Clownfish died

[Demo]

I recently started a new tank Evo 13.5
I did all the stuff aragonite live caribsea dry purple rock RoDi water instant ocean salt seachem stability added some food and let it run for 3 weeks checked the water and it looked good all things checked out and decided I was safe to get a couple clown fish and some hermit crabs…I’ve had them 2 weeks continue to test the water 2 times a week and continued my 10% water change weekly…..I come home today to find one of my clowns has died…..checked the ammonia and it was high like 5 out of nowhere I tested Saturday and it was 0 I feed them 2 times a day brine shrimp in the bottle a small drip from bottle so I don’t think I was over feeding? My question is what caused the ammonia spike? And will my other fish die also? I did do a water change today and got some more stability and added. Help please totally new and bummed

 

[zbrusko]

Can you give more info on how you cycled? Were you monitoring how much ammonia the tank could process in 24 hours prior to adding livestock? This sounds to me like you made a common mistake (that I have also made) there.

 

[Demo]

Ammonia level is .50 NOT 5

 

[Demo]

Cycle was adding food and using bottled bacteria to get it started ran for 3 weeks lights off that was pretty much it I figured which is dangerous that ammonia and nitrite was low so fish will be okay and help the cycle continue

 

[Demo]

Can you give more info on how you cycled? Were you monitoring how much ammonia the tank could process in 24 hours prior to adding livestock? This sounds to me like you made a common mistake (that I have also made) there.

Cycle was adding food and using bottled bacteria to get it started ran for 3 weeks lights off that was pretty much it I figured which is dangerous that ammonia and nitrite was low so fish will be okay and help the cycle continue

 

[zbrusko]

Can you give more info on how you cycled? Were you monitoring how much ammonia the tank could process in 24 hours prior to adding livestock? This sounds to me like you made a common mistake (that I have also made) there.

Cycle was adding food and using bottled bacteria to get it started ran for 3 weeks lights off that was pretty much it I figured which is dangerous that ammonia and nitrite was low so fish will be okay and help the cycle continue

It is really hard to know how much ammonia your tank can process that way. A more common method is to get your ammonia up to 2ppm, and then when it goes to 0 or 0.25 in 24 hrs you are good to go. As the ammonia drops, just keep pushing it up to 2 ppm. This may mean adding a little every few days to a week. You can buy ammonia products to help measure out this dosage. My guess is that your tank may not be ready for the bioload you added.

 

[Demo]

Can you give more info on how you cycled? Were you monitoring how much ammonia the tank could process in 24 hours prior to adding livestock? This sounds to me like you made a common mistake (that I have also made) there.

Cycle was adding food and using bottled bacteria to get it started ran for 3 weeks lights off that was pretty much it I figured which is dangerous that ammonia and nitrite was low so fish will be okay and help the cycle continue

It is really hard to know how much ammonia your tank can process that way. A more common method is to get your ammonia up to 2ppm, and then when it goes to 0 or 0.25 in 24 hrs you are good to go. As the ammonia drops, just keep pushing it up to 2 ppm. This may mean adding a little every few days to a week. You can buy ammonia products to help measure out this dosage. My guess is that your tank may not be ready for the bioload you added.

Have I messed things up or can I just give the tank more time and it’ll be ok?

 

[Mr. Mojo Rising]

Was there any chewed up fins, any aggression? Did you check the salinity while acclimating the fish, LFS water is often much lower salinity than our water.

Did you test the water at the end of the cycle, did you measure ammonia and nitrate before adding the fish? Ammonia should have been zero and you should have seen some nitrate.

I'm also not sure if they were fed enough, isn't "brine shrimp in a bottle" baby brine? That wouldn't be sufficient, and sounds like you fed very little. Brine shrimp is also the least nutritious food you can feed, try frozen mysis or reef frenzy or good quality pellets.

 

[zbrusko]

Can you give more info on how you cycled? Were you monitoring how much ammonia the tank could process in 24 hours prior to adding livestock? This sounds to me like you made a common mistake (that I have also made) there.

Cycle was adding food and using bottled bacteria to get it started ran for 3 weeks lights off that was pretty much it I figured which is dangerous that ammonia and nitrite was low so fish will be okay and help the cycle continue

It is really hard to know how much ammonia your tank can process that way. A more common method is to get your ammonia up to 2ppm, and then when it goes to 0 or 0.25 in 24 hrs you are good to go. As the ammonia drops, just keep pushing it up to 2 ppm. This may mean adding a little every few days to a week. You can buy ammonia products to help measure out this dosage. My guess is that your tank may not be ready for the bioload you added.

Have I messed things up or can I just give the tank more time and it’ll be ok?

Do the cycling process as I stated. It may be ok, it may take a couple of weeks. It is possible tris wasn’t your issue, but you need to be sure of it first. Get some ammonia (Dr. Tim’s, fishless fuel, etc.) use it to get your tank up to 2 ppm. See how long it takes to get to 0 or near 0. Once that is good from 2ppm down to 0 or 0.25 in 24 hrs, you can add fish & inverts. As also stated, do more research on feeding.

 

[Gumbies R Us]

I recently started a new tank Evo 13.5
I did all the stuff aragonite live caribsea dry purple rock RoDi water instant ocean salt seachem stability added some food and let it run for 3 weeks checked the water and it looked good all things checked out and decided I was safe to get a couple clown fish and some hermit crabs…I’ve had them 2 weeks continue to test the water 2 times a week and continued my 10% water change weekly…..I come home today to find one of my clowns has died…..checked the ammonia and it was high like 5 out of nowhere I tested Saturday and it was 0 I feed them 2 times a day brine shrimp in the bottle a small drip from bottle so I don’t think I was over feeding? My question is what caused the ammonia spike? And will my other fish die also? I did do a water change today and got some more stability and added. Help please totally new and bummed

What are you testing your water with?

 

[Demo]

I recently started a new tank Evo 13.5
I did all the stuff aragonite live caribsea dry purple rock RoDi water instant ocean salt seachem stability added some food and let it run for 3 weeks checked the water and it looked good all things checked out and decided I was safe to get a couple clown fish and some hermit crabs…I’ve had them 2 weeks continue to test the water 2 times a week and continued my 10% water change weekly…..I come home today to find one of my clowns has died…..checked the ammonia and it was high like 5 out of nowhere I tested Saturday and it was 0 I feed them 2 times a day brine shrimp in the bottle a small drip from bottle so I don’t think I was over feeding? My question is what caused the ammonia spike? And will my other fish die also? I did do a water change today and got some more stability and added. Help please totally new and bummed

What are you testing your water with?

API saltwater kit