new aquarium, one clown fish died :(, other not eating

hello all, im new to these forums. Ive recently setup a 80 litre (20 gallon) ORCA cube aquarium, with bout 6 kilos of live rock with bioballs and activated carbon as filtration media, heater, and sand. i left the tank running for about 2 weeks, with water i purchased at the fish shop, and the live rock had coralinealgea growth and there were worms and other organisms living within the live rock. The water quality was good constantly in the second week so i decided to get my first 2 clown fish.(3-3.5cm long fish) being new to fish and aquariums, i bought them from a crouded tank (not good ive heard). anyway i took them home and acclimatized them to the water for 10mins and then released them. they both were not swimming much at all, and were swimming vertically alot. i performed a small water change to be safe, and added some stability. i tried to feed them but they wouldnt eat. the little one eventually went to the bottom not swimming .in the morning, my tank was all cloudy (bacterial bloom from too much stability?) and one of my clownys had died (the smaller one). i did another water change, and tried feeding my other clown but he still wouldnt eat. he wouldnt swim much, and sometimes swam vertically but not often. over the last couple of days he has perked up more (water is clear and good), he seems to swim around alot more when i turn the filter off, but when the filters on he doesnt swim much at all, and he still wont eat, but sometimes goes to the top and almost takes the food, but then he wont. tried brine shrimp and granualted food pellets, but no go. its only been 3 days since i got them, but how do i get my other clown to eat? is he still settling in or is he getting over some sort of bladder problem etc?

my water quality is as follows (last i tested it)

ammonia = 0
nitrate = 0
nitrite = 0
ph = 8.3
temp = 25c
salinity, or specific gravity = 1.023


advise would be appreciated since im new to salt water aquariums, cheers.

 

Welcome to 3reef, wish it could be under better terms, the parameters you posted are all pretty much normal but just 2 weeks of the aquarium being up? Saltwater takes atleast 4 to get where it's inhabitable normally and the full cycle can take up to a year My bet is on that, Also if you were using stability, which in my opinion is a great product that is why your ammonia, nitrite and nitrate are all at 0, chances are it hasn't completed a natural cycle yet because stability will just wipe all those out.
Also Since I know it will come up, you'll want to install a grounding probe to make sure there is no voltage leaks in the tank.

 

thanx for the advice, i only started using stability after i added the fish, which was yes only 2 weeks of having the aquarium up. since i had purchased the water and had alot of live rock, i thought it would be ok to add them after 2 weeks. anyway, my other clown is doing alot better, he especially likes it with the filter off,(only leave it off for 10mins or so) and seems happy and swims around alot, exploring the tank (mostly a stationary fish with filter on). will my fish get used to the filtration or is the filtration too strong? could i just put something in the pump nozzle to block water flow or should i just leave it, hoping hell get used to it?

 

10 minutes

The water temp didn't even stabilize by then. On your next purchase, set the bag in the water for 20 minutes then add 1/2 cup water every 15 to 20 minutes for AT LEAST 1 hour if not more. This is so there is not a shock on the fish with the salinity change from the stores water to yours.

 

oh ok so 20mins! hmm, i was told clown fish are hardy, (i have had goldfish before) but after adding them to my tank i can tell they are far more sensitive. i think i may have stressed him to death i will be way more careful next time. anyway will my other clowny eventually eat? is it normal he is not feeding since ive introduced him, it has been 3 days, i would assume he would eat something. anyway he seems quite healthy now.

 

they are quite hardy but they probably went into shock and 1 just never recovered, it's kind of like getting in the pool on a nice day outside, you get out and your a little cold until you get back in and warm up again, ok... not really a great example but still lol

When I add fish that I know are hardy, I'll float the bag 30 mins, open the bag, use a turkey baster to pull 1 baster full of water out of the bag, then put 1 baster full of water from my tank in, wait another 15 mins, then repeat this, do that about 3-4 times then they should be safe to add, also you'd want to net the fish out of the bag, not just dump them in

 

When I introduced my clowns both of them sat in the corner of the tank for a week or so. Eventually they ventured out but only half way across the tank and then after another few weeks they where swimming around quite happily. As long as he is eating and swimming ok then I wouldn't worry too much at the moment.

Acclimitization is really important and spending more time doing so the better as per Scott's instructions above.

 

How long has this tank been running ? What you saw the clowns swim like is normal Where they Small perculia's maybe Tank raised ? But the tank was and is new not a long enough cycle you added L/Rock and assumed the Ammonia and NO2 where all in check.. The fish over loaded the new system and the water change and then the water stability additive ? I guess that and the water change fully kicked in a mini spike and cycle and they fish's suffocated in the ammonia and or Nitrite spike and the white haze you are seeing is the bacteria dieing off and exhausting the waters Oxygen.. It will clear in its on time about 72 Hrs just leave it as is and let it ride then just add a single fish to get the bacteria stable then wait a few weeks and add another.. and so on..As for acclimation I sledom do that at Home I just lift them with my hand from the Bags and set them in the tank and thats it . Its never been a problem for me..

 

thanx for the replys. i think i may have paniced a bit much when i put them in because i thought my water wasnt up to scratch, and the water changes and stability (probably overdosed, although the bottle says theres no chance of that ) probably gave an ammonia spike as you say + not acclimatising the the fish probably was too much for the smaller clown (ocellaris they are) and killed him. i added 2 clowns by the way my other clown is doing ok i am just new to this so thanx for the advice anyway.

 

hey all got another clown fish today they are both going really well,
eating and swimming around lots. looks like theyve both paired up too ;D
added more ph buffer and have the tank oxygenated alot more, (dont
have enough money to get an oxygen pump yet) so im just using the
filter flow to oxygenate the water. they dont seem to mind the current now ive learned to only add a little of stability at a time, and yeah acclimitized the second clowny alot longer and he took to my tank water really well!
thanx guys for the advice