Mysterious Deaths

[Tyler]

Welp I am having the same problem I did a few months ago with my old clowns. They look great and happy for weeks, eat well, all that, then suddenly at night turn extremely pale and act crazy. They start swimming into everything and then lay on the bottom and by morning are dead. Nobody I have spoken to has experienced this and it only happens to the clowns. I just aimed a powerhead up to get a bit more oxygen in case that will help but I know he will be gone shortly. If anybody has a guess why this happens please let me know. I've gone through probably $200 worth of clownfish and this happens every time. I feel so bad because it's a lot of money and I can never find the problem


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[Mikeamadio]

If there from the same lfs try a new one otherwise I have never heard of that helping before. If you ever find an answer please let us know.

 

[Tyler]

If there from the same lfs try a new one otherwise I have never heard of that helping before.

I've tried from 3 different places, always ends up happening. I would think if it was a disease my other fish would get sick too but its only the clowns. If these ones dont make a magic recovery I'm not getting any more clowns ever again. They are my favorite fish but I can't keep wasting this much money and seeing them die really upsets me


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[Mikeamadio]

I could understand if it was something like brooklynella, from what I understand clowns can be more prone than some other fish but that would be identifiable.

 

[diana a]

When did you get the last set of clowns? Do you qt your fish? What are your water parameters

 

[Jeremy Brito]

Ok so lets get this broken down from a investigative stand point. 1 the fish that die are always clown fish 2 they are healthy up until the night they die 3 they always die at night 4 they go pale 5 they swim erratic 6 they go to the bottom of the tank and die. First question is does this happen around the same time each time? if so what is going on in your house specifically the room you keep the tank in? is anything else in the tank effected? what happens in your tank equipment wise around this time for example does equipment turn on or off and lastly how long were the fish in your tank and is there a pattern for example did every set of clowns die after the same amount of time?
water chemistry would be helpful but the bigger question is how far In between water changes does this happen and is it always at the same point in your water change schedule?
the behavior of the fish does not indicate to me lack of oxygenation as a fish in a tank that is oxygen deprived tend to jump out of the water or swim to the top. how ever when the temperature rises the water warms from the surface to the bottom so at first the fish will go deep and then to the surface when the bottom heats up.

 

[Tyler]

I could understand if it was something like brooklynella, from what I understand clowns can be more prone than some other fish but that would be identifiable.

Yeah I've asked at some fish stores and the guy said probably brook and since my first 2 were wild caught I switched to captive bred after that. I let my tank sit clown free 3 months then got a new pair. Looked great up until last night. The one is dead and I will remove him shortly but the other looks normal again. Its so weird


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[Tyler]

When did you get the last set of clowns? Do you qt your fish? What are your water parameters

I got them 3-4 weeks ago. I don't QT, no space left in my bedroom for one. J don't even testing my params other than CA/ALK because if something was up I'm confident my acros would be the first thing to give me a sign


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[Tyler]

Ok so lets get this broken down from a investigative stand point. 1 the fish that die are always clown fish 2 they are healthy up until the night they die 3 they always die at night 4 they go pale 5 they swim erratic 6 they go to the bottom of the tank and die. First question is does this happen around the same time each time? if so what is going on in your house specifically the room you keep the tank in? is anything else in the tank effected? what happens in your tank equipment wise around this time for example does equipment turn on or off and lastly how long were the fish in your tank and is there a pattern for example did every set of clowns die after the same amount of time?
water chemistry would be helpful but the bigger question is how far In between water changes does this happen and is it always at the same point in your water change schedule?
the behavior of the fish does not indicate to me lack of oxygenation as a fish in a tank that is oxygen deprived tend to jump out of the water or swim to the top. how ever when the temperature rises the water warms from the surface to the bottom so at first the fish will go deep and then to the surface when the bottom heats up.

Yeah you are correct. Nothing in the tank is ever effected except my clowns. My tank is in my bedroom so nothing goes on in there until I come up for bed and when I do I don't even turn my room lights on so I don't stress them out. The light had been off for about 2 hours at the time I posted it but other than that nothing changed. I had them for nearly a month and all was good until last night. The only pattern I've found was that they both lived almost a month and died, one 2 or 3 nights before the other but after the first one dies the other starts to go downhill.


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[Tyler]

Guys I am so confused.. He was super dead when I woke up, my dad even looked at him and agreed. Even paler than at night, stuck in a hole in a rock, and no sign of breathing. I just went in to get him out and as soon as my hand was an inch away he shot out and is swimming with my other clownfish, albeit looking a bit slower than normal. But his color is back and he's swimming, which is a good sign, but I'm so lost with what happened.


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[Trio91]

Any other fish inside your tank?

 

[Tyler]

Any other fish inside your tank?

Yes, he was acting as normal, doing just fine. Actually better than usual, my banggai doesn't normally eat pellets and yesterday he actually ate them for the first time. The absolute only thing I did last night was turn my powerhead almost straight up at the top in hopes that it would add more oxygen and that could help even though it wasn't the root of the problem. My corals actually look happier than ever before with the water like that but I definitely will have to buy a second powerhead because now my montis are getting almost no flow lol.


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[Trio91]

But how many other fish in total in the tank? Also what size is this tank again?

 

[Tyler]

But how many other fish in total in the tank? Also what size is this tank again?

46 gallons, just 2 other fish (3 total) and everybody is about 2". I also have a 10 gallon sump but it is currently not in the tank because it is being renovated lol. The silicone will be 48 hrs cured tonight so I plan on putting it back in tonight or late afternoon.


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[Trio91]

Ok, and like @diana a mentioned, have you tested your water? You checked PH and amonnia?

 

[Tyler]

Ok, and like @diana mentioned, have you tested your water? You checked PH and amonnia?

I don't ever test my water except calcium/alk, don't even have the other test kits. I know it's bad practice but I figure my corals or nems would let me know if something was up even before the fish. Nightly PH swings could be the problem though now that I think about it. With my sump offline I don't have a reverse photoperiod going on so I would guess its possible that maybe the PH dropping stressed him out. But I know most people don't have plant areas where the lights run at night to balance it out so not sure why only my fish would be bothered


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[Trio91]

Maybe have your LFS test your water to see why they say. This way you don't have to buy test kits. Also what's your tank temp?

 

[Tyler]

Maybe have your LFS test your water to see why they say. This way you don't have to buy test kits. Also what's your tank temp?

I can try and go to my LFS when my parents come home later as long as they will drive me. I keep my temp at 80°


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[Trio91]

Have them test for salinity, amonnia and PH....this way those can get ruled out. As well as any other items you can test for at home

 

[Tyler]

Have them test for salinity, amonnia and PH....this way those can get ruled out. As well as any other items you can test for at home

I do test my salinity and its always between 1.025-1.026. I really don't think its ammonia because my corals would likely act up, especially my SPS, but I will ask them to test regardless


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