My fish suddenly died

[Idech]

A 30 gallon fluval filter

What model ?

 

[Goby2]

What model ?

It’s a fluval aquaclear

 

[Cichlid Dad]

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?

Probably not related, but the surface of the water should be moving through out the tank for gas exchange. The rock is your filter in a saltwater tank. May I ask what filter you are using and what are you using in the filter. Edit never mind I read the rest of the post

 

[Jay Hemdal]

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?

Welcome to Reef2Reef!

Does your GSP have good polyp extension? If so, you can use it as a canary in the coal mine and rule out virtually ALL water laity issues as being the cause of the fish death. If the GSP is closed up, it could be a water quality issue.

My take on this is that the clowns developed an infection, and you missed the early symptoms, resulting in the fish appearing to just die overnight. Velvet is a disease that causes rapid breathing one day, and can result in fish loss 36 hours later.

 

[twentyleagues]

You have inverts in the tank that are alive. I doubt it is water quality. Since we do not know for sure you must leave the tank Fallow (fishless) for 90 days to not possibly infect others. Typical QT tanks do not have inverts in them unless its an invert qt, but you want to QT fish and inverts separately . Do you have another tank set up to receive the QT items? Are there fish in that tank if so? If this is your only tank its not really a QT.

 

[PopBot16]

What was the purpose of adding the Prime?

 

[Tamberav]

Not related but I would not quarantine your inverts and fish together. It’s not really a quarantine at this point.

I do think 5g is a bit small as I assume this tank is not cycled well.

If you are in the US, And Petcos sale is still going, 50 percent off. You could pick up a 29g for quarantine and then not fill it all the way so the filter splashes water down and creates good agitation for oxygen.

 

[Goby2]

You have inverts in the tank that are alive. I doubt it is water quality. Since we do not know for sure you must leave the tank Fallow (fishless) for 90 days to not possibly infect others. Typical QT tanks do not have inverts in them unless its an invert qt, but you want to QT fish and inverts separately . Do you have another tank set up to receive the QT items? Are there fish in that tank if so? If this is your only tank its not really a QT.

Yes I have another thank set up it’s a 20 gallon I was originally only planning on having a coral only tank but my fiancé fell in love with the two clowns and so yea we got them. Also I had no idea I’d need two separate QT tanks I have another 5 gallon QT tank but that’s for my fresh water fish I’ll figure something out though soon I don’t think we will be entertaining fish anytime soon though kinda already spent all the money on the 20 gallon

 

[Goby2]

Not related but I would not quarantine your inverts and fish together. It’s not really a quarantine at this point.

I do think 5g is a bit small as I assume this tank is not cycled well.

If you are in the US, And Petcos sale is still going, 50 percent off. You could pick up a 29g for quarantine and then not fill it all the way so the filter splashes water down and creates good agitation for oxygen.

I’d love to be able to do that but unfortunately for me my space is very limited on where I can put stuff also I didn’t know about the inverts and fish not being together is there any reason as to why that’s a bad idea?? Just trying to learn

 

[Goby2]

What was the purpose of adding the Prime?

To remove any possible chlorine or chloramine even though I buy it from a salt water store I’d like to not take a chance on it having a slight trace of chlorine or chloramine I’ve seen what both can do to a fresh water fish tank and would hate to see what they could do to expensive corals and or fish

 

[twentyleagues]

Yes I have another thank set up it’s a 20 gallon I was originally only planning on having a coral only tank but my fiancé fell in love with the two clowns and so yea we got them. Also I had no idea I’d need two separate QT tanks I have another 5 gallon QT tank but that’s for my fresh water fish I’ll figure something out though soon I don’t think we will be entertaining fish anytime soon though kinda already spent all the money on the 20 gallon

I’d love to be able to do that but unfortunately for me my space is very limited on where I can put stuff also I didn’t know about the inverts and fish not being together is there any reason as to why that’s a bad idea?? Just trying to learn

To remove any possible chlorine or chloramine even though I buy it from a salt water store I’d like to not take a chance on it having a slight trace of chlorine or chloramine I’ve seen what both can do to a fresh water fish tank and would hate to see what they could do to expensive corals and or fish

So You are getting premixed saltwater from the lfs? Or is it rodi water and you are mixing your own salt? Either way stop using prime neither will have chlorine in them.

Yes you want to keep the new fish you bring in in a separate QT. If you are actually following QT of some sort you can not treat the fish with inverts in the tank you will kill the inverts. There are many ways to QT and there is a sticky in the disease section of the forum that outlines them. The most you can do for qt of inverts including corals is observation for the most part. There are dips to remove coral pests from corals but for other inverts like cuc its basically just observation and fallow period to hopefully kill off and fish disease or parasite that may have hitched a ride on the invert. Typically its 6 weeks without adding anything else to the tank without fish the parasite/disease has nothing to live off and dies in that time.

 

[Goby2]

So You are getting premixed saltwater from the lfs? Or is it rodi water and you are mixing your own salt? Either way stop using prime neither will have chlorine in them.

Yes you want to keep the new fish you bring in in a separate QT. If you are actually following QT of some sort you can not treat the fish with inverts in the tank you will kill the inverts. There are many ways to QT and there is a sticky in the disease section of the forum that outlines them. The most you can do for qt of inverts including corals is observation for the most part. There are dips to remove coral pests from corals but for other inverts like cuc its basically just observation and fallow period to hopefully kill off and fish disease or parasite that may have hitched a ride on the invert. Typically its 6 weeks without adding anything else to the tank without fish the parasite/disease has nothing to live off and dies in that time.

Good to know thank you for the information I have dipped my one coral I have rn but tbh I don’t know if we will do fish in the future for I honestly just wanted a coral only tank really

 

[Tamberav]

I’d love to be able to do that but unfortunately for me my space is very limited on where I can put stuff also I didn’t know about the inverts and fish not being together is there any reason as to why that’s a bad idea?? Just trying to learn

You could buy some fish already quarantined Then skip all this extra work and keep the 5g to quarantine coral and inverts instead. It’s perfectly big enough for that!

You could also buy fish directly from a breeder as they are generally much healthier. This means fish that NEVER touch the fish stores water. You can buy these online at a few sources but you can also ask your pet store if they will order you a pair of clowns from ORA or BIOTA and you can pick them up still in the bag they were shipped in the day they arrive. You need to let them know this is how you would like to do it and make sure you can go pick them up that day.

As long as they are in the bag they shipped in, you are pretty safe adding them to your tank directly since they are captive bred and direct from the breeders facility.

This means they are never mixed with wild fish who have a much higher chance of parasites.

If you stick to captive bred fish from the source only (no wilds) and quarantine your corals/inverts, there is a very good chance you will never have to deal with fish disease.

You don’t mix them because fish typically need to be treated with medications that can kill coral. Also if your fish is sick.. even if you remove the coral, the coral is considered contaminated now so you wouldn’t have anywhere to put it since it should not go into the display if it was in a tank with sick fish. It would need its own tank to run fallow (no fish).

 

[Goby2]

You could buy some fish already quarantined Then skip all this extra work and keep the 5g to quarantine coral and inverts instead. It’s perfectly big enough for that!

You could also buy fish directly from a breeder as they are generally much healthier. This means fish that NEVER touch the fish stores water. You can buy these online at a few sources but you can also ask your pet store if they will order you a pair of clowns from ORA or BIOTA and you can pick them up still in the bag they were shipped in the day they arrive. You need to let them know this is how you would like to do it and make sure you can go pick them up that day.

As long as they are in the bag they shipped in, you are pretty safe adding them to your tank directly since they are captive bred and direct from the breeders facility.

This means they are never mixed with wild fish who have a much higher chance of parasites.

If you stick to captive bred fish from the source only (no wilds) and quarantine your corals/inverts, there is a very good chance you will never have to deal with fish disease.

You don’t mix them because fish typically need to be treated with medications that can kill coral. Also if your fish is sick.. even if you remove the coral, the coral is considered contaminated now so you wouldn’t have anywhere to put it since it should not go into the display if it was in a tank with sick fish. It would need its own tank to run fallow (no fish).

Thank you I will keep all of that in mind if we decide to go and get fish further down the road