial treatment generally takes 2-3 days to really start going to work.

 

[jaymer]

I started my tank 8 weeks ago. 6 weeks ago I added a pair of clowns. 2 weeks ago they died. I added another pair a few days later and they died within 2 days. I waited a week and added another pair this past Tuesday, 1 of the 2 that I just added died.

From the beginning, a fire goby, yellow watchman, cleaner shrimp and all corals have been thriving. For some reason just clowns won’t survive in my tank.

Any idea why clowns don’t survive?

We can always suggest to post pics under bright white light only, no blue. This is a case of Brooklynella and
If I see correctly- the other fish has secondary infections which stem from long term brook.
The most significant sign is the amount of slime on its body which is noticeable on the fish. This mucus generally starts at the facial area as well as gills and spreads across the body producing lesions as it progresses often confused with ich and can turn into secondary bacteria. Other symptoms will be lethargic behavior, refusing to eat and heavy breathing from the mucus.
Start with a prolonged 60 minute bath of ruby rally pro then at a lower concentration in a quarantine tank. The longer the fish are exposed to the treatment, the more effective it will be at eliminating this issue.
Since a formalin solution is often not available for use, temporary relief can be achieved by giving the fish a FW bath or dip in water same temperature as display tank. Even though this treatment will not cure the disease, it can help to remove some of the parasites, as well as reduce the amount of mucus in the gills to assist with respiration problems.
Treatment is best done in a QT tank using either quick cure (more effective but now harder to find) or Ruby Rally Pro. Ruby takes a little longer and initial treatment generally takes 2-3 days to really start going to work.

This disease only affects clown fish?

 

[Emgreen1003]

Looks a lot like velvet, which is almost always fatal. Where did you get your fish from? You will need to leave your tank fallow for a few months before it is safe to add fish again. I would look up YouTube videos or articles about velvet. A particularly good resource is from Humblefish.

Also, your tank is still pretty new and the parameters can be particularly unstable at this time, a fallow period would help the tank stabilize and mature more. Hope this helps

 

[Mr. Mojo Rising]

That looks like dry rock and sand, a dry cycle usually takes longer than 2 weeks. Can you share how you cycled? Can you share your parameters? Show a full tank picture? The water surface in your pic is too flat, there should be surface agitation to help with oxygenation. Obviously you are not guaranteeing. So I see a few red flags here...... IT will help us to help you if you can share all the info

 

[vetteguy53081]

This disease only affects clown fish?

Mainly but also some smaller fish. This has nothing to do with dry rock

 

[jaymer]

That looks like dry rock and sand, a dry cycle usually takes longer than 2 weeks. Can you share how you cycled? Can you share your parameters? Show a full tank picture? The water surface in your pic is too flat, there should be surface agitation to help with oxygenation. Obviously you are not guaranteeing. So I see a few red flags here...... IT will help us to help you if you can share all the info

Cycled with Fritz 9.

Parameters are all in check, salinity 1.025, nitrate 4.4, pho4 .05, ammonia 0

Return pump has 2 rfg, 1 is directed at direct water to break agitation

 

[MnFish1]

1. Its hard to say exactly what it is - Clownfish are notorious for having Brooklynella as mentioned by @vetteguy53081
2. Brooklynella itself can live in a tank without fish (any fish) for 6-8 weeks, so its possible your fish have 'caught' brookylnella that was in the tank from the prior fish.
3. It's also possible (@Jay Hemdal ?) that the other fish in the tank could have brooklyella on their bodies, but not showing infection - i.e. they are carriers. (I don't know how likely this is)

I don't want to debate whether you did things too quickly or not - I would say there should be no problem putting coral into a tank - as long as the water is the right chemistry. Many disagree with this.

Normally, you would leave a tank fallow for 6-8 weeks certainly before adding any more clowns. I might consider taking all of the fish out of your tank, treating them, and replacing after 8 weeks since you've had such an issue. This is one reason we recommend quarantining fish before adding them to the display tank - it saves a lot of hassle.

I do not think this is velvet. velvet in marine fish is often not the 'dusty' appearance we think of in freshwater, but rather breathing issues and other symptoms.

Hope this helps.

 

[winxp_man]

1. Its hard to say exactly what it is - Clownfish are notorious for having Brooklynella as mentioned by @vetteguy53081
2. Brooklynella itself can live in a tank without fish (any fish) for 6-8 weeks, so its possible your fish have 'caught' brookylnella that was in the tank from the prior fish.
3. It's also possible (@Jay Hemdal ?) that the other fish in the tank could have brooklyella on their bodies, but not showing infection - i.e. they are carriers. (I don't know how likely this is)

I don't want to debate whether you did things too quickly or not - I would say there should be no problem putting coral into a tank - as long as the water is the right chemistry. Many disagree with this.

Normally, you would leave a tank fallow for 6-8 weeks certainly before adding any more clowns. I might consider taking all of the fish out of your tank, treating them, and replacing after 8 weeks since you've had such an issue. This is one reason we recommend quarantining fish before adding them to the display tank - it saves a lot of hassle.

I do not think this is velvet. velvet in marine fish is often not the 'dusty' appearance we think of in freshwater, but rather breathing issues and other symptoms.

Hope this helps.

Correct not velvet. Here is brook under white lights. This poor guy didn’t make it at a LFS. Just a few days before it got this bad, but you can see that this fish had issues, I was going to ask the owner to give me the fish at a better deal. This is a PNG Super Black I guess is the name it’s given. Beauties for sure. Sad to see it go. The yellow tang is still doing good in that tank.

I think certain gobies are also suspect to getting it easier vs other fish.

 

[Jay Hemdal Verified Community Expert]

I see Brooklynella here, and the reinfection of new clownfish ties in with that. The best way forward is to avoid clownfish for a period of time (at least a month, 45 to 60 days is better) and then, only buy larger, tank raised clowns. Wild caught clowns, especially ocellaris and percula are the most prone to it. Your fish look like they were wild caught, but I can't be certain. Other species can develop it, but the list isn't really well known - royal gramma get it for sure.