Heartbroken my clownfish is dead :(

[Araona]

Hello everyone, I'm new here and just hoping someone has some insight for me.
Yesterday we added some new corals and 3 yellow tail blue damsels to our 300L tank. Shortly after they were added my water parameters were as follows:
Ammonia 0.25 (API)
Nitrate 5-10
PH 8.2
Salinity 35ppm
Alk 8
Temp 25.5c
We stuck the corals down with some reef safe putty and glue so the water was a little cloudy for a while. I also added some more copepods, phytoplankton and a little bacteria to try and help with the ammonia.
We have 2 wavemaker and plenty of surface agitation.
2 hours later I noticed our smallest clownfish laying on the sandbed so I immediately did a 20% water change and it seemed to recover and was swimming around happily however 3 hours after this I notice it swimming very erratically all over the tank then floating downwards and repeating this. I removed it from the tank and put in another tank (with some water from main tank) so it didn't keep getting thrown around and I watched it over the next hour but unfortunately it didn't make it.
To say I am utterly devastated would be an understatement and I am so sad I couldn't save it. All the other fish/inverts and corals look fine this morning including the new addition so I'd just like to know what could have happened to the poor little thing, could it have been attacked? And is there anything I could have done differently?

Thank you

 

[Araona]

I just don't see how some coral putty in an 80G tank is going to cause cloudy water and death. I've mounted a lot of frags at the same time in tanks half that size no problem.

As others have suggested I think we are going to use a different brand next time.
I've just looked at the box and it even says if the water starts to go cloudy then stop immediately. We obviously should have read that yesterday I think we've just made a horrible beginner mistake unfortunately

 

[00W]

Sorry about your loss! Welcome welcome to R2R!

 

[vetteguy53081]

As others have suggested I think we are going to use a different brand next time.
I've just looked at the box and it even says if the water starts to go cloudy then stop immediately. We obviously should have read that yesterday I think we've just made a horrible beginner mistake unfortunately

Try a test- take same putty and add to a container of tank water and see if it gets cloudy- then you know

 

[JC1977]

 

[Jo'Reefer]

T

The tank is 3 months old and after the addition of 3 yesterday there were 2 clowns and a watchman goby. Yes we did use a fair amount so that could well be the case and yes we have a skimmer.

Hello and Welcome to the reef there are many pro reefers here who will lead you to success. Very sorry for your loss! There is the possibility that your tank had not fully cycled being only 3 months old. Which would have caused an ammonia spike when adding the new livestock in turn the smallest of them couldn't withstand the ammonia burning its gills. Essentially once they are burned the fish suffocates from not being able to process the oxygen correctly. That accompanied with the use of the putty could have diminished the oxygen levels in the aquarium enough to be the cause of erratic deaths. I would slowly add livestock next time giving the tank a chance to build the bioload to support the new livestock. I had to learn the hard way myself.. cheers and happy Reefing

 

[Jimbhoy13]

Welcome to R2R. Sorry for your loss. Sadly this happens and we’ve all been through it. I had a lovely pair of Picasso clowns and one died within a few months. Lots of knowledgeable and helpful people here who will support and advise you when needed.
Are you Southampton UK?
You can get the UK banner here: Click Account then “Join User Group”, scroll to the bottom and click on “United Kingdom User Group‘’

 

[Lps_lover12]

Sorry for your loss and welcome to R2R!

 

[CoralB]

Welcome !!

 

[TheScientificReefer]

Welcome, My condolences

 

[SPR1968]

You shouldn’t have any ammonia showing, although it could be test error of course

Yellow tail blue damsels can be very nasty, and territorial, I have 5 in my S650 and they each have there own territory’s and it’s very amusing to watch them, especially attacking a large trigger fish.

I don’t know the reason, for your loss, and very sorry to hear that, but just keep an eye on the damsels with any future additions. If you’re concerned maybe use a fish trap to introduce new fish (so there protected for a while).

And welcome to Reef2Reef by the way.

 

[Buckster]

Hello and Welcome to R2R! I don't have a different opinion than what has already been offered to you. Hopefully nothing else dies.

 

[Gumbies R Us]

Welcome to Reef2Reef! Sorry to hear that about your clown!