Juvenile clownfish dead overnight

[Tinfoil_Anemone]

Hi y'all well this is first marine aquarium and its proving to be a little more difficult than I thought.. I just had two perfectly fine looking juvenile clownfish die on me overnight. All of the water permaters were fine even after they died I checked and the only elevated Stat was nitrates at around 20, and phosphates around 0.16.... temperature was right on 78 and salinity at 1.025. They were eating fine, swimming around, and getting along fine until I woke up on The 15th and the larger of the two was wedged in a rock and dead.. the other was still alive. But when I got home later that day he was dead too.. no spots no lethargy no acting weird apart from when they woke up in the morning and I turned the lights on they were always listless and pale but that cleared up after they got moving around... I'm so new to all this and I've read countless books,blogs, every source I can get my hands on and it just doesn't make sense they were fine for weeks and the tank has been cycled close to 3 months now.... anyways so now I am fishless. Contemplating the next steps.. should I let the tank go fallow for 76 days?? Or just try with more fish? I have no idea if it were velvet I just couldn't see or some other disease... my inverts are all fine and happy

 

[gbroadbridge]

Hi y'all well this is first marine aquarium and its proving to be a little more difficult than I thought.. I just had two perfectly fine looking juvenile clownfish die on me overnight. All of the water permaters were fine even after they died I checked and the only elevated Stat was nitrates at around 20, and phosphates around 0.16.... temperature was right on 78 and salinity at 1.025. They were eating fine, swimming around, and getting along fine until I woke up on The 15th and the larger of the two was wedged in a rock and dead.. the other was still alive. But when I got home later that day he was dead too.. no spots no lethargy no acting weird apart from when they woke up in the morning and I turned the lights on they were always listless and pale but that cleared up after they got moving around... I'm so new to all this and I've read countless books,blogs, every source I can get my hands on and it just doesn't make sense they were fine for weeks and the tank has been cycled close to 3 months now.... anyways so now I am fishless. Contemplating the next steps.. should I let the tank go fallow for 76 days?? Or just try with more fish? I have no idea if it were velvet I just couldn't see or some other disease... my inverts are all fine and happy

It sounds like everything was okay, as the fish were there for weeks.

If the fish look okay (no spots or signs of illness), there may have been some form of contaminant that entered the tank.

Any other pets, kids in the house, recently visits by trades . Insect sprays, etc.

What happened the day before?

 

[Tinfoil_Anemone]

Hey thanks for the quick reply... so yea nothing seemed wrong. The only thing I did differently was I picked up some rodi from my lfs and used that to top off the day before but I tested that water before I put it in and all came out fine. However it did have a weird chlorine like smell.. but I would have thought if anything that would have murdered my inverts before fish... So In An instance like this with no obvious reason. What is the proper course of action? I would hate to put more fish in and see them die too, was a real bummer. Even if there were chlorine or chloramines in it how would I even check for that?

 

[gbroadbridge]

Hey thanks for the quick reply... so yea nothing seemed wrong. The only thing I did differently was I picked up some rodi from my lfs and used that to top off the day before but I tested that water before I put it in and all came out fine. However it did have a weird chlorine like smell.. but I would have thought if anything that would have murdered my inverts before fish... So In An instance like this with no obvious reason. What is the proper course of action? I would hate to put more fish in and see them die too, was a real bummer. Even if there were chlorine or chloramines in it how would I even check for that?

I wouldn't think a top off, unless it was a significant amount, would affect much unless it was full of chlorine.

You could test that with a chlorine test strips from a Big Box or Pool store.

To remove reliance on outside water sources, one of the most imporatnt purchases is an RO/DI filter. They pay for themselves quite quickly.

Maybe others can think of something else.

 

[Tinfoil_Anemone]

I wouldn't think a top off, unless it was a significant amount, would affect much unless it was full of chlorine.

You could test that with a chlorine test strips from a Big Box or Pool store.

To remove reliance on outside water sources, one of the most imporatnt purchases is an RO/DI filter. They pay for themselves quite quickly.

Maybe others can think of something else.

That's a good idea I didn't think of pool test strips. So I actually did get a 5 stage from brs I ordered it today, and a 35 gallon nsf certified water tank and going to start heating the water for the water changes.. I don't know if that makes a difference?? But I did notice with large water changes it was affecting the temp 3 or 4 degrees... so hopefully that all helps, going to go pickup some testing strips right now after work to see if I have any in the rodi I picked up from them.

 

[Sharkbait19]

What kinds of inverts do you have? I would expect contaminants to kill them first.
How well is the tank oxygenated? Low oxygen can cause listless behavior and death.

 

[Tinfoil_Anemone]

What kinds of inverts do you have? I would expect contaminants to kill them first.
How well is the tank oxygenated? Low oxygen can cause listless behavior and death.

So I have a blue leg and scarlet hermit, 2 turbos and a bubble tip anenome which all seem to be doing fantastic.... I was worried about the oxygen too... I try to get the best surface agitation by pointing the return flow to the surface and the wave maker adds to that so I feel like I get alot of gas exchange? Is there anyway to know for sure if I am getting enough oxygen or not? It is in a closed room... my office because I have a very curious cat who likes to pull the lid off and dip his paws in.. but maybe I should leave the door open more often... temp is always at the 78 so from what I've read that shouldn't effect the o2 saturation.. I did notice the anenome kind of set itself up righ under the direct flow of the wave maker. But what do you recommend for better gas exchange other than just the surface agitation?

 

[Sharkbait19]

Really the only way to increase O2 is with surface agitation. The door can still be closed, I really wouldn’t expect that to cause an O2 issue. Wavemaker + flow towards surface should be enough unless it’s not really causing any agitation - you can easily see if there is.
They sell oxygen test kits, not sure on the exact necessity but I just picked one up for freshwater due to an issue I had.

 

[Harold999]

I see you mentioning some parameters but not ammonia.

 

[Tinfoil_Anemone]

Really the only way to increase O2 is with surface agitation. The door can still be closed, I really wouldn’t expect that to cause an O2 issue. Wavemaker + flow towards surface should be enough unless it’s not really causing any agitation - you can easily see if there is.
They sell oxygen test kits, not sure on the exact necessity but I just picked one up for freshwater due to an issue I had.

Ok that's good to know, I'm not sure I could keep the door open or my cat will have a very fancy dinner at some point lol... I was thinking though do people ever use their skimmers for oxygenation?? Seems like all the little bubbles would do something

 

[Tinfoil_Anemone]

I see you mentioning some parameters but not ammonina.

So ammonia is undetectable with the red sea test kit, I also have one of those brightwell badges in there for the meantime to see easily if the levels are spiking from feeding... nitrites are zero.. it's only the nitrates that show anything.

 

[Sharkbait19]

Ok that's good to know, I'm not sure I could keep the door open or my cat will have a very fancy dinner at some point lol... I was thinking though do people ever use their skimmers for oxygenation?? Seems like all the little bubbles would do something

Skimmers (I think) are known to help increase aeration.

 

[Tinfoil_Anemone]

Skimmers (I think) are known to help increase aeration.

Hmm I'll have to look into it, I haven't invested in a skimmer yet.. I figured the amount of organics floating around wasn't really enough to warrant one but it might be a worthwhile investment in the future. If it can serve a dual purpose

 

[Tinfoil_Anemone]

So ammonia is undetectable with the red sea test kit, I also have one of those brightwell badges in there for the meantime to see easily if the levels are spiking from feeding... nitrites are zero.. it's only the nitrates that show anything.

Seachem sorry not brightwell

 

[Sharkbait19]

Hmm I'll have to look into it, I haven't invested in a skimmer yet.. I figured the amount of organics floating around wasn't really enough to warrant one but it might be a worthwhile investment in the future. If it can serve a dual purpose

On nanos they aren’t too necessary, they don’t remove anything a good w/c can’t. It’s more needed for bigger (probably 30 and up).

 

[Tinfoil_Anemone]

On nanos they aren’t too necessary, they don’t remove anything a good w/c can’t. It’s more needed for bigger (probably 30 and up).

Ok that makes sense, yea mine is only a Lil 30 gallon

 

[gbroadbridge]

So I have a blue leg and scarlet hermit, 2 turbos and a bubble tip anenome which all seem to be doing fantastic.... I was worried about the oxygen too... I try to get the best surface agitation by pointing the return flow to the surface and the wave maker adds to that so I feel like I get alot of gas exchange? Is there anyway to know for sure if I am getting enough oxygen or not? It is in a closed room... my office because I have a very curious cat who likes to pull the lid off and dip his paws in.. but maybe I should leave the door open more often... temp is always at the 78 so from what I've read that shouldn't effect the o2 saturation.. I did notice the anenome kind of set itself up righ under the direct flow of the wave maker. But what do you recommend for better gas exchange other than just the surface agitation?

If your cat has a medicated collar and dips a paw into the tank it could cause a problem.

Cats tend to scratch at collars, and their paws can pick up a lot of other bad stuff too.

 

[Tinfoil_Anemone]

If your cat has a medicated collar and dips a paw into the tank it could cause a problem.

Cats tend to scratch at collars, and their paws can pick up a lot of other bad stuff too.

Ohhh man!!! He does have a medicated collar.. I didn't know that could poison them... I also didn't think about the contaminants on his paws catching birds and mice . Well that is at least encouraging that it most likely was not a parasite or my husbandry. I'm glad I moved it into the office. I'll just have to keep him out. This is a good start.. thank you guys for all your suggestions and brainstorming.. hopefully I can gain some luck and do right. I'd really love to have a thriving reef tank at some point.. just alot of trial and error I guess. Something reading books can't replace.

 

[Sharkbait19]

 

[Tinfoil_Anemone]

Ahhh yes Master Yoda