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Some test kits have difficulty discerning between zero and small amounts of ammonia. However, even small amounts of ammonia can be toxic. You might consider doing a water change (which would also dilute any other toxins which may be playing a role). Products to reduce ammonia levels, such as...

Did the fish look okay? The most common disease that would have killed a clownfish is brooklynella. Do you quarantine? Is anything new in the tank? New introductions are more likely to be part of the root of the problem.

I also do not feel that carbon will remove much carbon. Carbon is a good medium to remove organic toxins. It is nearly useless for inorganic toxins. The cuprisorb will work a little better. However, usually if you want to have inverts, it is best to get rid of all of your substrate and live rock.

Subtrate is not necessary and can actually make it harder to keep the tank clean. However, if you have to use an uncycled tank, adding some substrate from your display tank will help this cycle faster.

A refractometer is more expensive up front but is more accurate. It also is easier to use after you learn how to do this. Also, after breaking several glass hydrometers, the refractometer really isn't too expensive. The plastic swing-arm hydrometers are notoriously inaccurate after they have...

They do get acclimated to their environment as well as learn daily patterns. However, their memory for specific events is very short. I saw one statistic that estimated that the average memory of a goldfish lasted only 7 seconds.

Generally the saltwater will actually help clean out a wound (particularly if you can get your cleaner shrimp to clean out the wound). :) However, there are rare infections that marine hobbyists are prone to get from their tank. If you do get an infection on your hand/arm bad enough to go to...

Usually a combination of water changes with regular salinity saltwater combined with not replacing evaporative losses. Some people also make some concentrated saltwater with a specific gravity ~1.030 but this is a lot harder to regulate (as salts will sometimes precipitate out at that salinity).

The life cycle of ich varies between 23-38 days (depending on temperature). Thirty days of being completely fishless is sufficient to ensure the ich is gone from your display tank. Some people raise their tank's temperature a degree or so to increase the odds the ich is gone. 6 weeks is used for...

I didn't realize that camel-backed shrimp will eat corals when I purchase mine. I lost all of my colony polyps to this shrimp. I have also not been able to successfully keep open brain corals. However, I do have a bubble coral, pink leather coral, green star polyps, blastomusa, toadstool...

Originally posted by zanoshano i defiently understand where your going with this. but i dont understand how this is going to destroy ich in the main tank...? Saltwater ich has a part of its lifecycle which requires fish. If your tank is fishless for ~30 days (at least 28) the ich will die...

I just had one die after about a year in my tank. It surfaced (which is did rarely) and started to open slightly. The cleaner shrimp then started working on him. The next day the clam had opened up completely and was empty. (and the following day, my short-spined urchin picked it up, attached it...

Yes it is possible. The natural history of the disease is for trophonts (spots) to develop to a certain size and then fall off your fish. They are often at their largest when you notice the disease. They fall off to reproduce in the substrate of your tank. Within a few weeks, there may be many...

The above information is only accurate for freshwater ich. Some people can manage to keep their fish alive as some fish can develop a low level immunity to ich so there is a lower amount of the parasite in their systems (sometimes with the use of UV systems and garlic). If you have set up your...

Many people would avoid the rocks and sand. It is harder to keep a tank very clean with these (and you may ruin the live rock if you need to do hyposalinity. These are a good idea if you need to use the tank before it has cycled. Instead of the rocks, most people use PVC pipe pieces to give the...

Freshwater ich is predominantly brought on by environmental stress. Saltwater ich is a completely different disease and has to be brought into your tank (usually on a fish). Acllimating properly is always smart (and is much more important than for freshwater). However, this will not prevent or...

this is unlikely to be a disease. It is more likely some microfauna from your live rock which is reproducing. These often have population explosions in a young tank. They will regulate their own populations as other predators also reproduce.

Environmental stress is not thought to play a role for causation of saltwater ich. It has to be introduced into the tank. (This is not true for freshwater ich which can show up spontaneously if something else is wrong with the tank). Some fish can develop a limited immunity to ich which does...

Are there any new fish in the tank? If nothing else has been added and rock scraping is the only symptom, this may just be a young fish learning to swim/scratch himself. You are best to just watch the fish for other symptoms.

It sounds like this is a young tank. A water change would be a good idea. There are many other toxins besides ammonia and nitrites which develop during the cycle. Tangs are very sensitive to water quality so this is probably the issue. Most people recommend that the tank should be several months...