Clownfish was missing his tail

Nacole117 · Mar 5, 2020

Says to add 5ml of water the amount of drops on the bottle to turn upside down a couple times and read it within 5 minutes

Cell · Mar 5, 2020

Nacole117 said:
Says to add 5ml of water the amount of drops on the bottle to turn upside down a couple times and read it within 5 minutes

Should be 2 bottles for both those tests. You must be missing the 2nd set of drops if your test results are clear.

JoshO · Mar 5, 2020

Nacole117 said:
Says to add 5ml of water the amount of drops on the bottle to turn upside down a couple times and read it within 5 minutes

There is usually a 2nd bottle of reagent that is used for ammonia and nitrate. Do you have more than 4 bottles??

JoshO · Mar 5, 2020

Nacole117 · Mar 5, 2020

Ill go look in the drawer I mightve missed the bottles in all this happening. Has me rather upset

LadyMac · Mar 5, 2020

Nitrates are super hard to get accurate on api. You have to shake the second bottle very well. Use a timer. The first set of drops you add, invert a few times, shake bottle two, vigorously. Add drops and then shake the tube vigorously. Then wait for the allotted time.

Cell · Mar 5, 2020

The nitrate test is annoying, especially with the crappy loose caps provided by API. You are supposed to shake the 2nd bottle for 30 seconds, then the vial after adding for a full minute and try not to make a mess as it leaks everywhere. I wrap a piece of paper towel around the cap area to soak up the leakage when shaking as well as uncapping.

Nacole117 · Mar 5, 2020

I hadn't been shaking the second bottle

Cell · Mar 5, 2020

API tests aren't the greatest, but they are mostly ok as long as you follow the directions carefully. You can basically throw the ammonia test out the door though for any measurement under 0.25 or below.

JoshO · Mar 5, 2020

Nacole117 said:
I hadn't been shaking the second bottle

Have another go at the tests and try to follow the instructions as best possible and report the results back here

Nacole117 · Mar 5, 2020

New tests once i found the other bottles.

Nacole117 · Mar 5, 2020

So a water change to lower the nitrates?

Cell · Mar 5, 2020

Only if you are due. 10-20 nitrate is fine.

Nacole117 · Mar 5, 2020

Oh, alrighty then i was about to freak out that my carelessness killed them. So my next water change is next Wednesday so just change it then?

Malifry97 · Mar 5, 2020

I’m thinking maybe velvet or a fast acting pathogen killed them, and then the CUC got a hold of the clownfish’s tail.

Nacole117 · Mar 5, 2020

Im sorry im new.. What does CUC stand for?

Malifry97 · Mar 5, 2020

Nacole117 said:
Im sorry im new.. What does CUC stand for?

Clean up crew, hermits, snails etc

Nacole117 · Mar 5, 2020

O now I feel dumb. But would they attack him? He was alive this morning at 240 perfectly fine. Then this morning at 10 he was just missing his tail then he died about 10 minutes after i found him like that

Cell · Mar 5, 2020

I will say, the dead chromis does not concern me. When you have multiple chromis, almost inevitably you will have dead chromis. They establish their pecking order a bit too aggressively. Not sure about the cardinal or clown though. The missing tail looks trimmed up, not like one bite or tear, so a lot of the damage may have been done after the clown was dead or immobile.