Recurring Clown Fish Problems

[aquafox]

I have an odd situation. There is something in my tank that is affecting clownfish - specifically percula and possibly maroon species. Everytime I get perculas, they enter my tank and become diseased and die. Now I must mention that this tank is a fully established sytem with over 300 gallons of water flow. I have tangs, gobies, chromis, a coral beauty, firefish, etc. I even have a cinnamon clown that is doing wonderful (he was the first fish I ever bought!). Let me mention here that I do not put the perculas in with the cinnamon, I have two tanks - a 46 gallon and a 220 gallon - all plumbed together so the water parameters are the same for both tanks. What happens is that I will get perculas, hospitalize them for 10 days or so, then move them to my regular tank. They live about a month, appear to be doing fine, and then die! I have never dealt with anything so strange. I got them from different sources - even went without hospitalizing one I got from a friend with an established, safe tank - on the hope maybe they were picking up some bacteria from my hospital - no luck - they all die. So I have sworn off the perculas - I don't want to murder any more - but I would really like to know what might be happening. After they die, I see whitish slimy stuff on them....and very rarely it will show before they die....but for the most part, they are eating good and acting fine and then one day, dead. Can anyone shed some light on this? I hate to think there is some bacteria in my tank killing perculas that I cannot get rid of!

 

[lefty]

What's the longest you've gone with no clowns whatsoever in your tank?
-lefty

 

[aquafox]

Not long....2 weeks maybe?? I've always had the Cinnamon Clown and he has been in this tank through many of the percula deaths. He has never shown any sign of weakness or illness....originally I thought I had brookynella in my tank - but if that was the case I had assumed the Cinnamon would have been affected. Also, after losing an initial pair of perculas, I provided the next with an anemone host.....it had no effect....they seemed perfectly fine and then one died and then the other within days. The last pair I had lasted longest - about 6 weeks - never showed a single sign of illness and were both dead on the same morning.....there is nothing in the tank that could be hurting them....I have not lost any other fish to illness or disease.....and the whitish stuff on them only seems to show up in force once they are dead....