Clownfish death?

Question

I've spent the past few months setting up a new 20 gallon saltwater tank. I thought I'd done everything right. I measured the specific gravity every few days, kept the temperature right, took regular Ph, nitrate, nitride and ammonia tests. I added live sand first, ages ago now, and let it run for a few weeks with just that. Then I started adding liverock, about 10lbs of it. I let it run with that for about three weeks, doing regular tests to make sure everything was in order. Feather dusters sprouted out pretty soon, along with other random tiny living things. I thought it was safe to add a fish, a hardy one, to help. I picked out a healthy-looking tank-bred Ocellaris clownfish, yesterday. Today I came home and couldn't see him. After searching I found him, dead, in a gap in the rocks. There are no traces of harm on him, he looked healthy. I had noticed some Aiptasia, two of them to the best of my knowledge, and I removed them at once. Why did he die? :(

Answer 1

You said you didn't notice anything wrong with him? He may have been just stressed out. When you put him in the tank did you watch him for a while? If you did was he breathing heavy or rapidly, change colors (lighter) or did he lay on his side? Those are all signs of a stressed fish. Did you properly acclimate him? If you did not float the bag long enough and SLOWLY add your own tank water into the bag then you may have shocked him by a temp. change or a difference in salinity from where he came from. If you did all those things OK then maybe your fish just couldn't take all the moving from tank to tank and died. No telling for sure. Good luck though, salt water is the best!

Answer 2

Sometimes you have to check the dealer you bought the clownfish from. Petsmart or petco are not reputable dealers. Not all dealers are worthy of buying from. Did you ask to see if the fish was eating before you bought em? Sometimes clownfish appear healthy and come with a disease called brookenella hard to spot unless you know what it looks like. If you want a good fish make sure its eating 1st before you buy, ask the dealer how long it's been there, anything less than 2 weeks is usually too soon to determine if the fish is healthy...Ask the dealer to hold it for you put a small deposite on it and come back in a couple weeks and make sure its still there and eating fine....Do this and your chances of fish survival will increase dramitically...Plus you wont waste your money if the fish dies at the store....They will refund your money or put it to store credit....make sure you get a receipt and keep it for your records....don't use any copper treatments becuz clownfish are allergic to it and will die...if you have used a copper treatment it will stay in the live sand and live rock and there's no getting rid of it....do a partial water change of 50% make sure you use r/o di mixed water....test it in a few days and see....

Answer 3

reason this? it quite is common clownfish habit. in case you informed your fish shop you had a clown already, and that they did no longer enable you comprehend that it became risky, and to assume combating/dying, or they did no longer supply you tricks on lowering aggression while introducing new fish, then they do no longer comprehend what they're doing what must you do? the two wait and see what happens or separate the tank in a roundabout way so as that they do no longer beat one yet another to dying. generally you enable the fish settle their themes and that they the two cool down or one dies. be conscious: if the tank is in simple terms too small, then this would possibly not supply up. If the tank is wholesome and massive adequate and has adequate rock then they could cool right down to territories.

Answer 4

I can't tell you why he died but I always start with small cheap fish until I know they are all surviving before adding expensive fish. Did you only have him for one day? It might not be you tank, if you call within 24-48 hours some places will give you a new one.

Answer 5

did you acclimate him correctly? If it got a sudden change in temp, or salinity, it might have been what killed the fish. it sounds as if your water conditions are doing great. try to get a couple damsels of some kind. these fish can be aggressive, but they are small. it might have been that the fish was not healthy when you bought it.

Answer 6

did you check salinity and did you acclimate him/her correctly? if not it probably just died of stress try adding a neon goby

http://www.liveaquaria.com/product/prod_Display.cfm?pCatId=194

they are cheap and very hardy if they do ok anything will be fine and it will save you some money best of luck with ur tank and if u need help lemmie know i take care of 4 saltwater aquariums at my school so i know a bit about it

Answer 7

some times fish just die and we have no idea why thease things just happen I had a parrot cichlid die on me a couple of weeks ago for no reason. sorry for your lost! :(