Really confused...

[Stege_saurus]

So within the past 24 hours, I have had 2 juvenile percula clownfish die. I didn't see anything wrong with them when I took them out of the tank.

Inhabitants include:
3 damsels (blue, yellow, 3 stripe)
1 Peppermint shrimp
1 Coral banded shrimp
1 Chocolate chip starfish
2 snowflake clowns
1 Black ocellaris clown

Started tank in early April, cycled it for a month using Dr Tim's and chaetomorpha in a refugium. Added the perculas after I established the cycle was done. Added the snowflake clowns a few weeks after the perculas. A couple weeks ago I added the damsels and the black ocellaris. Each time I added fish or inverts, I also added more nitrifying bacteria in the form of Bio Spira.

Ammonia 0
Nitrite 0
Nitrate 20ppm
Ph 8.0

I do weekly water changes of 20% and scrub the glass if it's dirty. I noticed last night that one of the perculas was breathing kind of heavy but he was still swimming normal. Went to head to bed last night, and noticed one of the perculas was laying on it's side breathing heavy. Caught it in the net very easily because it swam very weakly. Put it in a temporary quarantine and a couple hours later it died. Fast forward to today, before I left for work I checked the tank. The last juvenile percula was swimming normal but kind of breathing heavy. Get home from work and noticed he was dead laying on the bottom of the tank.

Tank size: 120 gal long with 40 breeder for sump/ refugium.

What do I do? Im very confused. HELP!

 

[Coralreefer1]

I am willing to bet that they died as a result of aggression by the numerous other clowns and Damsels which are all very territorial fish and not disease. That is way to many Clowns and mixed with Damsels is not advisable.
Sorry to hear about them dying!

 

[Mjrenz]

So within the past 24 hours, I have had 2 juvenile percula clownfish die. I didn't see anything wrong with them when I took them out of the tank.

Inhabitants include:
3 damsels (blue, yellow, 3 stripe)
1 Peppermint shrimp
1 Coral banded shrimp
1 Chocolate chip starfish
2 snowflake clowns
1 Black ocellaris clown

Started tank in early April, cycled it for a month using Dr Tim's and chaetomorpha in a refugium. Added the perculas after I established the cycle was done. Added the snowflake clowns a few weeks after the perculas. A couple weeks ago I added the damsels and the black ocellaris. Each time I added fish or inverts, I also added more nitrifying bacteria in the form of Bio Spira.

Ammonia 0
Nitrite 0
Nitrate 20ppm
Ph 8.0

I do weekly water changes of 20% and scrub the glass if it's dirty. I noticed last night that one of the perculas was breathing kind of heavy but he was still swimming normal. Went to head to bed last night, and noticed one of the perculas was laying on it's side breathing heavy. Caught it in the net very easily because it swam very weakly. Put it in a temporary quarantine and a couple hours later it died. Fast forward to today, before I left for work I checked the tank. The last juvenile percula was swimming normal but kind of breathing heavy. Get home from work and noticed he was dead laying on the bottom of the tank.

Tank size: 120 gal long with 40 breeder for sump/ refugium.

What do I do? Im very confused. HELP!

Aggression is a possibility, did you see any chunks missing from their fins or any other wounds? A disease is also a possibility, have you noticed any white stringy poop, white spots, sores, cloudy eyes, or anything strange looking?

 

[Stege_saurus]

I did notice slightly ragged fins on the rear and it might have made whitish feces but it's hard to tell in the light.

 

[Mjrenz]

I'm thinking aggression is likely the culprit then. Take a look through this thread though just to make sure you didn't see anything like what's in the pics. Even if nothing in here applies it's still good information to learn
https://www.reef2reef.com/threads/fish-disease-index-pictorial-guide.285708/

 

[Stege_saurus]

I didn't see any signs of any of those diseases, nor do any of the fish in the tank have any of those signs. So im thinking it may have been aggression. What's an easy way to diffuse the aggression?

 

[Stege_saurus]

I also have another question in the realm of Marine diseases, Im going to be setting up a quarantine tank tommorow and need to know what good medications I may need for the future and what they treat. Im rather new to the quarantine scene, so any info is great! Thank you in advance!

 

[Mjrenz]

I didn't see any signs of any of those diseases, nor do any of the fish in the tank have any of those signs. So im thinking it may have been aggression. What's an easy way to diffuse the aggression?

One thing that you probably don't want to hear is that you may want to consider rehoming a couple of the damsels, especially the blue one because they can be very mean. Chocolate chips are also a no go if you plan on having corals, he would do a good job keeping your sump tidy though. It's also a good idea to only keep 2 clowns of the same species. If your remaining clown is a female you will need to try and pair her with a male or juvenile. There will probably be some aggression at first but turning off the lights and moving some rocks around can reduce it and help them to bond

 

[Mjrenz]

I also have another question in the realm of Marine diseases, Im going to be setting up a quarantine tank tommorow and need to know what good medications I may need for the future and what they treat. Im rather new to the quarantine scene, so any info is great! Thank you in advance!

Here you go!
https://www.reef2reef.com/threads/thread-links-to-all-things-quarantine-fish-inverts.602917/
https://www.reef2reef.com/threads/medications-to-keep-on-hand.213574/

 

[Stege_saurus]

The 2 Snowflakes are larger than the black ocellaris. They get along great, I've noticed because the largest snowflake gets protective of the black ocellaris and the other snowflake just hangs around like it's no big deal. The yellow damsel is a bit iffy, however, the blue one doesn't really pay any attention to anyone else nor does the 3 stripe. I will also move the star to the sump. Or would it be best in the refugium?

 

[Mjrenz]

The 2 Snowflakes are larger than the black ocellaris. They get along great, I've noticed because the largest snowflake gets protective of the black ocellaris and the other snowflake just hangs around like it's no big deal. The yellow damsel is a bit iffy, however, the blue one doesn't really pay any attention to anyone else nor does the 3 stripe. I will also move the star to the sump. Or would it be best in the refugium?

I guess I misread your first post, I was thinking that you started with 3 clowns and only had one left. If you currently have 3 don't get any more. It's possible to keep a trio but keep a close eye out for aggression, it may develop later on. You could put the star in either place, I keep mine in my sump so I can catch them easy and nip off a leg to feed my harlequin shrimp. Just make sure to feed the star, I use uncooked frozen shrimp from the grocery store

 

[Stege_saurus]

Thank you for the info! I didn't really know that about cc stars.

 

[Mjrenz]

Thank you for the info! I didn't really know that about cc stars.

You're very welcome!