My clownfish die twice

[Anncheev]

I am new to reef tank. My tank is just 2 months old, 29g. I know it is too soon to put fish, pls don't blame me. I put 2 snails, 6 hermit crabs, 1 goby, 1 fire fish 1 dotty, 2 anemone and 2 clownfish. Not all at once but every week. Everyone seems doing ok except clownfish.I bought 2 at the same time that was in the same tank. 2 weeks later one die, I know he didn't eat. I feed my fish with flake food and small pellets, sometime frozen brine shrimp. My clown won't eat flake but they accept pellets. It seems like other fish are so fast of grapping the food but clownfish is so not moving, more like waiting for food to come to them not swim to the food. As a result I think this is the reason why he die. YES! I bought another small one and it was the same. This new one seems ok at first, eat food and all that. After 2 weeks he die again. I went to pet shop to have water testing, parameter was ok except PH was a bit high. So I fix that with vinegar. ( I am waiting for the test kit to mail to me).
I want the clownfish so bad, wanna keep only 2 in my tank. Can I buy another one? If I buy another one that is smaller, Im afraid that he will die again. Please help me!
Thank you for every comments

 

[Mkkari]

I just wanted to clarify since it is not mentioned here - did you cycle your tank?

 

[commanderwho]

I know you want another clownfish but might want to slow down and wait for things to settle. Rushing your tank will only lead to deaths

 

[terraincognita]

I am new to reef tank. My tank is just 2 months old, 29g. I know it is too soon to put fish, pls don't blame me. I put 2 snails, 6 hermit crabs, 1 goby, 1 fire fish 1 dotty, 2 anemone and 2 clownfish. Not all at once but every week. Everyone seems doing ok except clownfish.I bought 2 at the same time that was in the same tank. 2 weeks later one die, I know he didn't eat. I feed my fish with flake food and small pellets, sometime frozen brine shrimp. My clown won't eat flake but they accept pellets. It seems like other fish are so fast of grapping the food but clownfish is so not moving, more like waiting for food to come to them not swim to the food. As a result I think this is the reason why he die. YES! I bought another small one and it was the same. This new one seems ok at first, eat food and all that. After 2 weeks he die again. I went to pet shop to have water testing, parameter was ok except PH was a bit high. So I fix that with vinegar. ( I am waiting for the test kit to mail to me).
I want the clownfish so bad, wanna keep only 2 in my tank. Can I buy another one? If I buy another one that is smaller, Im afraid that he will die again. Please help me!
Thank you for every comments

Seeing as only your small clowns are dying and everything else if fine and you said the LFS said water params are fine then it's probably an infection/parasite or they're too small and being bullied by the other fish so starve to death.

Maybe get a bigger one than the one you have, make sure you're acclimating them properly when introducing.

If you really want you could introduce the small one into a breeder net and feed keep him separate for a few days also allowing him to eat until he gets adjusted.

Do a FW dip prior to adding him as well to kill any external parasites.

Doesn't sound like you have a QT set up either, you could get a little 5G with a heater 1 piece of live rock from your tank, and a HOB filter to set up a QT, observe him in the QT for a week first, treat for any illness and then add.

 

[Azedenkae]

I am new to reef tank. My tank is just 2 months old, 29g. I know it is too soon to put fish, pls don't blame me. I put 2 snails, 6 hermit crabs, 1 goby, 1 fire fish 1 dotty, 2 anemone and 2 clownfish. Not all at once but every week. Everyone seems doing ok except clownfish.I bought 2 at the same time that was in the same tank. 2 weeks later one die, I know he didn't eat. I feed my fish with flake food and small pellets, sometime frozen brine shrimp. My clown won't eat flake but they accept pellets. It seems like other fish are so fast of grapping the food but clownfish is so not moving, more like waiting for food to come to them not swim to the food. As a result I think this is the reason why he die. YES! I bought another small one and it was the same. This new one seems ok at first, eat food and all that. After 2 weeks he die again. I went to pet shop to have water testing, parameter was ok except PH was a bit high. So I fix that with vinegar. ( I am waiting for the test kit to mail to me).
I want the clownfish so bad, wanna keep only 2 in my tank. Can I buy another one? If I buy another one that is smaller, Im afraid that he will die again. Please help me!
Thank you for every comments

Given that your other fish at least seems fine, I would not think it has something to do with water parameters necessarily. Can I just verify - so one of the original two clownfish is still alive? Were both the same size?

 

[jeff williams]

I agree with both above posts. 1st clown fish generally are pretty good feeders they chase about grabbing food so I’m guessing the fish you have purchased are either sick to begin with or your tank is the problem. Once again clowns are pretty hardy fish so for them to die and the other fish are doing fine I suspect an issue with your lfs fish. I don’t want to blame them but here is what I would do if you continue to buy from them ask them to feed the fish while your there and select ones that are eating buy the food they are eating and use it then slowly transition the fish to the other type of foods.
another issue your are going to have is not quarantining your fish this is the time to place a fish in qt and observe him make sure he’s healthy and get him eating without competing with a tank full of hungry competitors. I usually have pellet flake and several frozen types of food on hand when qting and find the one the fish will eat then slowly switch him over. Good luck

 

[vetteguy53081]

I would hold off with any stocking of fish and allow the tank to further stabilize. Additionally, what is the health of the clowns at the LFS ??
Were the clowns, and any other fish breathing fast>
Newer tank and stocked quickly-
What is your levels for:
Ammonia
Nitrate
PH
Salinity
Temperature

WHAT TEST KITS ARE YOU USING ?

 

[Tamberav]

Likely disease. Also what type of dotty did you get? Some of those... once settled will murder other fish in small tanks. That may not be an issue now but could become one.

@Anncheev
Please don’t add vinegar for pH. Chasing pH is not good with additives. The effect is temporary so it causes swings and vinegar is a carbon source and can drop nutrients or cause a bacterial bloom and oxygen levels could deplete leading to more fish deaths.

What did your pH test at? It’s probably fine.