Clownfish keep dying

J

Justindm13

New Member
I am very new to the hobby and have a 29 gallon saltwater tank that has been set up for about 2 months. I have about 20 lbs of live rock that I purchased from a LFS and about 10 lbs of dry rock. It took about 3 weeks to cycle and once my levels were all 0, I put in 1 small clownfish. After about a week, everything was fine so I got an additional larger clownfish. However, the larger clownfish died in about 10 days. The small one was still fine. I waited about a week and nothing happened so I thought I should get another clownfish, but again it died in about a week. I noticed that they would get pale the night before and in the morning I would find them dead. They were all actively eating, even the night they died. I have no idea why. I have watched level very closely and done 20% water changes about every 10-14 days and seen no indication that anything was wrong. The little clownfish had acted fine, but then about a week later it died as well. I have notice lots of little white dots that stick to the glass showing up EVERYWHERE, but all I could find is that they are just hydroids..? or something like that, and most things I could find say they will go away with time. I currently have no fish in the tank and am nervous to add any fish till I find out why they are dying. There are several bristle worms and hundreds of amphipods crawling around everywhere. I also have 2 bubble bee snails, 1 nassarius snail, and 2 cerith snails. Any thoughts?
 
flower

flower

Well-Known Member
Hi, the "white things" on the glass is a hydroid, they sting seahorses but I don't think they are dangerous to fish...I said I THINK because I'm not sure. I had them, but not in large numbers in my reef and they didn't seem to bother anything.

How did you cycle the tank?
 
J

Justindm13

New Member
I actually started with 2 damsels since that is what the guy at the LFS suggested, but they died in only a few days. Wish I wouldn't have done that. Then I got the test kits and waited for a few weeks til all levels were 0.
 
aduvall

aduvall

Member
Clowns tend to be pretty hardy... are they eating? You said all of your levels are at 0? What is your PH and your salinity?
 
J

Justindm13

New Member
Yeah they were eating really well. pH was a little low at about 7.9 and salinity is at 1.024. I do have a couple corals in there so I slowly moved it from 1.020 to 1.024 through my water changes.
 
aduvall

aduvall

Member
Wow.. Yeah that pH is a little low but generally I think 7.8 is where real trouble starts.

None of the inverts died?
 
aduvall

aduvall

Member
The pale shouldn't have anything to do with it. A lot of fish lose some color at night.

The only thing I can think of is the second one you bought was sick (which is odd sense they were eating fine) and then gave it to the little before he died. Little passed to the new on and then died himself.

Were there any signs of aggression? How did you acclimate them?
 
pegasus

pegasus

Well-Known Member
Seems strange that the ampipods and snails are doing well, but the fish are dying. Clowns have a slime coating that protects them from anemone stings, so hydroids certainly wouldn't pose a threat. Water parameters look good. PH might be a little low for some people's standards, but definitely not critical... both of my tanks run around that level. The only logical explanation is disease.
 
aduvall

aduvall

Member
^ agreed. I can't think of anything else. Justin, why don't you post this is the disease forum. Beth would maybe have some ideas as would others.
 
bang guy

bang guy

Moderator
Calling Beth - Is there a downtime for Brooklynella? Meaning, If there are no fish for a week will the protozoans die?
 
beth

beth

Administrator
Staff member
There is a good deal of varying opinions on the life cycle of brook. Likely the reason for this is because the individual parasites do not follow a life-cycle all at the same time (some may be attached to fish while others may be free-swimming and so forth). Brook has a two-part life cycle: attached to fish feeding and rapidly multiplying and the free-swimming stages. In the free-swimming stage, the parasite can live for quite some time without the fish host. The aquarium should remain fallow for no less than one full month. 6 weeks would be a more secure timeframe.

The problem here may be aggression, not brook. So far, other then sudden death, the OP has not posted any observed symptoms of brook. Need more info on fish. Usually, clowns that are not paired up will end up with problems. One will become the aggressor against the other.
 
J

Justindm13

New Member
I didn't realize there were more posts here. I don't think it is brooklynella because the fish haven't looked like that, but I went to the LFS and told my tale and they had no idea as well. All levels have stayed fine and I was even able to bring up my PH to 8.2 using proper PH. I waited a few weeks and everyone I talked to said to try again and see what happens. So last Sat. the 7th I bought 2 more clownfish and acclimated them for over 2 hours. All seemed to be going really well and they were happy as could be. They started eating and were doing fine; however, today when I woke up the bigger of the 2 had died and now the other is not going well either. He is currently swimming at the bottom of the tank having difficulty swimming and breathing really heavy. He is also pale and has white specs on his tail and top fin. I have seen the white specs before and I think they have been getting them from rubbing up against the glass (where all the hydroids are), because they come and go very quickly and are usually gone the next day. I have no idea what could be happening. If ICH was the problem, could it kill them this quickly? Also, I have a glass lid on the tank, could this be stopping the oxygen exchange enough that it would kill the fish? I'm running out of ideas. I do have some red slime algae on the back of the tank, but it hasn't really gotten out of control so I don't think that could anything to do with it either.
 
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