Why do fish die at night?

Question

In a salt water reef tank, I have a maroon clownfish, some various hermit crabs, and too many bristle worms to count both durring the day and at night. Every time I add a new fish (dwarf angels mostly), it does great until the lights go out and it hides for the night. What could be killing it by morning?

Answer 1

How are you acclimating it to the tank? How different is the water in your tank and the store you bought the fish from? Did the fish show any signs of disease at the store, and did it appear to be lively and eating?

If the fish wasn't healthy, it probably wouldn't have survived too long at the store, let alone a move. Saltwater fish are NOT good at dealing with changes in their water - the ocean is so vast that it takes a very long time for any change whatsoever. This makes it so that even minor changes in salinity or pH can have a big effect on the fish. That means you have to be VERY careful when acclimating a new fish to your aquarium. Take into account the differences in the water it's coming from and the water it's going to. More often than not, it's simpler to match your water to the shop water - almost all reputable shops have similiar water. This makes acclimating them alot safer and easier on the fish.

If you're just letting them sit in the bag for 15 minutes to get temperature acclimated, then letting them go, you're going to kill the fish. Saltwater fish have a lengthy acclimation period, but it depends on the differences between your own and the shop's water.

Answer 2

--http://www.liveaquaria.com/product/prod_Display.cfm?siteid=21&pCatId=105

--http://www.clownfish.ws/maroon.php
A Maroon Clownfish can reach a size of 4-6 inches. In the wild, Maroon Clownfish will always try to find an anemone that can protect it from predators, but in an aquarium with no predators around an anemone is not mandatory. You should however provide your Maroon Clownfish with some other type of safe place in the tank, since a barren aquarium can make the fish feel stressed. Keeping an anemone is hard and should not be tried if you are a beginner saltwater aquarist, but when you feel more confident the anemone-clownfish relationship can be highly fascinating. Always carefully research the anemone species that you are interested in before you get one, since anemones have particular requirements that differs from the typical fish requirements. If you provide your Maroon Clownfish with an anemone species that it has never before encountered, the fish will need some time to adjust to the new anemone. During this acclimatization period, your Maroon Clownfish will not be protected from the dangerous sting of the anemone.

The Maroon Clownfish will usually only display severe aggressive behavior toward non-clownfish species if a fish tries to venture into the territory claimed by the Maroon Clownfish

--http://www.2cah.com/pandora/P_biaculeatus.html

--http://www.poseidonsrealm.com/maroon.htm

Behavior: Aggressive towards other clowns and its own species, if not a mated pair. It is rather noteworthy in this respect that the lives and well-being of these fishes does not depend on the anemone and how it acts, behaves and in what shape it is itself, rather, the clown fishes and the damselfishes catch their own food. They merely use the anemone to protect themselves from predators by hiding amongst the tentacles when danger threatens. Both the above species will do fine without any anemones in an aquarium.

Answer 3

Too much fun for dwarf angels to be one in the crowd..

you have a clownfish,
you got those hermit crabs,
& you have way too many bristle worms---

it's freaking them out being in such a company with no light & as dark night sets in they just drown themselves to death basically.

Shame on you,you were far away in dreamland to even rescue them when they had their last "blurb"...

tsk.

Answer 4

Are you placing the bag that you bought the fish in,in the tank to let the temperature adjust.If the fish does not acclamate and the temperature change is too drastic the fish will go into shock and die.They just don't die instantly.So by the next day,dead fish.If you're already doing this then I don't have an answer for you.

Answer 5

plausible causes: - Tank length too small. 7 neon tetras and a pair of guppies want atleast a fifteen gallon fish tank. - You did not cycle the fish tank - No filter out in the fish tank. - you purchased ill neon tetras, which I sort of doubt. Neon tetras are very tender fish, so in the journey that they were the first to die, i'm positive you've an issue with the water.

Answer 6

If you are acclimating the fish correctly, then it may be the bristle worms. I would take a red light at night and observe carefully.

Answer 7

The Chupacabra did it.


http://skepdic.com/chupa.html

Answer 8

Don't turn the lights out.

Someone's getting stressed out and beaten up.

Is your tank clean?

Answer 9

It's really a vampire fish. The light kills it.

Answer 10

close the door in the room so the cat can't eat them, meowwwwwwwwwwwwwww