Two fish dead in 48 hours what gives?

[Crustaceon]

Less than 2" fish are not the same than large fish. My foxface is probably equivalent to 4/5 these small fish and so is my hippo tang. OP has many large fish in a tank 25% smaller than yours.
Plus clown fish had clear signs of aggression.
Too crowded and too small a tank is never a good idea and increase stress and therefore problems.

I have seven skunk clownfish in my 50g anemone tank. Do you want to lecture me on fish aggression? This is not my first rodeo and I’ve had large tangs, triggers and angels together in tanks where people like you would assume they’d automatically become aggressive, yet they didn’t. Most of the failed interactions are due to improper introduction of new fish and I carefully curate each addition, how they’re acclimated and how the tank is acclimated to them. You should see the main display tank at Aquatic Warehouse here in San Diego. They have bunch of monster fish in maybe a 200g tall that’s around 5’ long. Probably a 1’ Golden hatch trigger, 8” blue tang, fox face, 7-8” Angels, huge moray eel. No fighting. No injuries. These guys obviously don’t have the swimming room or territory they theoretically need, yet they coexist without problems.

 

[ninjamyst]

I have seven skunk clownfish in my 50g anemone tank. Do you want to lecture me on fish aggression?

Clownfish harem is definitely possible with the right planning such as multiple nems for them to host, introducing them all at once from the same batch, etc. Obviously, you are an experienced reefer but OP is a beginner and just because YOU can do something doesn't mean it's the general best practice thing to do. As a matter of fact, this is how the OP got into this situation, by listening to random "i can have 7 clownfish in my tank, so you should too" advice. If you are here to brag that you successfully got 7 skunk clownfish in a 50g tank, good for you. But if you are here to help, maybe share the research and steps you took to get to where you are?

 

[Crustaceon]

Clownfish harem is definitely possible with the right planning such as multiple nems for them to host, introducing them all at once from the same batch, etc. Obviously, you are an experienced reefer but OP is a beginner and just because YOU can do something doesn't mean it's the general best practice thing to do. As a matter of fact, this is how the OP got into this situation, by listening to random "i can have 7 clownfish in my tank, so you should too" advice. If you are here to brag that you successfully got 7 skunk clownfish in a 50g tank, good for you. But if you are here to help, maybe share the research and steps you took to get to where you are?

Honestly, why do I even bother? It’s not like anyone is going to listen anyways.

 

[Ariellemcc]

I’m certainly not a tang police guy but 18 fish, including several large species plus multiple clowns and damsels is just asking for trouble.

Why is multiple clowns and damsels trouble

 

[Ariellemcc]

I've kept 24 smaller fish (2" max) in a 100g. Yes, some got aggressive, but it tended to be little territorial spats that lasted a day or two and was resolved within the community. In this case, I'd suspect bacterial infection to be the cause.

If it is a bacterial infection what can i do

 

[Ariellemcc]

Less than 2" fish are not the same than large fish. My foxface is probably equivalent to 4/5 these small fish and so is my hippo tang. OP has many large fish in a tank 25% smaller than yours.
Plus clown fish had clear signs of aggression.
Too crowded and too small a tank is never a good idea and increase stress and therefore problems.

Most our fish are under 2 inches, such as the mollies damsels and hippo tang . The goby is about 3-4 inchs and so are the clowns. Only the Fox, rabbit and vampire and grown

 

[Crustaceon]

If it is a bacterial infection what can i do.

Ideally, you’d remove any fish that appear lethargic or have any visible signs of distress and place them in quarantine, followed by a round of antibiotics/anti-parasitics depending on what they actually have. It does take time to properly set up a QT tank and catching/moving fish around can cause stress, so you have to consider that too. Another possibility is mixing something like metroplex and focus with food and broadcast feeding the tank. The trick however is getting the fish to actually eat it since the medication probably smells/tastes weird and they catch on quick to it. I’ve always mixed that stuff with selcon to make it more appealing.

 

[jmichaelh7]

Lots of fish and no quarantine ? I missed that part

 

[Ariellemcc]

Ideally, you’d remove any fish that appear lethargic or have any visible signs of distress and place them in quarantine, followed by a round of antibiotics/anti-parasitics depending on what they actually have. It does take time to properly set up a QT tank and catching/moving fish around can cause stress, so you have to consider that too. Another possibility is mixing something like metroplex and focus with food and broadcast feeding the tank. The trick however is getting the fish to actually eat it since the medication probably smells/tastes weird and they catch on quick to it. I’ve always mixed that stuff with selcon to make it more appealing.

The problem is until they were actively dying there were no signs we could see. They were both swimming normally, eating normally ext . The only symptom on the idol were ich spots. Our vamp tang is flashing and being kinda aggressive and baby hippo tang also has icg spots .

 

[Ariellemcc]

Lots of fish and no quarantine ? I missed that part

We qt the fish and paragaurded. No para on the idol i read it was too stressful for them

 

[Crustaceon]

The problem is until they were actively dying there were no signs we could see. They were both swimming normally, eating normally ext . The only symptom on the idol were ich spots. Our vamp tang is flashing and being kinda aggressive and baby hippo tang also has icg spots .

It happens. I had a pair of firefish kick the bucket at the same time. No ammonia spike, temp/ph swing etc. They were acting normal and eating fine the day before. The only other fish in that tank was a yellow tailed damsel who also looked perfectly fine. The day after I lost the firefish, the damsel started showing signs of fin rot. I treated him with general cure and four days later he looked normal again. It just happens sometimes.

 

[blaxsun]

Lots of fish and no quarantine ? I missed that part

I have close to 50 fish - zero quarantine (no issues). I don't want to turn this into a quarantine vs. no quarantine debate - just that there are different ways of doing things.

 

[jmichaelh7]

I have close to 50 fish - zero quarantine (no issues). I don't want to turn this into a quarantine vs. no quarantine debate - just that there are different ways of doing things.

True but we’re working backwards here

 

[blaxsun]

True but we’re working backwards here

Agreed. The consensus seems to be possibly due to aggression?

 

[Jay Hemdal Verified Community Expert]

Folks, lots of opinion and conjecture here. I had asked the OP for a clearer outline of the case and more importantly, a video.

We should wait for that information.

Thanks,

Jay

 

[Ariellemcc]

Folks, lots of opinion and conjecture here. I had asked the OP for a clearer outline of the case and more importantly, a video.

We should wait for that information.

Thanks,

Jay

Im not sure what i can say for being clearer and how do i do a video

 

[Jay Hemdal Verified Community Expert]

Im not sure what i can say for being clearer and how do i do a video

Pictures are important. As they say, one picture is worth a thousand words!

If you can’t post a video directly, you can link one to YouTube.

Water quality values help rule out contributing factors.

Jay

 

[Ariellemcc]

Pictures are important. As they say, one picture is worth a thousand words!

If you can’t post a video directly, you can link one to YouTube.

Water quality values help rule out contributing factors.

Jay

 

[Ariellemcc]

Pictures are important. As they say, one picture is worth a thousand words!

If you can’t post a video directly, you can link one to YouTube.

Water quality values help rule out contributing factors.

Jay

 

[Ariellemcc]

Pictures are important. As they say, one picture is worth a thousand words!

If you can’t post a video directly, you can link one to YouTube.

Water quality values help rule out contributing factors.

Jay

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