Looking for advice on clownfish

[harveys_harvest]

Hi everyone,

I'm hoping to get some advice because I'm honestly stumped.I have a 29-gallon BioCube reef that's been running for several month. Over the last week, I've unfortunately lost both of my captive-bred clownfish.

Both clownfish passed white stringy feces before they died. The first clownfish was withdrawn in a cave for about 2 days and then it died. The second clownfish was still eating TDO pellets and swimming normally before I left for the weekend. When I returned, it was gone. I searched the display, rear filtration chambers, and around the tank but couldn't find it.

One additional observation: after I repositioned my wavemaker, the first clownfish became much less social and spent most of its time hiding in a cave instead of swimming in its usual area. I'm not sure whether that was related or just a coincidence, but I thought it might be worth mentioning.

My current water parameters are:
Ammonia: 0 ppm
Nitrite: 0 ppm
Nitrate: ~5 ppm
Salinity: 1.026
Temperature: 78°F

The only fish remaining is a tailspot blenny, which is active, eating well, and appears healthy.

I've attached a video of the clownfish before it disappeared and a photo of the blenny. Sorry for the poor photo and video quality.

I'm not trying to jump to a diagnosis, but I'm hoping to learn from those with more experience.

Based on the photos, does this sound more consistent with internal parasites, a bacterial infection, stress, or something else?

My main questions are:
Would you recommend treating the remaining blenny or simply observing it?

Should I leave the tank fishless for a period of time before adding another fish?

Is there anything else you would recommend checking?

Thank you in advance for any advice. I really appreciate it.

 

[winxp_man]

Pics and videos should be under bright white light.

What can be observed in the video, you can’t see much aside from the fish swimming frantically. And such swimming can be a few things for sure. But without clear view of the fish’s body, it’s hard to see what is going on.



How long have the fish been in the tank?

What else was introduced before the fish started showing issues?

Stringy white feces would indicate parasites, but can also easily have been stringy white feces can also be related to diet. Depending on how it looked. As in how stringy.

Any of the main 4 disease will make a fish hide in a tank.

Where the fish yawning excessively?

Where the fish breathing fast at all times?

Where the fish flashing/scratching on sand or surfaces?

Where there any signs you can recall such as cloudy eyes?

How are the current fish in regard to these question?

 

[harveys_harvest]

Pics and videos should be under bright white light.

What can be observed in the video, you can’t see much aside from the fish swimming frantically. And such swimming can be a few things for sure. But without clear view of the fish’s body, it’s hard to see what is going on.



How long have the fish been in the tank?

What else was introduced before the fish started showing issues?

Stringy white feces would indicate parasites, but can also easily have been stringy white feces can also be related to diet. Depending on how it looked. As in how stringy.

Any of the main 4 disease will make a fish hide in a tank.

Where the fish yawning excessively?

Where the fish breathing fast at all times?

Where the fish flashing/scratching on sand or surfaces?

Where there any signs you can recall such as cloudy eyes?

How are the current fish in regard to these question?

I will definitely keep that in mind for next time. Thank you for the questions

1. The original clownfish was added on June 17. It had a partner, but the partner jumped out about 3 weeks later. I added it another clownfish on July 13. I added a tailspot blenny on July 16 I made sure my water parameters were good each time I added a new fish.

2. Before the first clownfish started showing issues, I don't believe I introduced anything besides the replacement clownfish and later the blenny. My corals and inverts had already been in the tank.

3. The first clownfish had white stringy feces before it died. I can't remember if it happened more than once. It was eating normally until the day before it died, when it refused food and hid in a cave for about 48 hours before passing.

4. I don't recall either clownfish yawning excessively, breathing rapidly, flashing or scratching against rocks or sand, having cloudy eyes, white spots, or excess mucus while they were alive.

5. The mucus-like coating I mentioned was only noticed after the first clownfish had died, so I'm not sure if that was related to the cause of death.

6. The current fish, my tailspot blenny, is acting completely normal. It's active, eating well, and I haven't noticed rapid breathing, flashing, yawning, cloudy eyes, or any other signs of illness.
Water parameters have been good throughout.