I don't know what happened..

[beng320]

This morning I went to check out how my tank was doing to find both of my clownfish dead (I only had them for a few days, I obtained them after my ammonia was 0 ppm); one was dead in the corner of the tank and the other was along back the suction of the pump (I have an A1 Nero 5 pump set at wave pulse at 15% max flow). I noticed the fish were struggling to swim in the open current and experimented with different flows and kept it at 15% (I still noticed them somewhat struggle, though not as much as before). I added 5 hermit crabs and a fighting conch the day prior, as well as adding dry rock to the reef to give more structure and slow the current (I obtained them from the same location that I obtained my other rock work). The inverts were still alive at the time I discovered the deceased fish and my tank has been fully cycled for less than a week. Is it possible that the inverts caused an ammonia spike? If it's not an ammonia spike, what could have happened? Thank you in advance.

 

[N.Sreefer]

They could've been sick when you got them clownfish should not struggle in the flow mine hang out at the top of my tank in heavy flow all day hosting a darn powerhead of all things. How old is your system? How many gallons? How did you cycle and did you use all dead rock or some LR?

 

[ying yang]

Usually if fish die and inverts don't then points to fish diesese @Jay Hemdal says

 

[beng320]

My system is 55 gallons and has been running is 6 weeks. I used dry rock entirely and for cycling; I used live sand, used fritz turbo start and then added liquid ammonia.

 

[beng320]

Usually if fish die and inverts don't then points to fish diesese @Jay Hemdal says

Do I need to perform a water change to make sure whatever the fish has doesn't stay in the tank?

 

[ying yang]

Do I need to perform a water change to make sure whatever the fish has doesn't stay in the tank?

If for example the fish did have a parasite or diesese ,nearly everything except uronema amd lympho requires the tank to run fallow which means fishless for 45- 72 days ,the 45 days is if put temperature upto 82 degrees and it stays at 82 degrees all way through and nothing added not even a crab or snail etc.
Jay hemdal is resident fish diesese guy along with few others so there best at advising you but they will want to k ow about the fish like how long you had in tank,any spots on fish,Any mucus on fish,Amy strange behaviours like swimming Into flow from powerheads,loss of appetite etc,.
Some other usual Information is age of tank,parameters /test results of what you can test for etc.
Good luck .
@vetteguy53081 @sharkbait

 

[vetteguy53081]

Water change never hurts.
did they show any signs of rapid breathing, loss of appetite, unusual behaviors?
Was the color fading prior to death?
Without pics, hard to assess
At the store- how did other clowns look?
What test kits are you using?

 

[beng320]

Water change never hurts.
did they show any signs of rapid breathing, loss of appetite, unusual behaviors?
Was the color fading prior to death?
Without pics, hard to assess
At the store- how did other clowns look?
What test kits are you using?

I saw both fish eating the days I fed them. Their overall swimming behavior was
'normal' but when they were in open areas, they would struggle to fight the current. I did notice rapid breathing at times, but I thought it was due to them struggling to swim in the current. I didn't notice other unusual behavior. The clownfish at the store looked fine; they had 3 different clownfish variations and diamond gobies in the tank. The larger of the fish had a faded colored lower jaw for the entirety I had them, but was only minority faded. The fish didn't possess mucus. Currently I go to a local saltwater fish store to get my ammonia, nitrates, nitrates, etc tested. When they were tested this past Friday, ammonia was at 0 ppm and nitrates/nitrates were normal. Salinity was 1.023. I haven't tested for alkalinity yet, as I was gonna get it tested this Friday along with mg and ca.

 

[vetteguy53081]

I saw both fish eating the days I fed them. Their overall swimming behavior was
'normal' but when they were in open areas, they would struggle to fight the current. I did notice rapid breathing at times, but I thought it was due to them struggling to swim in the current. I didn't notice other unusual behavior. The clownfish at the store looked fine; they had 3 different clownfish variations and diamond gobies in the tank. The larger of the fish had a faded colored lower jaw for the entirety I had them, but was only minority faded. The fish didn't possess mucus. Currently I go to a local saltwater fish store to get my ammonia, nitrates, nitrates, etc tested. When they were tested this past Friday, ammonia was at 0 ppm and nitrates/nitrates were normal. Salinity was 1.023. I haven't tested for alkalinity yet, as I was gonna get it tested this Friday along with mg and ca.

As suspected, they likely had brooklynella which typically attacks clowns
What you saw on their faces was mucus and a likely fuzzy/hazy appearance on their body
Rapid breathing was due to mucus in their gill and the swimming is the lethargic behavior I questioned
In the future when purchasing clowns, look them over well for the symptoms I mentioned, ask to see them eat and give them a 45 minute bath in either quick cure or ruby rally pro in which both are formalin based and will erase any symptoms of brooklynella before being introduced into the display tank
How did you acclimate them and for how long?

 

[beng320]

As suspected, they likely had brooklynella which typically attacks clowns
What you saw on their faces was mucus and a likely fuzzy/hazy appearance on their body
Rapid breathing was due to mucus in their gill and the swimming is the lethargic behavior I questioned
In the future when purchasing clowns, look them over well for the symptoms I mentioned, ask to see them eat and give them a 45 minute bath in either quick cure or ruby rally pro in which both are formalin based and will erase any symptoms of brooklynella before being introduced into the display tank
How did you acclimate them and for how long?

I drip acclimated them for 40 minutes. I don't have a QT tank yet as these were my first fish.. What risk does brooklynella have on my inverts? Should I do a water change to be safe?

 

[Jay Hemdal Verified Community Expert]

This morning I went to check out how my tank was doing to find both of my clownfish dead (I only had them for a few days, I obtained them after my ammonia was 0 ppm); one was dead in the corner of the tank and the other was along back the suction of the pump (I have an A1 Nero 5 pump set at wave pulse at 15% max flow). I noticed the fish were struggling to swim in the open current and experimented with different flows and kept it at 15% (I still noticed them somewhat struggle, though not as much as before). I added 5 hermit crabs and a fighting conch the day prior, as well as adding dry rock to the reef to give more structure and slow the current (I obtained them from the same location that I obtained my other rock work). The inverts were still alive at the time I discovered the deceased fish and my tank has been fully cycled for less than a week. Is it possible that the inverts caused an ammonia spike? If it's not an ammonia spike, what could have happened? Thank you in advance.

Welcome to Reef2Reef!

While fish dying when invertebrates are not usually points to a fish disease versus water quality issues, that is not always the case when the invertebrates are hardy snails and crabs. Shrimp and corals and better indicators of water issues. Have you tested the ammonia level with a good test kit ?

Jay

 

[vetteguy53081]

I drip acclimated them for 40 minutes. I don't have a QT tank yet as these were my first fish.. What risk does brooklynella have on my inverts? Should I do a water change to be safe?

Should be no risk to inverts
Give tank s good siphoning
You can treat display tank with ruby rally pro which is reef safe for inverts

 

[beng320]

Welcome to Reef2Reef!

While fish dying when invertebrates are not usually points to a fish disease versus water quality issues, that is not always the case when the invertebrates are hardy snails and crabs. Shrimp and corals and better indicators of water issues. Have you tested the ammonia level with a good test kit ?

Jay

Thank you! The corals didn't seem to give any indications of a possible water quality issue. My Xenia's aren't regularly pulsing yet, but I assumed it was because they're new to my system (I added them on Saturday). I currently don't own an ammonia test kit; I go to a local fish store to get my water tested.

 

[beng320]

Should be no risk to inverts
Give tank s good siphoning
You can treat display tank with ruby rally pro which is reef safe for inverts

Thank you for the help!

 

[ying yang]

There you go,help from 2 very knowledgeable people on fish diesese.here a little read on fallow tank now that a fish with what seems to be a fish parasite in your tank.think with brookenela it's recommended to fallow tank for 6 weeks but dobt quote me on this length but research it or maybe one the other 2 knowledgeable guys can say what it is as last thing you want to do is fallow tank for to short a time and then add another fish just to get contaminated especially if all new fish added get full qt or at least a dip of some kind as that would sook lol

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[ying yang]

Biosecurity

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www.reef2reef.com

Here a little light read on bio security / cross contamination where basically if fallow a tank that had parasites or have a dt and a qt then keep seperate equipment for both like nets/ filters and the like and alot cuc members can bring in fish dieseses/ parasites,not sure how common it is but still a possibility some say

 

[ying yang]

Current Quarantine Protocol

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www.reef2reef.com

And here is Jay's current recomendation if want go all out and do a full medicated qt on all new fish added to your tank .
Read up on fish you want to qt as some fish don't tolerate copper very well for example so would need to do another method like ttm etc
Good luck and happy reefing and most importantly enjoy ^_^