Lost 2 Fish

Josh Hobgood · May 6, 2019

Hey everyone. Hope all is well on the other side of the internet. I have lost a cardinal fish and a clown fish within the last month. I set the tank up December 2, 2018. It is a 120 Gallon dual overflow standard reef tank. I have a marine depot sump by trigger systems. I run two cobalt 300w heaters, Vectra return pump, 2 mp40's, 2 radion xr30 pros, Tunze ATO, and a skimmer. I lost a clownfish today. I cannot find his body. I've looked on floors, in overflows, and in sump the best I know how. My current levels are as follows:

Ammonia = 0 (Red Sea)
Nitrite = 0 (Red Sea)
Nitrate = 0-2 (Red Sea)
Phosphate = 0 (Hanna Checker)
PH = 8 (Red Sea)
Magnesium = 1480 (Red Sea)
Calcium = 400 (Red Sea)
Alkalinity = 9.6 (Hanna Checker)
Salinity = 1.025 (Bulk Reef Supply Refractometer) (I calibrate every time)
Temperature = 78

I introduced the 2 clown fish first into the tank. Then I tried a yellow tang and purple tang together about a month later. The yellow tang did not make it. After that I added 2 cardinal fish. One day the cardinal fish went missing. I never found his body. 2 days ago I added a lawnmower blenny. This morning upon waking up I fed the fish like normal and everyone ate. I returned home from work at 3:00 and was feeding the tank when I noticed I only saw one of the clown fish. Do you all have any thoughts on what might have happened to him? On researching I found some articles on stray voltage. Is this a possibility? Thank you for your help! Cheers!

Josh Hobgood · May 6, 2019

Mastiffsrule · May 6, 2019

Sorry to hear about the losses. Stray voltage could cause issues but i Am prone to think illness.

Anything noticed about fish? Flashing, scratching, spots, anything else maybe?

Did fish go thru quarantine or other process before put in tank

Swoody · May 6, 2019

While it’s possible for your tangs to kill those fish...(although unlikely if you have not witnessed aggressive behavior) I would guess you have a very full clean up crew .... I lost a relatively large plecostomos in a fresh water tank with no clean up crew and I was absolutely thrown that I could not find this fish..... I have also “lost” fish in a tank only to have them appear after a couple weeks. That would be great... if they are dead and not carpet surfers, why may be tough to figure out. All other fish doing fine??

cflores · May 6, 2019

Looks like your parameters are fine. Could be a number of things, given how fast you lost them I would say brook, or velvet. Hard to tell with a body. Do you have a clean up crew ? They could have made short work of the body. Sometimes they hide in rock work when they are sick and die there. I would check your other fish for signs of distress

Josh Hobgood · May 6, 2019

Everyone is eating that I see. I did not quarantine the clowns in January. Although I have a tank set up for this as of today. I have not noticed any unusual behavior. My clean up crew is not full yet. 10 snails. 10 hermits. An emerald crab. And a cleaner shrimp. How should I best proceed in future. I am just a little discouraged because my numbers are good but I know things still happen.

Josh Hobgood · May 6, 2019

It could have been the cardinal I put in a month ago that died. Maybe he gave something to clown?

Hemmdog · May 6, 2019

Josh Hobgood said:
It could have been the cardinal I put in a month ago that died. Maybe he gave something to clown?

I wouldn’t over think it to much. Fish just go missing occasionally. I’m missing 3 since I started. No other fish are sick, no stray voltage, no sign of their body.

Josh Hobgood · May 6, 2019

Just want to make sure I’m doing my best to care for the tank!

sfin52 · May 6, 2019

I lost a yellow watchman for a month. Than one day heather yelled for me to come over to the tank saying I found the goby. I had moved to tbe back left corner under a base rock.

Mastiffsrule · May 6, 2019

I would keep a close eye on the rest. Look closely at fins and scales for any unusual marks. Want to be sure there isn’t something else going on. If you have a lot of rock they can disappear, but best if we find out why.

If you rule out all else, it could be

Jedi knight · May 6, 2019

Sorry for your loss of fish I don’t know what could’ve caused that to happen but maybe they could’ve been sick prior To purchase cuz I’ve had my 2 clowns fish for 2 years now