2 Clownfish randomly dead

[Ceelyanthony]

I'm super puzzled by my situation, I purchased three clownfish from my LFS. They have been in my tank for about a week now. The second day one of them disappeared and I was unable to find and I'm still yet to find it. I woke up this morning and another one of my clownfish was dead, I couldn't find it for a while and it has now appeared dead in my tank. I also had two peppermint shrimp that disappeared. I'm so confused as to what is happening and why they are dying. My tank inhabitants are a Bubble Tip Anemone, Banggai Cardinal Fish, 2 Red Legged Hermit Crabs, and some Cyphastrea and Zoanthid frags. Thank you for any help.

 

[Peace River]

Do you have a sump and have you checked there for the first clown and shrimp? In order to provide better feedback, here are a few questions: Did you quarantine the three clowns before adding them to your main tank? Were the clowns eating? Were there any marks on the fish that you did find? How long has the tank been setup?

#reefsquad #clownfish

 

[Ceelyanthony]

Do you have a sump and have you checked there for the first clown and shrimp? In order to provide better feedback, here are a few questions: Did you quarantine the three clowns before adding them to your main tank? Were the clowns eating? Were there any marks on the fish that you did find? How long has the tank been setup?

#reefsquad #clownfish

I have a hob skimmer and a hob refugium for my filtration system, it is a 29 gallon tank. I did not quarantine them as I do not have a quarantine tank setup. Yes they were all eating frozen brine shrimp. There wasn't any marks on the fish when I purchased them, but yesterday I did notice a circular scrape on one of the clowns. The tank has been set up for almost 4 months, I know that is a little early to add an anemone but my tank has been super stable since the cycle has ended. Thank you

 

[Mykawl]

How big is tank?
Edit:didn’t read last post : P

 

[Mykawl]

Did you check for ammonia after any of the deaths? 3 is maybe too much to add at once

Also I don’t think clownfish like being in groups of three

 

[Ceelyanthony]

Did you check for ammonia after any of the deaths? 3 is maybe too much to add at once

Yes I checked ammonia after the death today and it was less than .25ppm

 

[Jon Fishman]

Saw your profile picture thing.... are you a cop? You gotta tell me if you're a cop otherwise it's entrapment..... saw it in a movie.....


I kid....

Do you have pets? is there a top on the tank? One of my clowns was getting bullied and "Jumped" and my dog proudly found him and brought him to my kids...... 3 clowns together in a small tank is usually no good.... and if one had marks, maybe they have been fighting?

Doesn't really explain the shrimp, but they are great at hiding..... how much rock is in there?

 

[Ceelyanthony]

Saw your profile picture thing.... are you a cop? You gotta tell me if you're a cop otherwise it's entrapment..... saw it in a movie.....


I kid....

Do you have pets? is there a top on the tank? One of my clowns was getting bullied and "Jumped" and my dog proudly found him and brought him to my kids...... 3 clowns together in a small tank is usually no good.... and if one had marks, maybe they have been fighting?

Doesn't really explain the shrimp, but they are great at hiding..... how much rock is in there?

Haha no, the cop in the photo is my dad, so it still could be entrapment. I have no pets and there is a egg crate top on the tank. After greater inspection of the clown it does look like a chunk was taken out of it, not sure if it was from fighting or a hermit crab picking at it while I was asleep before I discovered it. Also there is about 25-30 pounds of rock in the tank.

Excuse the light looking so blue it’s not that blue in person.

 

[LAReefer4Life]

It could be possible your have an unknown invert like mantis shrimp for example that comes out and prays on your livestock while lights are off. Also keep your ammonia down to undetectable levels.

 

[Mykawl]

Yes I checked ammonia after the death today and it was less than .25ppm

If your using API it will always read 0.25 never 0.0 so I guess don’t worry about that they probably fought. And then your correct the hermit crab started eating him but the death was probably from fighting, wait for other to confirm can’t speak from experience with clownfish.

If you still have a surviving clownfish wait a week or two for him and the tank to stabilize then your can try adding a partner again.

But the shrimp deaths is another problem you found them dead right? I’m thinking you had an ammonia spike by adding 3 fish at the same time but I would still triple check all basic perameters and have your LFS check your water too.

 

[aqua_code]

Could be a number of things. Hopefully not a disease or parasitic infection, check the gills and look for any heavy breathing or white spots on the fish. I'm guessing you did not quarantine the fish?

3 clownfish is not a good number to keep in a tank. Sometimes one or two of them will gang up. It's possible one is very dominant and stressed out the others.

 

[Ceelyanthony]

If your using API it will always read 0.25 never 0.0 so I guess don’t worry about that they probably fought. And then your correct the hermit crab started eating him but the death was probably from fighting, wait for other to confirm can’t speak from experience with clownfish.

If you still have a surviving clownfish wait a week or two for him and the tank to stabilize then your can try adding a partner again.

But the shrimp deaths is another problem you found them dead right? I’m thinking you had an ammonia spike by adding 3 fish at the same time but I would still triple check all basic perameters and have your LFS check your water too.

No I haven’t found the shrimp dead, it’s just been three days since I have seen one. Yes I am running and API test kit so thank you for the advice there.

 

[Ceelyanthony]

Could be a number of things. Hopefully not a disease or parasitic infection, check the gills and look for any heavy breathing or white spots on the fish. I'm guessing you did not quarantine the fish?

3 clownfish is not a good number to keep in a tank. Sometimes one or two of them will gang up. It's possible one is very dominant and stressed out the others.

No I did not quarantine the fish, is there an easy way to set up a quarantine tank for the future?

 

[Mykawl]

Quarantine is no joke and needs to be done very well in order to be effective, it’s preferable but don’t think that was your problem here.

 

[aqua_code]

It's possible for parasites to transfer through the water column and have a delayed outbreak. That's why people recommend starting a tank fallow for 79 days. You can setup a 10 gallon with an aquaclear and heater pretty easily for quarantine. Just make sure it's cycled first. If you see more fish getting sick you will want to have it.

 

[Ceelyanthony]

It's possible for parasites to transfer through the water column and have a delayed outbreak. You can setup a 10 gallon with an aquaclear and heater pretty easily for quarantine. Just make sure it's cycled first. If you see more fish getting sick you will want to have it.

Thank you so much. I have an extra 10 gallon tank lying around so I will set that up.

 

[MetaKnight101]

I have a feeling that it is related to something parasites in your tank but your bangai appears to be healthy, either way you should always qt every fish that you buy