Killer Clown

[dnajarro]

ok, so I posted earlier about 4 feathers I've spotted in my nano tank. but now this a different question... I introduced a Coral beauty 2 weeks ago, and it seemed like it was doing fine for a few days, but over night after 4 days i found it dead under some rock, I immediately checked the balances and everything read well, So I decided to buy another, and this one turn up dead 2 days later. at first I thought it was my hermit, but i did findnt any bites on the 2 dead fish. I have 2 false percula clowns, 1 watchman goby, and a green chromis. I don't know why my new additions are dying, but now I'm starting to suspect one of the clowns. Could it be?

 

[blackwolfXKAV]

please post your parameters. "read well" does not tell us much.

it may be aggression, but i would be inclined to say that other factors may be more likely.

did you:

-acclimate the fish to the tank?
-quarantine the fish?
-check for disease prior to purchase?
-check to see if the fish was eating well?
-check with the plase of purchase as to their reliability w/ these fish, etc.?

good luck, B.W.

 

[swolf]

Hi there,
If it was aggression and not your water quality then personally I wouldn't suspect the clowns but the chromis. I had 3 chromis in my tank and they bullied and nipped the fins of one of my oscellaris, who died, so I managed to catch 2 of them and take them back. I thought that a sole chromis would be timid and he was to a certain extent, always hanging with the remaining clown and his new mate, but a few days later the original clown had also had his fins nipped and didn't want to come out of his hiding place. I caught the murdering Chromis and took him back and after several days the bullied clown was swimming around and now his fins are growing back and he is fine. Pretty much anyone you talk to will say the chromis are great community fish, which they can be, but they can aslo be murdering little bar stewards when they want to be.

 

[dorkfish]

I'd suspect cyanide (not sure these fish are cuaght in areas where cyanide is widely used, though) or acclimation issues. 2 days really isn't long enough for any of the critters you listed to take down a coral beauty, or almost any fish for that matter.

Nother' thing I might suspect is issues with temp. stability...

I have no heater in the tank

Also, the fish you have now just about fully stock your tank. Adding another 6", large bodied fish is not going to make that any better, espescially considering:

no skimmer

 

[BadRoma1]

it's not the absence of a skimmer, because i'm overstock and just got a protein skimmer not long ago, but didn't have any problems with introducing anything new. everything else is possible. i think it's the fish itself that can't acclimate for some reason. maybe later try different store you get your fish from. give it few months and see if your tank is running o.k. and fish are doing good. when you buy a new angel, find out how long it has been at the store and get them to feed him in front of you. make sure he eats. i don't know where you live but i couldn't run my tanks without heaters, considering that one is a discus tank.

 

[dorkfish]

it's not the absence of a skimmer, because i'm overstock and just got a protein skimmer not long ago.

I did not say that the lack of a skimmer was the cause of it's death, I said that that adds to the overstocking issue.