Clownfish Died!!

[murphizzle]

:help: Hey...about a couple of days ago i noticed that one of my clownfish was swimming awkwardly and looked like he was breathing really heavily.....he stayed at the bottom of the tank and would not eat anything.....My tank is 10 gallons and i have five pounds of live rock, live sand...and good lighting.....I just put the two clownfish in about two weeks ago when my local fish store checked and told me that my water was ok after about a month of being set up......The fishes color was much darker than my other clownfish.....Last night he stayed at the bottom of the tank and was hardly moving.....i do not have a hospital tank so i took him out and put him in another container with salt water......This morning i noticed he was dead.....I'm now worried that my other clownfish is at risk of dieing......What should i do?????....is there anyway to treat a sick fish???.....
:help: ......Thanks......

 

[emmitt]

You need to get a test kit to find out your levels. At least nitrates, nitrite, ammonia and ph. Your tank probably hasnt finished cycling yet.

 

[jbyrd]

Sometimes you can bring your water to a fish store to be check. A GOOD pet store that is. Some in my area will tell me the truth about stuff while others will tell ya what you wanna here so you will spend money in their store. You just have to find a good store you will know when you find it.

 

[dmjordan]

The container you put your clown in....did it have a heater, filter, aerator?
A test kit is a must in this hobby. You don't want to start treating your tank for anything without you knowing and being able to test all levels yourself. The type of water, salinity, ammonia, trite, trate, ph, temp. can all effect the health of your fish.
Small tanks are harder to maintain (water quality wise) than a larger tank. You have no room or magin for error or lack of husbandry practices in small tanks. 1 gal of water loss in a 10 gal tank will have a more noticable rise in salinty than losing 1 gal of water in a 55.
With only 5 lbs of LR and no mention of LS your tank IMO could not have cycled in a month.
2 fish added at the same time in that size tank might have been the problem also. Your tank needs time to increase its bio load to handle the waste produced by each fish. This is just my opinion and hopefully others can help you out more.
Sorry for your loss.

 

[mryoung7]

isn't 3 clowns in a 10-gallon too much? about what size are/were they?

 

[murphizzle]

Originally Posted by mryoung7
isn't 3 clowns in a 10-gallon too much? about what size are/were they?
I only had two and they werent even 2 in

 

[mryoung7]

my mistake. i'd say get your levels checked somewhere else ... second opinion.

 

[zanoshanox]

I probably wouldnt recomend putting him into the container, but a test kit is a DEFINATE necesity. Sorry for your loss.

 

[fanker]

well small tanks change alot they crash suddenly. do u have anything else in your tank? it could have crashed or the fish just was bad when u got it.

 

[lemon drop]

I have had challenges with clown fish lately myself. My LFS finally admitted to me after the thrid one I bought bit the dust after two days (all other fish fine) that they are getting poor quality ones from thier supplier. They said since the popularity of Finding Nemo that clown fish are in demand and people take ones from the reef they woudn't otherwise take.
I do agree that you need a test kit of your own, but take heart that you are not the only one.

 

[murphizzle]

i just got a new clownfish.......he and the other one are getting along well....i hope everything is ok with this one