Firefish died

[Colin_1122]

Hey guys, I’ve had a purple firefish for about a month now, he was in qt for two weeks and then in my dt for about two weeks. everything seemed to be doing well he was eating and seemed very happy. I added a pair of clowns about a week ago but they’re much smaller than him. I didn’t see them picking on him at all, actually when they got two close to his little cave he would kind of nip at them. The past few days he hasn’t been coming out of his cave even to eat so I was getting a little worried and this morning I found him dead on the sand bed. Everything seemed fine, my clowns are doing well too so I don’t know what the problem could be. Only other tank mates are a cleaner shrimp and some dwarf hermits

 

[Colin_1122]

Ammonia is reading 0, nitrites 0.25 and nitrates 5-10ppm

 

[Colin_1122]

Here is a pic. I can’t see any physical damage or anything.

 

[LesPoissons]

Did you treat him with anything while in qt? He may have had internal parasites etc. Your nitrite level IMO is too high. Is this a new tank?

 

[ss30]

Seem's to me that your tank hasn't finished it cycle if it's new, if it's old you need to find out why you still have Nitrites they should be zero

 

[LesPoissons]

+1 sounds like a new tank, you jumped the gun on letting the cycle finish. Dont add anything else until your nitrites are consistently at 0.

 

[Colin_1122]

My nitrites have been at 0, the tank is about a month and a half old. I thought it was fully cycled, I’m thinking the nitrites may have spiked from the dead fish that may have been in there for a few days. My ammonia looks like it’s at 0.25 as well but I’m using an API kit and it’s been this color since I’ve started the tank so I think it’s a false reading, I’m going to take my water to a lfs to get tested later today

 

[Colin_1122]

Did you treat him with anything while in qt? He may have had internal parasites etc. Your nitrite level IMO is too high. Is this a new tank?

I didn’t treat with anything, just observational. He was eating and seemed healthy so I thought he was fine

 

[ss30]

The API Ammonia test kit is poor IMO.
How big is the tank and how much rock have you got in it?

 

[NeonRabbit221B]

Nitrites don't typically matter in SW or am I mistaken? Still likely too many fish too quickly and ammonia was just processed but not sure how big the tank is and how much rock. Did you QT the clowns?

 

[Colin_1122]

The API Ammonia test kit is poor IMO.
How big is the tank and how much rock have you got in it?

It’s a 33g with a good amount of rock, here’s a pic

 

[Colin_1122]

Nitrites don't typically matter in SW or am I mistaken? Still likely too many fish too quickly and ammonia was just processed but not sure how big the tank is and how much rock. Did you QT the clowns?

I didn’t qt the clowns, I watched them at the lfs for about a week and they seemed healthy, they’re eating well and seem good but it’s definitely possible they could’ve brought something into the tank

 

[LesPoissons]

Doubtful. Looks like a brand new tank, with a brand new sand bed and chunk of rock. When did you set it up, what did you cycle with, and how long before adding the clowns?

 

[Quietman]

.25 on API ammonia is generally 0, especially after a month. Nitrites aren't toxic in seawater (especially at those levels). Positive nitrates, 0 ammonia tank was cycled. And you added firefish for two weeks no issues. I doubt it's anything to do with ammonia or water quality. The clowns could have been aggressive, firefish could have had a fight/flight response and damaged itself, pathogens that clown fish brought in but are hardy enough to survive.

 

[Colin_1122]

Doubtful. Looks like a brand new tank, with a brand new sand bed and chunk of rock. When did you set it up, what did you cycle with, and how long before adding the clowns?

I set it up at the beginning of January. This pic is from a few weeks ago, I have more algae now and the water has cleared up after I added some carbon. I used fritz turbo start when I first set it up and added some frags and a small clean up crew after a week. The clowns were added about a week and a half ago

 

[Colin_1122]

.25 on API ammonia is generally 0, especially after a month. Nitrites aren't toxic in seawater (especially at those levels). Positive nitrates, 0 ammonia tank was cycled. And you added firefish for two weeks no issues. I doubt it's anything to do with ammonia or water quality. The clowns could have been aggressive, firefish could have had a fight/flight response and damaged itself, pathogens that clown fish brought in but are hardy enough to survive.

I agree, I think if it was ammonia poisoning I would see some effects on the clowns (like labored breathing or gasping for air) but they all seem fine, coral included. I don’t think the clowns attacked him I never saw any aggression but I do have a pretty hard wire lid and I wonder if the firefish may have tried to jump out and gotten hurt

 

[cmoore806]

I myself just ordered a purple firefish and expect it will come this week. I setup a display tank which is further along in cycling than my quarantine tank. Im curious what you did for your quarantine setup because I am doing something similar. Could you share a pic of your Quarantine setup?

My quarantine tank is a bare 10 gallon glass tank with PVC fittings, heater, powerhead, HOB filter with a sponge and seachem matrix in it. I've added nitrifying bacteria and even dosed with ammonia which comes down slow slow slow. I decided to buy fish now instead of trying to completely cycle a quarantine tank and will just keep up on water changes to control waste.

 

[Colin_1122]

I myself just ordered a purple firefish and expect it will come this week. I setup a display tank which is further along in cycling than my quarantine tank. Im curious what you did for your quarantine setup because I am doing something similar. Could you share a pic of your Quarantine setup?

My quarantine tank is a bare 10 gallon glass tank with PVC fittings, heater, powerhead, HOB filter with a sponge and seachem matrix in it. I've added nitrifying bacteria and even dosed with ammonia which comes down slow slow slow. I decided to buy fish now instead of trying to completely cycle a quarantine tank and will just keep up on water changes to control waste.

My qt is a 10g with a HOB filter as well. I had pvc fittings but I read they are stressful for the fish (something about fish seeing the color white a lot brighter I think) so I swapped them out for extra dry rock. It’s just an observational qt so I figure the rock won’t hurt unless I need to medicate, in that case I can just remove the rock I have ammonia alert badge as well and whenever I put a fish in I add some fritz turbo start