False clown fish dying

disaster

disaster

Member
Please Help. I am new to this hobby. I have a 28 gallon tank, live rock, emperor filter. The tank has been established approx. 2 months. I cycled the tank with 2 damsel fish but removed them after I introduced a clown which they promptly attacked and killed. The following week I purchased 2 false clowns (wild caught), and a chocolate chip star. which were in the tank for 1 week, after which I purchased a yellow tang. All was going well, the clowns were beginning to eat and swim around as opposed to staying in a corner. Four days ago my star fish died, two days after that I awoke to find a dead clown fish. All levels, temp and salinity have been monitored closely and are always perfect. The following morning I was looking at my last clown fish swimming around and all of a sudden it looked like he had a heart attack. It droped to the sand bed and lived for 5 minutes longer. As soon as this happened I took all the levels again which were perfect. The tang seems to be fine for now. Any suggestions as to what may have happened and what should I do now. I am afraid to add any more fish.
Thank You
 
sly

sly

Active Member
That tank is too small for a tang. It may be bullying the other fish which can kill them.
You say your levels are perfect... what exactly are they? It sounds like you are doing what most of us have done and that's add too many fish too quickly in too small of a tank.
How do you acclimate your fish?
 
disaster

disaster

Member
I realize we will have to give the tang up when he gets bigger. At this point the tang has not once seemed to bother the clowns. The levels are as follows PH 8.3 ammonia 0, nitrate 0, nitrate 0, salinity 1.022. My thought was the acclimation was a problem. I had bought the 2 clowns the day they arrived at the store. I did not drip acclimate them, but floated them for 20 minutes then removed a small amount of the bag water and replaced my tank water. I did this for about 20 minutes.
 
kanicky

kanicky

Member
Hmm...Definitely shouldn't have acclimated them that way. Ouch.
Read the link on your left titled "Acclimation". That's the way it should be done, because although the water in the bag may have become the same temperature as what's in the tank, the fish can still go into shock because the parameters are different in the tank.
In the future, use the drip acclimcation process and I think you'll have much happier fish :happyfish
 
sly

sly

Active Member
Did you pour the bag water into the tank? Most fish stores use heavy medications which should not be put in your tank. Salinity should be 1.025. Bring it up SLOWLY. I usually acclimate for at least 2 hours but others seem to do fine with less time.
 
sepulatian

sepulatian

Moderator
Originally Posted by disaster
I realize we will have to give the tang up when he gets bigger. At this point the tang has not once seemed to bother the clowns. The levels are as follows PH 8.3 ammonia 0, nitrate 0, nitrate 0, salinity 1.022. My thought was the acclimation was a problem. I had bought the 2 clowns the day they arrived at the store. I did not drip acclimate them, but floated them for 20 minutes then removed a small amount of the bag water and replaced my tank water. I did this for about 20 minutes.
Acclimation shock was likely a factor in them dieing and certainly was for the star. All salt creatures should be drip acclimated 3hrs for fish, 4hrs for inverts, 5+ for stars. The tang needs to come out. It does not matter how small he is now. They are open water swimmers and he will deteriorate quickly in such a small tank.
 
nick76

nick76

Active Member
Originally Posted by disaster
I realize we will have to give the tang up when he gets bigger. At this point the tang has not once seemed to bother the clowns. The levels are as follows PH 8.3 ammonia 0, nitrate 0, nitrate 0, salinity 1.022. My thought was the acclimation was a problem. I had bought the 2 clowns the day they arrived at the store. I did not drip acclimate them, but floated them for 20 minutes then removed a small amount of the bag water and replaced my tank water. I did this for about 20 minutes.
Well problem is the tang should not be in a 28 gallon ever. They need more space than that even in its early life. I only plan on having 4 fish in my 55gallon when its finished. Fish need lots of room to move around and establish territory. Most Suggest minimum of 75 to 90 gallons for a tang. Other say any 6 foot long tank.
Also They way u introduced them was not right. Everyone will tell u drip aclimate in a bucket. Add fish at least 1 at a time in month long intervals.
One last word of advice is start researching in books and online before u do anything else.
 
patrick8929

patrick8929

Active Member
when i acclimate i just set the bag in the tank for 10 min for temp
then i add some of my water to the bag wait for 10 min
add some of my water to the bag wait ten min
i do this until there is a majority of my water in the bag rather than the lfs's water
you dont have to drip
its not a have to thing as long as you take your time you can add fish with this method. i also know it is hard to sit there and look at the fish in the bag and really want to put it in your tank but the longer you take acclimating the longer you will get to see it in your tank.
 
disaster

disaster

Member
Has anyone had there fish swimming one minute and dying the next? Does the fact that they were wild caught false clowns as opposed to tank raised make a difference?
 
1journeyman

1journeyman

Active Member
Originally Posted by disaster
Has anyone had there fish swimming one minute and dying the next? Does the fact that they were wild caught false clowns as opposed to tank raised make a difference?
That's a new one. I'm going to move this thread to the disease forum so that you can get the help you need.
Have you checked for stray voltage in the tank?
 
sepulatian

sepulatian

Moderator
Originally Posted by disaster
Has anyone had there fish swimming one minute and dying the next? Does the fact that they were wild caught false clowns as opposed to tank raised make a difference?
The fish just dropped? Can you tell us more about your tank? How long has it been set up, how long after you put them in the tank did they die? Your acclimation time was no where near long enough though.
 
disaster

disaster

Member
The tank has been set up around 2 months. They lived for 2 weeks. One died, two days later the other false clown died right in front of me. The tang is still ok.
 
sepulatian

sepulatian

Moderator
Originally Posted by disaster
The tank has been set up around 2 months. They lived for 2 weeks. One died, two days later the other false clown died right in front of me. The tang is still ok.
Did you notice anything on their bodies before they died? A grey peeling material or white spots? That tang realy does have to go. I am not saying this to discourage you in any way, but he will start to deteriorate.
 
sepulatian

sepulatian

Moderator
Originally Posted by disaster
They looked perfect. No signs of disease.
Did you take water readings when this happened? If so, what exactly were they?
 
sepulatian

sepulatian

Moderator
Originally Posted by disaster
The levels were as follows PH 8.3 ammonia 0, nitrate 0, nitrate 0, salinity 1.022.
I would have to chalk this up to acclimation shock then.
 
sly

sly

Active Member
That sounds reasonable... if the levels were good and there are no obvious poisons in the tank since the tang seems to be surviving then the lack of proper acclimation may be the cause, especially if the clowns were shipped in natural seawater. No matter how good we try to synthesize salts, tank water is never the same as sea water.
 
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