My fish suddenly died

[Goby2]

Hello I have recently gotten into the saltwater hobby and had taken on two clownfish they were doing great for a couple of weeks I checked ammonia, nitrite, nitrate, ph, and salinity once a week I do 10% water changes once a week as well they seemed to be normal until I came home today both of my clowns were on the sand dead I have a hermit crab and a small frag of gsp they both seem to be perfectly fine I tested my parameters and everything was at zero I recently like 2 days ago did a water change and had added a small amount of seachem prime like I do to my 55 gallon cichlid tank I think they had plenty of oxygen because the filter I have is rated for double the size of the tank any ideas on what could have happened?

 

[littlefoxx]

Hello I have recently gotten into the saltwater hobby and had taken on two clownfish they were doing great for a couple of weeks I checked ammonia, nitrite, nitrate, ph, and salinity once a week I do 10% water changes once a week as well they seemed to be normal until I came home today both of my clowns were on the sand dead I have a hermit crab and a small frag of gsp they both seem to be perfectly fine I tested my parameters and everything was at zero I recently like 2 days ago did a water change and had added a small amount of seachem prime like I do to my 55 gallon cichlid tank I think they had plenty of oxygen because the filter I have is rated for double the size of the tank any ideas on what could have happened?

Did they show signs of illness (white spots that look like salt sprinkled on the fish?). Also how much surface agitation was there? Thats important for oxygen as well. @vetteguy53081 @Jay Hemdal would be able to help further

 

[vetteguy53081]

Hello I have recently gotten into the saltwater hobby and had taken on two clownfish they were doing great for a couple of weeks I checked ammonia, nitrite, nitrate, ph, and salinity once a week I do 10% water changes once a week as well they seemed to be normal until I came home today both of my clowns were on the sand dead I have a hermit crab and a small frag of gsp they both seem to be perfectly fine I tested my parameters and everything was at zero I recently like 2 days ago did a water change and had added a small amount of seachem prime like I do to my 55 gallon cichlid tank I think they had plenty of oxygen because the filter I have is rated for double the size of the tank any ideas on what could have happened?

Prime should be diluted into mixing your water and not added to tank directly which may have had an adverse effect on water and/or oxygen levels. When fish die and inverts are doing well, often though it will be disease and not water but a spike event may have occurred. Without seeing the fish and yourself not having symptoms becomes a guessing game

 

[Goby2]

Did they show signs of illness (white spots that look like salt sprinkled on the fish?). Also how much surface agitation was there? Thats important for oxygen as well. @vetteguy53081 @Jay Hemdal would be able to help further

I didn’t notice any they were eating just fine and there’s some surface agitation not a lot though the filter I have is on it’s max setting moving as much water as it can the tank I should specify is technically a quarantine tank nothing huge it’s a 5 gallon tank the clowns were both baby’s idk what I did wrong 5 gallon quarantine a bad idea?

 

[Goby2]

Prime should be diluted into mixing your water and not added to tank directly which may have had an adverse effect on water and/or oxygen levels. When fish die and inverts are doing well, often though it will be disease and not water but a spike event may have occurred. Without seeing the fish and yourself not having symptoms becomes a guessing game

I never do add a lot of prime it’s maybe like 1/16 of a 5ml cap to it only when I do water changes though I’ve never actually had a problem with that out of any of my other tanks but I guess it is a saltwater tank

 

[Mr. Mojo Rising]

What size is the tank? What type of filtration? How long has it been running? Is there rock in the tank? Do you use tap or rodi water? Tank pic might help.

 

[littlefoxx]

I didn’t notice any they were eating just fine and there’s some surface agitation not a lot though the filter I have is on it’s max setting moving as much water as it can the tank I should specify is technically a quarantine tank nothing huge it’s a 5 gallon tank the clowns were both baby’s idk what I did wrong 5 gallon quarantine a bad idea?

Wait this was a 5 gallon?

 

[Goby2]

Wait this was a 5 gallon?

Yes quarantine tank I don’t have a lot a room for a quarantine tank bigger than that

 

[littlefoxx]

Yes quarantine tank I don’t have a lot a room for a quarantine tank bigger than that

Oh well my guess would be water parameter shift (what test kit were you using?) or oxygen issue. Thats a tiny tank to maintain with saltwater fish

 

[Goby2]

Oh well my guess would be water parameter shift (what test kit were you using?) or oxygen issue. Thats a tiny tank to maintain with saltwater fish

I’m using the API saltwater master kit I test it every couple of days I do water changes once a week I check everything from temperature, ph, ammonia, salinity, nitrite and nitrate. I do have a filter with carbon in it could that be an issue?

 

[littlefoxx]

I’m using the API saltwater master kit I test it every couple of days I do water changes once a week I check everything from temperature, ph, ammonia, salinity, nitrite and nitrate. I do have a filter with carbon in it could that be an issue?

Most likely your API kit was incorrect and its a water issue. Those are notorious for giving false readings. Most likely there was toxic ammonia in the tank with no oxygen and thats why they passed

 

[Goby2]

Most likely your API kit was incorrect and it’s a water issue. Those are notorious for giving false readings. Most likely there was toxic ammonia in the tank with no oxygen and thats why they passed

If that’s true I guess I’ll just have to wait and continue to do water changes until I can get a better kit to test any recommendations?

 

[littlefoxx]

If that’s true I guess I’ll just have to wait and continue to do water changes until I can get a better kit to test any recommendations?

I use red sea and fluval

 

[Goby2]

I use red sea and fluval

Thanks for the recommendation I have a salt water store near me that sells the Red Sea master kit

 

[slythy]

If that’s true I guess I’ll just have to wait and continue to do water changes until I can get a better kit to test any recommendations?

I use salifert for alk, cal, mag and Hanna for nitrate and phosphate. Api is probably fine until you get more coral. Really at this point you should hopefully not have any ammonia and then just keep nitrate under 20 until you figure what you want out of the tank

 

[littlefoxx]

Thanks for the recommendation I have a salt water store near me that sells the Red Sea master kit

Great! I always double check with fluval too. Just dont use the pH tester from fluval, thats awful. But ammonia, nitrite and nitrite is good.

 

[Goby2]

Great! I always double check with fluval too. Just dont use the pH tester from fluval, thats awful. But ammonia, nitrite and nitrite is good.

Thank you so much

 

[Goby2]

I use salifert for alk, cal, mag and Hanna for nitrate and phosphate. Api is probably fine until you get more coral. Really at this point you should hopefully not have any ammonia and then just keep nitrate under 20 until you figure what you want out of the tank

I only have the one coral at the moment I plan on getting more but mainly soft corals that aren’t to hard to take care of my fish store I had contacted and they want me to bring my water to them to test and my salt water kit to use on there tanks to see if I had received a bad kit

 

[Idech]

What kind of filter are you using 8n that tank ? My guess would be there isn’t enough oxygen. Do you have a powerhead in the tank ? If not, add one and aim it to the surface.

 

[Goby2]

What kind of filter are you using 8n that tank ? My guess would be there isn’t enough oxygen. Do you have a powerhead in the tank ? If not, add one and aim it to the surface.

A 30 gallon fluval filter