Clown fish died in QT

[royaleFork]

I am working on setting up my first tank (110 gallon tank) and while I was doing the set up, I wanted to start to quarantine my first fish so that it would be ready as soon as the cycle was finished (planning on doing dr tim's turbo start). For the set up of my quarantine tank, I followed this guide by BRSTV: and got my 10 gallon aquarium, heater, cave, and air stone. The only difference was the ich meds as the store I went to did not have a lot of options (used top fin ick remedy). After setting everything up, I put my new clown in and after an hour or so, started swimming around like it owned the place. It was eating, very energetic, didn't seem to have any issues. This all happened last Tuesday (7/4).

Last night (7/6), I did the first 100% water change, scrubbed out the tank, and refilled it. I put the clown back in the tank and it resumed swimming around without any noticeable problem. I checked on it every 10-15 mins or so for the next 2 hours and did not notice anything wrong. I then went to bed.

This morning (7/7) I woke up and it was already dead at the bottom of the tank. I am not sure what I did wrong and would like to figure it out to ensure I have the best possible experience for the fish.

A couple of extra notes/interesting points.

1. The BRS quarantine plan does not use a filter (they say you can add one as long as it does not absorb copper)
   1. The hope is 100% water changes every 3 days would take care of any ammonia problems
2. I found this guide: https://www.reef2reef.com/threads/current-quarantine-protocol.825055/
   1. Main difference seems to be quarantine time and filter
3. The ich medication I used was different, is that the cause? I just realized it is not copper based, so I may just be doing the wrong thing.
4. Salinity was at 1.022
5. I can measure the other water params, but I am not sure they matter for a known uncycled tank + dead fish?

Does anything stick out as a glaring mistake (other than the ich meds)? I am not sure what could have gone wrong in the 8ish hours I was sleeping. I would like to try again, but want to make sure I am doing it as correctly as I can.

 

[The_Paradox]

I’m assuming you did not notice anything physically wrong? With info here it’s hard to even guess what it was even though there are a lot of possibilities. This sounds like the most stressful way ever to acclimate a fish though.

 

[royaleFork]

I’m assuming you did not notice anything physically wrong? With info here it’s hard to even guess what it was even though there are a lot of possibilities. This sounds like the most stressful way ever to acclimate a fish though.

I did not see anything wrong with it, no.

 

[The_Paradox]

This is really unhelpful I know, but might just be one of those fish mysteries. Could have already had an issue from the store. Usually I would guess it was a salinity problem but two days is a long time especially if he was eating. Could have just been stress. Did he eat after last water change?

 

[royaleFork]

This is really unhelpful I know, but might just be one of those fish mysteries. Could have already had an issue from the store. Usually I would guess it was a salinity problem but two days is a long time especially if he was eating. Could have just been stress. Did he eat after last water change?

I did not try, fed before the change and then wanted to feed it again this morning.

 

[The_Paradox]

Official SWAG is stress. Fish are not fans of repeatedly being transferred between containers, especially after you’ve just introduced them to an entirely new system.

 

[Mr. Mojo Rising]

There are lots of ways to do things, personally I would not have suggested that way. It costs so little to buy a bottle of bacteria to insta cycle the tank, it gives the fish a much better chance.

 

[The_Paradox]

There are lots of ways to do things, personally I would not have suggested that way. It costs so little to buy a bottle of bacteria to insta cycle the tank, it gives the fish a much better chance.

I’ll catch hell for this but I have never quarantine the first fish into a tank.

 

[Mmbra]

I would be careful and re-evaulate this quarantine method. Clownfish are just about the most hearty fish you can get. If you try this with a more sensitive species i can see it going the same way. A lot of people have success without any quarantine but that would be up to you to decide for yourself.

 

[royaleFork]

A bit of an update here. I went back to the same store to get a filter (I already have Fritz's turbo start, and I mistyped earlier when I said Dr. Tims). While I was there, I went to go check on the other fish they had and the other clown they had in the tank I got mine from was freshly dead as well. I am not sure it is related, but is at least a data point.

 

[Bullnose]

I’ll catch hell for this but I have never quarantine the first fish into a tank.

I was going to say the same thing...