What could be killing my Clowns?

Hi,

The first fish died from stress or territorial disputes between tankmates.

You have to understand that the ocellaris clowns are very very docile when compared to other damsels. They will fight back, but they are not very good swimmers.

A few things could be going on:

1) Because you already have a fish in the tank, I presume he is doing well, maybe this fish where sick.

2) Your ammonia test kit might not be working and you still have high ammonia or nitrite

3) Your fish are not captive-bred and are sensitive to the nitrite. Thus, they die within days of being introduced

4) You have an aggressive goby who is going on a killing spree at night.

5) Something else in you water parameters are not to the exact liking of the clownfish


It is rare for clownfish to die so quickly even if the water parameters are not good. The last two clowns, which only lasted two days, are the most puzzling. I would surmise that they where already sick when you got them.

A few questions:

How frequently are you feeding? What is your filtration system? do you perform regular water changes? Where this (now dead) clowns eating???

HTH
 
Sorry for the delay in replying, had to go out of town for a few days... I feed the tank once a day usually I try to do it about 2 hours before lights go out, but that changes if I am working then. The Goby gets fed one other time during the day and I usually try to keep it as far apart from my main feeding that day. Filtration was always a Penguin 330, about 30 lbs LR (+/- 5 lbs) and for a time I had a Fluval 104 or 204. I got it from a guy that said it was a 204 but it came with no papers or box (it was practically free) but when I looked at it I thought it was a 104 but I never put much time into seeing which it was, then it died and I haven't replaced/fixed it yet. Off the top of my head I think it stopped before the first clowns were there yet, but if not it was after the first died and before the others. Water changes I do about 5 gallons every two weeks. As for them eating; the first ones ate fine, the second ones didn't eat MUCH the first time I fed them which was the day they were introduced. I figured stress, the next day they ate a little but not what I would think they would eat for their size. The next day I dont know that they ate because it was the day I left and I had to leave before I could sit and watch them all eat, so I put in the food and finished getting ready. They definately didn't go nuts eating because I would have noticed that, but other than that I cant say for sure. Next day one dead, other very close for about 2 more hours, then he was dead too.

Rick
 
It could be something as simple as not having enough oxygen dissolved into the water. I've always felt that the smaller SW tanks were disasters waiting to happen, but that's just a personal belief. Honestly, I would recommend finding out when your pet store gets their stock in. NEVER buy a fish that just arrived! The poor little things have already endured more stress than you could possibly imagine. It is common in the retail industry to suffer the most casualties within days of receiving the shipment. Better luck to you in the future!
 
I usually work late nights (well I work all the time actually) but I always check the tank real quick with a red light just to kind of bond with my tank since some days I will only have time to feed them and thats it. I used to not see too much around, a few worms here and there but really not too much else. The tank is only like 3 months old but I always thought there should have been alot more critters around. Now the past few days I have seen a huge increase in the amount (and distribution) of bristles, some black worms in the rock, little things that swim/run too fast for me to get clear looks at, etc... I am hoping that whatever was the problem is clearing up. Maybe it was just something stupid like just too much stress, but either way letting the critters get better established is alot of fun to watch. I will still probably wait it out another month or so till I try to get any more fish but am I correct in assuming that if all of a sudden the small hitchiker bugs are starting to flourish that at least conditions are getting better?

Any other thoughts of what it could be? I am actually going to get a dissolved oxygen test tomorrow so I will be able to at least eliminate that as a possible problem if it turns out ok.

Rick
 
Hi,


Althought low DO can cause problems in a tank, the symptomps that you have described do not point out to low DO. I would argue that unless you have a problem with a film developing in the surface or excessive algae growth, there is no chance that a 30g tank would develop a DO problem under normal conditions.

After reading your last post, I would say that:

-Your first fish died from aggression and fight-related injuries

-Your last two fish (clowns) where already sick (hence, they did not eat well even after a full day of aclimation) or.....

-The goby is the culprit


Ok. Hard to believe but in behavioral biology their is something called "previous residence" effect, which is just to say that if an animal already resides in a tank, it will have an advantage over intruders. Since ocellaris are not aggressive, your goby may have attacked them.

Of course, most gobies are small and very shy, but I am not familiar with the species you described, so this is possible....

I would:

a) Recheck all water parameters, just to be on the safe side

b) Wait a few more weeks before adding anything (i.e. in case there is any parasite)

c) Next time you add fish, try to pay close attention to all their reactions, behaviors, etc. Try to add fish only when you have a few days free to look at the tank and monitor the animal's behaviors. Pay close attention to feeding time and night time

Good luck. HTH.
 
Could it really be the Goby when he is paired up with a pistol shrimp and spends I would say about 95% of his time with only his head poking out from under the LR. He doesn't really ever roam around except when he sees a piece of food he wants. The clowns pretty much stayed on the other side of the tank. I am not arguing that he couldn't, just saying from his current temperment I would be very very surprised if he killed them. Also many nights I notice that the Pistol will block off the entrance under their LR and trap both of them inside. I really like the Goby/Pistol and dont plan on getting rid of them, so I just want to try and figure this out before I try again. No matter what though I plan on waiting another month till I finish the canopy and get my PC lights and let things adjust a bit. Comments please, I really want to figure this out :-( makes me sad that my Clowns all died. Thank you all so far for the comments, I greatly appreciate the help.

Rick
 
from his current temperment I would be very very surprised if he killed them
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I would be surprise too... But it is just a suggestion... Just observe their interaction next time you add something.

I am not very familiar with this goby, but most gobies are very shy and will not harm their tankmates.

However, aggression in animals can be a tricky thing...

Did you re-check your water parameters?

Make sure that all your test kits are ok. I have had very bad luck with some test kits, especially nitrate test kits....

HTH
 
He seems to be quite shy all the time, the only time I saw him in any way not shy or skittish was when I had some damsels and he wandered into one of their dens and the yellow-tail damsel brushed up against him trying to push him out and all the Goby did was open his mouth up and flare a bit, but never attacked or anything, just stayed still with his mouth wide open till the damsel wandered off. Other than that one time (if you even want to count that) he has never done anything I would consider close to aggressive, but still...

Water tested again and everything was fine. I am going to take in some water tomorrow to have it tested to make sure that everything is not only right, but that my tests are all working properly. Hopefully everything checks out ok, but I kind of am hoping to find something, I hate not having a clue what it could be :-(

Rick
 
just stayed still with his mouth wide open till the damsel wandered off.
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That certainly is aggressive behavior. But the animal (damsel) had wandered into his territory.... Its an understandable reaction...

Do not despair... As, you should know, "once you have eliminated the impossible, whatever remains however improbable must be the truth"...

I think by this time you should feel pretty sure that there are only two things possible: tank aggression or sick fish from pet shop.

So you know... You are not sure, there is always room for doubt, but this are the most plausible explanations.
 
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