Help my clown! :(

[jamescameron1]

This morning I woke up to my clown fish Clark refusing to come out of his hiding place. When I did the morning feeding he still didn't want to come out. He swam a little today but mostly just hid under rocks. Right now hes laying on the bottom and breathing heavily... he also seems to be propping himself up right with his fins. He doesn't have any spots on him and he looks perfectly normal, just like the day I brought him home. I just did a water change and he moved a little but hes still breathing heavily and laying on the bottom for the most part

Does anyone know whats wrong and how to help him out

 

[jamescameron1]

Nevermind... no help needed... he died

He was my very first salt water fish

 

[troy989]

so sorrry to hear that my first fish died after a week of having him no signs of sicknes the levels were good he just died

 

[sharkbait09]

hello,
im really sorry he died and ur first fish! and its not ur fault!
thanx!!

 

[mkroher]

Did you cycle the tank with the fish?

 

[meowzer]

Man I am soooo sorry.....did you test the water again? It may have been too soon

 

[jamescameron1]

ammonia is coming down... my last test was as follows
Nitrite 0
Nitrate 1
Ammonia .2
the water change seemed to perk him up a little but then he died

My new black clown and my yellow watchman are perfectly fine tho same with everyone else

 

[meowzer]

Are you getting ready to do another w/c tomorrow?

 

[jamescameron1]

yea I am

 

[beth]

Likely the ammonia. Is this your only fish? Is your tank relatively new?

 

[sharkbait09]

 

[jamescameron1]

Originally Posted by Beth
http:///forum/post/3124085
Likely the ammonia. Is this your only fish? Is your tank relatively new?
Its a month and a half old and I have 2 more fish in it that appear to be doing just fine. I figure the ammonia will be down to almost nothing if not 0 after another water change today... I am running a water test as we speak.
**TEST RESULTS**
Nitrite 0.1
Nirtate 2
Ammonia 0.15

 

[jamescameron1]

I think I found the source of the ammonia... one of my cleaner clams had died under the sand and was rotting... now that hes out I'm gonna do a water change and hope that brings the level down.

 

[meowzer]

HMMM...Usually when the clams die, they surface....at least the 2 I have had die did, and then my snails had a treat...LOL

 

[jamescameron1]

It used to be all the way under... but today when I looked it was sticking out a bit and most of the internals had been eaten.

 

[mr. wonderful]

This is what happened to my cleaner clams - came to the top and everyone and a nice lunch - Sorry to hear about your clown.

 

[jamescameron1]

Thanks for the condolences guys... Whats really sad is our new black clown is really sad and is searching for a new buddy... he keeps trying to hang out with our Yellow Watchman... but I don't think hes in the mood to hang out

 

[jamescameron1]

Argh! 3 water changes and the ammonia level won't go down... what am I doing wrong?

 

[meowzer]

Are you being careful not to stir stuff up? BE VERY careful when doing your test to follow all instructions also....
Are you running carbon?

 

[jamescameron1]

yes i am running carbon... i might wash one of the filters out maybe that will help