Clownfish Random Death

JaaxReef · Feb 9, 2019

So, I’ve had my pair of clowns since I started my tank two years ago. They’ve always been happy and healthy and eat like pigs. They’ve grown a lot and I’ve become quite attached to them (as any of us would).

I’ll start this out by saying I haven’t added anything new to the aquarium since 4 months ago and I’ve seen absolutely no signs of illness and all other fish are healthy, active, and eating.

I fed all my fish last night before bed and they were all doing great and ate as usual. The lights came on this morning and I saw all the fish swimming around normally as the light cycle ramped up. I come back to the tank three hours later and notice my smaller male clown dead and against the overflow.

His body looked completely fine upon great detailed inspection. I have no idea what happened.

Thoughts?

Frtdrmrose7 · Feb 9, 2019

As with every living thing sometimes there is no explanation for death other than natural causes. That being said I would keep a close eye on your other fish for the next two weeks just to be safe.

JaaxReef · Feb 9, 2019

I’m watching them like a hawk and tested my water. Everything seems in check. PH 8.0, Ammonia 0, Nitrite 0, Nitrate 12ppm, Phosphate .03, Alk 9.2, Salinity 35ppt.

Dragon52 · Feb 9, 2019

in a weeks time i lost a nice & healthy (eating great, no visual ailments) Blue throat Trigger & a Lemonpeel mimic tang. One day doing great, completely gone the next. Had the Tang from a Juvenile for over a yr & the trigger 6 mths. Don't have a clue what happened & I now there's nothing in the tank that would kill them. I've lost quite a few fish over the yrs as have others with no explanation of how. When I first started with keeping Saltwater fish they were using Cyanide mostly & I can't tell you how many fish would die in less then 6 mths, some collectors still use do this but it's a whole lot less now then it was 40 yrs ago, I actually have fish living that I've had for 2 yrs but still lose one every so often.

Adding
I am retired so have plenty of time to watch the tank.

JaaxReef · Feb 12, 2019

So far all other fish are fine (including my female clown), so I’m still stumped. Oh well, maybe like you said it was an issue with collection method. Or possibly even some genetic issues from poor breeding/inbreeding. I’m seeing that more and more with clowns these days too.