My new oscellaris clown died!!

pohtr

pohtr

Member
I am so upset!! My new oscellaris clown that I added yesterday has died.
Last test results 2 days ago were:
salt 1.024
temp 83 (I think this might be really bad)
amm 0
pH 8.1
nitrite 0
nitrate 20 (due for water change)
I did the drip acclimation for about 1 1/2 hrs. and kept the tank light off for 4 hours like I was supposed to. The little guy seemed fine last night and this a.m. and was even eating a little.
The only other fish in the tank is a green chromis who is still fine and who was not bothering him either. Tank is a 90g. Oh, and I don't have powerheads yet cause I was told I didn't need them til I got more fish (?) I do have a skimmer that is just beginning to work. And the tank is 4 months old.
If it is the temp, the heater isn't even on and I have only one flourescent 10k light on for 10 hrs, and the room temp has been up to 78 only.
I am so discouraged and I don't want to get any more fish just to have them die. 4 of my first 5 fish (the green chromis) died within a few days of arrival. So far my success rate is miserable!!
Please help & thank you in advance....
 
dmitry

dmitry

Member
83 is a bit high, but it wouldn't have killed your clown so quickly. What concerns me is that you don't have power-heads! Especially in a tank as big as 90g! It doesn't matter how many fish you have in there - all fish need water movement and oxygen. You need power-heads!! Several of them! They move the water and keep it oxygenated! They need to break the surface of the water to bring the oxygen in. Get power-heads!!!!
 
bigarn

bigarn

Active Member
I agree 100% You have to have water movement, especially at the surface to allow for gas and oxygen exchange. Unless you have radical temp swings, 83 wouldn't kill them. :D
 
pohtr

pohtr

Member
O.K., will do, but I at least do have the wet dry with the mag 500 and I have the thingy aimed for surface movement.
Do you think that would have killed the little guy that fast?
During the day he went sideways before he died, does that mean anything?
 
K

kimc

Guest
Sorry about your loss... Don't get discouraged!! There is way to much to enjoy.. Last summer after 3 hurricanes I lost almost everything in my 12gal & 7 gal nano's.... I have recently upgraded to a 90 gal and pray we make it through the summer with no hurricanes!!! Although we did go out a buy a generator large enough to run a small a/c unit, the fridge and of course my tank!!!
 
pohtr

pohtr

Member
That's scarey. Losing everything after you finally get it all working and get attached to all the fish....I just don't know if I'll ever get to the point where everything is working!
At 4 months I have one fish. I guess I'm learning lots of patience. And learning to take letdowns. Its such a high to have a new fish and such a LOW to lose one.
 
pohtr

pohtr

Member
Well, does anyone else out there have an opinion as to what might have killed my little fish??????
Need to figure out what it is so I can fix it and some day have fish that live!!
 
weberian

weberian

Member
Did the fish come from LFS or from mail order? Do you have any other test kit parameters that you could test for?
 
pohtr

pohtr

Member
The fish came from the LFS and had been there about a week. It looked very healthy.
What else should I test for? Maybe I should get more test kits?
 
airforceb2

airforceb2

Active Member
Is this tank brand new or used? Have you ever added any treatment chemicals to the water? What kind of water do you use?
 
birdy

birdy

Active Member
Do you know if it was an aquacultured clown or if it was wildcaught.
If it was wildcaught then just the stress of moving from one tank to another can kill it.
 
pohtr

pohtr

Member
The tank is used, the prev owners probably (key word) didn't use treatments since they only had a big oscar & a placo. I have not used any treatments or weird stuff.
I did, however, start out with tap water (treated) because I couldn't fathom another way to get 90 gal in the living room all at once. But my water changes have been with bought water, not neccesarily R.O. cause I couldn't find any. The arrow crab, emerald crab and little snails and hermits all seem to be fine. Also the chromis is fine too. There's lots of itsy bitsy life and pods on the glass which makes me think the water's o.k.
 
airforceb2

airforceb2

Active Member
What I'm concerned about is that the tank was freshwater before. Oscars are very dirty fish and may have been treated with copper if they ever got sick. If this was the case though, your inverts would be joining your clown in fishy heaven. Like Birdy said, if they are wild fish, they are used to a huge ocean to play in and now they are stuck in a tiny box.
 
pohtr

pohtr

Member
It was tank raised, I got him especially cause I knew he'd be the best for newbs.
I have one piece of (formally) dead rock (which I soaked in bleach water and then fresh water forever and rinsed rinsed rinsed) that I had in a previous fresh water tank. It could very well have been exposed to the nasty green medicine. If that is the case, besides removing that piece, then do I need to do something else? Can the water be tested for whatever bad stuff might be in the water, and if so then what tests do I need? And if there is some, then will water changes correct it?
Could that be enough to kill a fish over night when all the other critters are still fine?
 
birdy

birdy

Active Member
Honestly, more than likely it is just one of those things, most people loose a fish especially a newly bought one, it sucks and you wish it didn't happen. If your snails and crabs are alive then there most likely is nothing in the tank that will kill fish. It certainly cannot hurt to test the tank for copper and all the other basics, but I have a feeling this was just one of those things.
Good luck on your future fish.
 
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