Clownfish was missing his tail

[Nacole117]

Last night i went to bed and all the fish were fine. This morning i woke up and my yellow tailed chroma was dead my banggai cardinal was dead and one of my clown fish was missing his tail and died just a few minutes ago. My levels are
Nirate 0
Ammonia 0
Nitrite 0
Ph 7.8 or 8
And the saltinity is 1.026
Any feedback would be much appreciated

 

[Super Fly]

can u provide list of tank inhabitants, including invertebrates? Also what is tank age.

 

[Cell]

Is there more fish in the display? If so, I would post this in tank emergency.

 

[Nacole117]

Yes we have well had. 2 clownfish, yellow tang, toby puffer, green chroma, dragon goby, pajama fish, Melanurus Fairy Wrasse, cleaner shrimp, fire shrimp, turbo snail and i think 5 hermit crabs. And then the banggai cardinal and yellow tail chroma. Tank age is around 2 and a half months

 

[Nacole117]

post it in tank emergency?

 

[Super Fly]

Yes we have well had. 2 clownfish, yellow tang, toby puffer, green chroma, dragon goby, pajama fish, Melanurus Fairy Wrasse, cleaner shrimp, fire shrimp, turbo snail and i think 5 hermit crabs. And then the banggai cardinal and yellow tail chroma. Tank age is around 2 and a half months

that is quite a lot of fish/livestock for a young tank, which may not have sufficient bioload to handle the livestock load. What size is the tank?

 

[Cell]

Let's see if a #mod can move this to tank emergency.

 

[Nacole117]

55 gallon. And we tell the people at the store what size tank we have and how many fish and they all said it would be fine because most of the ones we have in there are less than an inch so im guessing they are babies? Or?

 

[Rhydder_Reef]

that is quite a lot of fish/livestock for a young tank, which may not have sufficient bioload to handle the livestock load. What size is the tank?

I'm going to agree with @Super Fly on this one. To much to soon. Remember this is a marathon not a sprint!
Also, do as much research as you can about your tank, fish, parameters, etc.. you will weed out the fish stores that just want to push product out the door. Unfortunately, they do exist.
and of course..... what are your parameter #'s

 

[Rhydder_Reef]

sorry, you did post #'s. What kits are you using and are they out of date??

 

[Nacole117]

We are using the Api test kit and we got it when we got the tank. And we have a refractometer. Makes me kind of mad that they would just push stuff out the door knowing itll probably die

 

[Nacole117]

Is there anything that wouldve ate the clown fishes tail. That is stumping me. I thought everything we had was friendly

 

[MTBake]

Did you start with live rock or dry rock? Do you hear any clicking noises coming from the tank? Did the other dead fish show signs of being attacked by something?

Sounds like something attacked the clown. I would guess maybe a mantis shrimp or large crab. But that is really only a guess.

A pic of the clown may help here.

 

[JoshO]

Very high bioload for such a new set up, that level of stocking should take place over a year

 

[Cell]

The fish stocking was a bit aggressive, but not too over the top. Taking a year to stock 10 mostly small fish in a 55 gallon would be very conservative.

 

[Zan's Aquatica]

The fish stocking was a bit aggressive, but not too over the top. Taking a year to stock 10 mostly small fish in a 55 gallon would be very conservative.

Then you run the risk of them all dying... The most successful reefs I've seen are the conservative/approach ones. 10 fish in 2.5 months indicates there wasn't a proper cycle... or there was and then 2 fish were added every week!

 

[Cell]

A bit dramatic. We are talking 10 mostly small fish, aside from the tang, in a 55 gallon.

 

[Cell]

After the tank was cycled, adding a clown pair and a chromis or two isnt going to stress a 55 gallon system. And if that same system was fine after a few days, then it was still fine after a week or two. Adding a couple more fish at that point would also be fine. And so on.

 

[Rhydder_Reef]

We are using the Api test kit and we got it when we got the tank. And we have a refractometer. Makes me kind of mad that they would just push stuff out the door knowing itll probably die

I would upgrade your test kits. You will end up getting them in the long run the more you get into the hobby.
I could guess that the Buffer might have seen the clown showing signs of distress and gone in for the kill. Buffers have a good bit to them. Do you have pictures?

 

[Nacole117]

Heres the picture of the clown fish. The other 2 didnt have any marks or anything on them