Losing clowns :-(

[lyndaj]

Hello,
First off, I'm new. I'm Lynda. Have had freshwater tanks for years including African Cichlids. Have had a 65 gallon marine tank up for about two months now, first simply cycling water, then live rock, then two damsels, then five clowns, one blanket anemone, one scotter goby.
The 5 clowns, anemone and scooter went in last Saturday. By this Saturday we were down to two clowns. No idea where one went, but found the bodies of the other two.
Went back to dealer yesterday and put in two more clowns, one is dead today and one is not looking good.
Our water was tested by the dealer last Saturday before the fish went in. The goby, damsels and anemone are doing fine.
Ideas? I really appreciate any help you can provide.
Lynda

 

[shrimpy brains]

Welcome!
What kind of clowns?? It is not recommended to mix species. Also, within the same species, IMO, 2 are sufficient. Are they fighting?? MY thought would be that they are killing each other.
There are certainly alot of other possibilities. One would be that you are adding alot of livestock, very quickly, and your bacteria can not keep up with the quickly expanding bioload. (6 fish and one anemone)
Hope this helps!

 

[lyndaj]

Sorry, they are percolas. No, nobody is fighting. Our dealer, who is very reputable, thought there was no problem adding the clowns, anemone and scotter at the same time considering how long the tank has been up and the size.

 

[shrimpy brains]

Ok, so what are your tank parameters? PH, ammonia, nitrates, nitrites, and phosphates?
What kind of filtration do you have?
How much live rock?
Have you lost anything else? Or just the clowns?
Is your tank covered?
Do they appear healthy? Any heavy breathing?
Do they rub on rocks?
Any spotting or discoloration on fish?

 

[lyndaj]

Originally Posted by Shrimpy Brains
http:///forum/post/3130680
Ok, so what are your tank parameters? PH, ammonia, nitrates, nitrites, and phosphates?
What kind of filtration do you have?
How much live rock?
Have you lost anything else? Or just the clowns?
Is your tank covered?
Do they appear healthy? Any heavy breathing?
Do they rub on rocks?
Any spotting or discoloration on fish?
Will post parameters later.
Filtration: Wet/Dry
Live Rock: Approximately 60 lbs
Lost Anything Else: One blue damsel, but three weeks ago
Tank Covered: Yes
Appear Healthy/Heavy Breathing: Totally appear healthy, no heavy breathing
Rubbing on Rocks: no
Spotting/Discoloration: none

 

[marchingbandjs]

This is abnormal Clowns are very tough and can go through a lot. My guess is they are fighting. they wont fight untill the lights go out most times... i would turn the lights out then come back 1 hour later and take a look...
Its the only explanation or the LFS u get it from is bad.. but you say its now so ya... but 5 clowns is a bit risky.... Its not parameters if the anemone is doing good... it has to be other fish

 

[lyndaj]

Here are the parameters that we can test for:
pH: 8.0
Ammonia: 0 mg/l
Nitrite: <0.3 mg/l

 

[nw2salt08]

Please don't take this the wrong way...just trying to give some good advice. I would not put more than one pair of clownfish in any tank. Clownfish are very territorial, even to their own kind. They are most likely all fighting over territory in your tank. Not to mention, if they're all trying to figure out who to pair with that could be very confusing for them and could be why they're coming up dead. I would just keep two in there and take the rest back. From the parameters that you posted, you're showing nitrites....that needs to be addressed. I would do some small water changes every other day til your nitrites come down. That should be a 0.- That will hurt the fish. Nitrates, on the other hand, can get not higher than a 20 before you'll need to follow the same regimen. I would buy a really good clownfish manual and read up on them. They're wonderful fish but they're part of the damsel family and are aggressive about territory. I hope that this is helpful and that I didn't offend you. Any store that would sell someone new to the saltwater hobby that many clowns, is trying to rip you off so you keep coming back to spend more money and take more bad advice. Do all research yourself on anything you want to purchase. Not saying you can't go back there and shop.... just saying make sure to prepare yourself with knowledge so you won't have someone take advantage of you and you'll have better results in your tank.Welcome to SWF!- Glad that you're here!

 

[flower]

Welcome...sorry such a sad time.
I agree more than 2 clowns is a bad idea...but...damsels are even meaner, more territorial and will eventualy kill everything you put into the tank until down to one damsel remaining...it will also bite you to the blood if you put your hand into the tank.
I think what you really need is a good fish book, so you can decide what gets along well together, as well as explanations on each...here is a picture of the one I use, with a page so you can see what kind of info it offers..

 

[windlasher]

Originally Posted by Nw2Salt08
http:///forum/post/3131007
Please don't take this the wrong way...just trying to give some good advice. I would not put more than one pair of clownfish in any tank. Clownfish are very territorial, even to their own kind. They are most likely all fighting over territory in your tank. Not to mention, if they're all trying to figure out who to pair with that could be very confusing for them and could be why they're coming up dead. I would just keep two in there and take the rest back. From the parameters that you posted, you're showing nitrites....that needs to be addressed. I would do some small water changes every other day til your nitrites come down. That should be a 0.- That will hurt the fish. Nitrates, on the other hand, can get not higher than a 20 before you'll need to follow the same regimen. I would buy a really good clownfish manual and read up on them. They're wonderful fish but they're part of the damsel family and are aggressive about territory. I hope that this is helpful and that I didn't offend you. Any store that would sell someone new to the saltwater hobby that many clowns, is trying to rip you off so you keep coming back to spend more money and take more bad advice. Do all research yourself on anything you want to purchase. Not saying you can't go back there and shop.... just saying make sure to prepare yourself with knowledge so you won't have someone take advantage of you and you'll have better results in your tank.Welcome to SWF!- Glad that you're here!

More than 2 clowns is really a bad idea.

 

[fishtaco]

I am also a little concerned that you lost that damsel in addition to the clowns. Any chance you got a hitch hiker like an aggresive crab or shrimp that is getting them after the lights go off?