Dead clown fish

Discussion in 'New To The Hobby' started by tylerbrasseux, Dec 23, 2015.

to remove this notice and enjoy 3reef content with less ads. 3reef membership is free.

  1. tylerbrasseux

    tylerbrasseux Plankton

    Joined:
    Dec 17, 2015
    Messages:
    18
    Hello! I'm new to all of this so any advice is greatly appreciated. I have a 29 gallon bio cube with 19 pounds of live rock, 4 hermit crabs, and a small Kenyan tree. I've been dosing my tank for 4 days now using stability. I've added a clown fish on Sunday, he ate every night for feeding time and seemed happy. This morning I woke up and he was dead. I tested my water, PH 8.0, ammonia 0ppm, nitrite 0ppm nitrate 0ppm, and my temperature stays between 76-78 degrees. I'm not sure my salinity. Any ideas of what could have caused my clown to die? The Kenyan is very happy and doesn't seem bothered by anything..
     
  2. Click Here!

  3. Piano10

    Piano10 Aiptasia Anemone

    Joined:
    Jun 2, 2015
    Messages:
    581
    How long have you had the tank?
    If its a new tank, it may not have gone through a cycle. It takes anywhere from 2-6 weeks for the cycle to complete.

    Was there anything physically on the fish like white spots, slime, runny poop etc?


    What water are you using tap, distilled, rodi? What is your filteration and maintenance?

    Salinity needs to be checked, how did you set up the tank without salinity reading?


    Consistency in salinity, temp, and perameters is essential.
     
  4. tylerbrasseux

    tylerbrasseux Plankton

    Joined:
    Dec 17, 2015
    Messages:
    18
    I'm using RODI, my salinity was check about four days ago at my local fish store, not 100 percent on the numbers but the guy said its right at where it needs to be. It's going on 11 days since my tanks been running, and no, there wasn't any signs have any sickness on the the fish. He seemed very healthy and would eat the right amount. Didn't see any change in behavior just went to bed and woke up and he was dead.
     
  5. cody3819

    cody3819 Bubble Tip Anemone

    Joined:
    Sep 23, 2015
    Messages:
    668
    Why would a newly cycled tank have 0 nitrates? It took me months to get my nitrates down. Now I used all base rock, he used all live rock. Anyone could help me understand this?
     
  6. tylerbrasseux

    tylerbrasseux Plankton

    Joined:
    Dec 17, 2015
    Messages:
    18
    Yea, any advice is greatly appreciated!
     
  7. DSC reef

    DSC reef Giant Squid

    Joined:
    Dec 16, 2012
    Messages:
    3,817
    Location:
    Cocoa, Florida
    On a new tank without any nitrates or nitrites usually means it hasn't started it's cycle. Seeing that you used all live rock you may have gotten lucky since you had some bacteria colonization. That being said, it's always best to be patient and let the tank cycle a few weeks. You can ghost feed the tank and there's bacteria you can buy to help jump start it but that's essentially what you did with using live rock. I wouldn't rush out and buy another fish. I would buy a hydrometer to start with because knowing your salinity everyday is really important. I wouldn't trust a fish store ever to tell me my salinity is good and it fluctuates daily with the addition of top off water. I'm leaning towards that your salinity is off or you have a major fluctuation that killed your fish. Get a hydrometer or a refractometer asap before doing anything else.
     
    scajeo, tylerbrasseux and cody3819 like this.
  8. Click Here!

  9. cody3819

    cody3819 Bubble Tip Anemone

    Joined:
    Sep 23, 2015
    Messages:
    668
    Well, I learned something new..... I have never heard of a tank cycling like that..... but awesome, makes since!
     
    DSC reef likes this.
  10. tylerbrasseux

    tylerbrasseux Plankton

    Joined:
    Dec 17, 2015
    Messages:
    18
    I tested my water 4 days ago for nitrates, I didn't get my other test until today when I tested, and I had between .5-.10 using API tests... Now my nitrates are at 0, would it still be a factor of my tank not cycling yet even if my nitrates dropped? Also with live rock and dosing with stability so unknown there's bacteria..
     
  11. tylerbrasseux

    tylerbrasseux Plankton

    Joined:
    Dec 17, 2015
    Messages:
    18
    Very interesting... Thanks for helping
     
    DSC reef likes this.
  12. DSC reef

    DSC reef Giant Squid

    Joined:
    Dec 16, 2012
    Messages:
    3,817
    Location:
    Cocoa, Florida
    I'm sure you have bacteria since you used live rock. Without testing for ammonia, nitrite and nitrate every day it's gonna be hard to see exactly where your tank is in the cycle. Having an ammonia reading in a new tank means the cycle has started. There's many different ways to cycle a tank so don't take it as this is the only way to do so. It's all about how quickly the bacteria colonize and convert ammonia to nitrite and nitrite to nitrate. I'm still willing to bet that your salinity has played a roll in this. Cody - starting with base rock will always take longer to build up bacteria since your basically starting with a sterile environment. Some people "seed" the base rock with a few pieces of live rock or live sand but it's always best to exercise patience and let the tank cycle.
     
    tylerbrasseux and cody3819 like this.