1 of my 2 Clowns just died....

SO MAD RIGHT NOW, just got back from work and found one of my clownfish DEAD.... the other one was very close by just watching over it... they were buddies... always did the twitch thing. the dead one last night wasn't really eating but it seemed fine. then today BAM! DEAD! i don't understand what I am doing wrong... my water is clear.. there's algae growing. i had my tank running for about 2 weeks before i added the 2 clowns since i found them on sale... they were very shy at first not eating and what not but seemed to be getting more confortable. I just don't want my other clown to die now... any advice? or do these things just happen??? you can see my setup below in the pictures....




PARAMETERS
Temperature: steady 80 degrees
PH: 7.8+
Ammonia: 0
Nitrite: 0
Nitrate: 0
Salinity: 1.026
dKH/KH/Alkalinity: don't know
Magnesium: don't know
Calcium: don't know
Phosphate: don't know

Tank size? 10 gals, probably around 8-9 gallons of water
Estimated total system?

Reef, fish only or, freshwater? fish only with Live Rock

Current inhabitants? What and how many? none, some worms living inside the live rock not harmful
Clean up crew? none

How long has your tank been set-up? 1 month, fish were added 2 weeks ago

Substrate.
Type? caribsea arognate, recommended by my LFS ... he said it was the good stuff, 20 lbs
Depth? 3-4 inches

Live rock? yes
How much? around 8 lbs
Did you recently add some? yes maybe 2 lbs the day before i added the 2 clowns

Filtration.
Type? basic power filter that came with aquarium
Protein skimmer? none
Do you wet or dry skim? none
Maintenance schedule for filtration? just replaced new filter
Drilled tank/hang on back overflow? none
Sump/refugium. What's in it and how much? none
Macro? What kind? macro?

Lighting.
Lighting type? 5-6 hours, flourescent basic bulb that came with aquarium
Age of bulbs? new

Feeding
What? Mysis, Brine, some sinking dry japanese food
How much? 1/2 to 1/4 of a cube
How often? once in 2 days

Water change schedule.
How much? none so far
How often?
What salt brand? ocean water from my LFS, water vending machine in front of ralphs to top off
Water source?

Additives/supplements used? none

Do you have a ground probe? ground probe?
What kind of flow does your tank have? 2 nano koralia's at 240 gph each

 

I will give you karma for actually posting everything you know, very good!!! but on the other hand, in all honesty it could have been stress, ick, or something else... I don't really know, sorry.

 

Where did you get them from, how long have you had them, and do you know of there origin history?

 

Did you use that live bacteria before adding fish? 2 weeks is not very long. Also more LR would help maybe 5 LBS. I think stress did it

Usually a new fish dies within the first week. Most likely a sick fish

 

yes i used live bacteria bio-spira from instant ocean... the LFS manager recommended it.

the coloration of the fish was kind of bland compared to the other...

i don't know the history of the 2 fish.... i've had them for about 2 weeks...

i don't believe it was ick because i didn't see any white spots on them...

 

It depends on where you got them "on sale" were there any distinct attributes on either of the fish? and also if you think the other clown is feeling lonely maybe go out and find him a host anenome... AND +1 for posting ALLLLLL of that info I agree with Nano

 

An anemone at 1 month is probably not the greatest course of action. I would let your single clown fish go for approx. 2 more weeks and try adding after that. Let the bacteria balance itself out a little before progressing. Anemones are REALLY hard to keep in an unestablished tank such as yours. 10g is probably not large enough regardless of age. GL and sorry for your loss. Stress or a disease would probably be the cause as clown fish are generally pretty hardy.

 

Froc3, I agree to an extent. Anyways.. By "Just replacing new filter" do mean cleaning it out or buying a brand new one, because if you DID clean it out completely with salt water NOT fresh, you may have wiped out all of biological filters within the HOB filter, but considering the fact that the tank has not been set up that long there probably wasn't too much to be wiped out.

 

Don't even think about an host anenome ...
Sorry about your clown.. In the start I lost one of mine..
After a few weeks, I added another one.. And even tho it was alot smaller.. There was no problem.. Your PH is a tad low.. Should be around 8.2 ..
But I don't think that would hurt.. Sometimes you just get a weak fish. And then the stress.....

Good Luck with the next one..

Larry

 

thanks guyz for the help... i did bake baking soda for around 1.5 hours and added it into the tank, which i believe did increase my pH... maybe it's my testing kit? i have the API Saltwater master kit, do these things expire???

by "change filter" meaning i didn't replace the entire filter just the carbon netting filter inside....

an anemone in my 10 gal?! i've heard various things from waiting until 6 months into the tank before adding one... i may just hold off since i need a lot more tests and what not to maintain one....

any other help will be great! please let me know!!!