6yr old black and white ocellaris died suddenly.. :(

[Zalick]

My oldest fish died yesterday, unexpectedly and suddenly. Black and white clown. I believe she was ORA, but I can't remember. She was about 6yrs old and 3.5". She was part of a mated pair. I've had them both for the same time period.

I fed them in the morning as usual and everyone was happy. She fed voraciously as per her usual habits. She looked happy and healthy by all appearances.

I got home from work about 8 hours later and she wasn't sleeping in her usual spot. I looked around and found her tucked under a rock dead. She was rigid so had been dead for some time. She had no signs of disease or any other markings on her body. Eyes and color were normal. I did not cut her open or perform any other type of autopsy other than visual inspection.

Tank specs are as follows, as tested last night.
300g w/ 100g sump
PH 8.2
Temp 79.5
Salinity 33.9 (~1.025)
Ammonia 0
Nitrate 0

I checked my apex graphs for the last week and everything is all normal.

No new additions to the tank in the last 6 months. No other aggressive tankmates. No crabs, mantis etc.

Nothing in the tank has changed in the last 6 months, parameters or otherwise.
All the other inhabitants are healthy.

I've never had a fish die of old age, so I'm wondering if she just died of natural causes? 6 years seems a bit young for a healthy clown based on anecdotal evidence on the forums. Although Nat Geo says wild clowns live 6-10 years.

I've had fish die, of course, but always due to sickness and there were obvious signs.

Do any of you have ideas of why she died or other things I could look for?

Thanks :sad1::sad1::sad1:

RIP Mustacchio (bigger one on bottom)

 

[Fiver]

Sorry to hear that! She was a beautiful fish. Six years sounds like a nice, long life, but I'm new to this whole thing.

 

[Zalick]

Sorry to hear that! She was a beautiful fish. Six years sounds like a nice, long life, but I'm new to this whole thing.

Thanks. I like to think she went quickly.

 

[ClownReef®]

RIP Clown.

 

[SeaCucumberFan]

6 uears is a good lifespan for a clown in captivity. Sorry.

 

[bassick]

Clownfish can live 20+ years in captivity and the fact that it was looked healthy and was fine in the morning, then dead 8 hours later would suggest something other than old age. just my two cents

 

[Zalick]

Thank you for the replies everyone.

Clownfish can live 20+ years in captivity and the fact that it was looked healthy and was fine in the morning, then dead 8 hours later would suggest something other than old age. just my two cents

I've heard of many people having clowns for this long, however its anecdotal evidence of lifespan. I've not seen an research, beyond Nat Geo, that discusses lifespan. The vast majority of people I've spoken to, including breeders, say 6-10 yrs is a normal lifespan for a clown. With my setup, I have a 7 stage Spectrapure filter. The water comes out perfect. There is no possibility of any chemical contaminants in the tank. The tank water itself was great. I have no aggressive creatures in the tank. There were no visible marks on her. Her gills were normal. Her eyes normal. Her color was normal. I'm just stumped to explain it beyond age related disease. Heart attack? etc.

 

[Silly clownfish]

Definitely NOT old age at 6 years. I have had my ocellaris for over 18 years. She was about 6 months old when I got her (and nice thing about tank raised is you can estimate the age when you get them as opposed to a mature wild caught fish). I believe she came from C-Quest. No one was even selling designer fish back then to my knowledge.

I seem to recall epreading that ORA has some breeding pairs that have ben breeding for over 20 years.

For a sudden death of a healthy fish, I would suspect physical trama. In fact I have been puzzling over a recent disappearance of a Randall's goby, who was active and eating one day and just gone without a trace the next. During feeding on his last day, I had heard a splash and sound of something hitting something else. I suspect he may have jumped, hit the canopy, and been injured then my clean up crew ( CBS, serpent, or brittle star are the prime suspects) took care of his remains.

Think of it in human terms - what is the most likely cause of sudden death for a healthy appearing human in their prime? Some kind of accident. Someone with a terminal illness or ready to die of old age does not look healthy.

I had a cherub angle for years that would occasionally get startled and dart into the rocks so hpfast that it would get a scrape on its side, or have a buldging eye for a few days. I think this is what did that fish in at 7 and a half years of age.

Published lifespans of fish are all on the low side. The technology to keep them healthy long term just hasn't been avaialbe for most peoplefor that long. In the wide, lifespans are shortened by predation, habitat loss, and other factors that our pets are not subject to.

Kim

 

[Joke]

You usually can tell when a fish is going to die of old age, they start to loose a lot of power and just look old and these signs appear months before they die. I suggest (others do to) that there was a problem, fighting, injury or disease could of killed your clown. Keep a close eye on your tank, if other fish start dying there somthing going on and needs to be fixed.

 

[LargeAngels]

I've had lots of clownfish live +12 years. All wild caught so who knows how old. Captive bred 6 year old is not old. Many humans die of natural causes before average age also. Many things we really don't know about fish health. Could be trauma, heart failure, etc.

 

[Zalick]

I've had lots of clownfish live +12 years. All wild caught so who knows how old. Captive bred 6 year old is not old. Many humans die of natural causes before average age also. Many things we really don't know about fish health. Could be trauma, heart failure, etc.

Thanks again for the replies everyone.

Nobody else in the tank has died nor exhibited any problems. It was an ORA raised clown. She was probably 1.5"-1.75" when I got her.

She was kinda stuck in a rock tunnel so I suppose she could have tried to swim through and gotten stuck...or heart failure. Heart failure was my girlfriends initial thought. She's a veterinarian but not for fish.

 

[OrionN]

Fish have stoke and heart attack also. It is likely that this is the problem. Out captive breed clowns are so inbreed that anything can be a problem.

 

[Sk8r]

6 years for clown in captivity. Probably dietary gaps in what we can give them.

 

[ginpang]

Fatty liver from over feeding ???


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[ThRoewer]

6 years for clown in captivity. Probably dietary gaps in what we can give them.

I had a pair of ocellaris for over 20 years and they got fed all kind of things they usually don't eat in the wild. In the end they didn't die of old age or due to a disease - a stuck heater was what killed them.

 

[Zalick]

6 years for clown in captivity. Probably dietary gaps in what we can give them.

Unfortunately the first 3 years I fed them 90% formula one pellets....and the other 10% mysis/desert shrimp. The last 3 years I began feeding a variety of formula 1 pellets, mysis/brine and Rods with most of it being Rods.

 

[sayitfast]

that's too bad.. sorry.

 

[av8]

My Ocellaris Clown is 26 years old. She seemed to get sick for a couple of weeks early this year, and I though I was going to loose her. But after a slow convalescence, she returned to good health. She has, however, stopped laying an egg nest every 28 (?) days. Otherwise she is back to her old self.

Sorry to hear about your clown, as I know after six years we feel like they are a member of the family.

 

[kalare]

Unfortunately the first 3 years I fed them 90% formula one pellets....and the other 10% mysis/desert shrimp. The last 3 years I began feeding a variety of formula 1 pellets, mysis/brine and Rods with most of it being Rods.

Pellets are fine. My clowns are somewhere between 23-26 years old...I honestly forget how old they are...

They've been eating only spectrum pellets for the last 15 years. While I don't recommend this (I new feed a more varied diet of different types of pellets) I think good prepared foods are perfectly balanced. Formula 1 is good stuff...I don't think that was it. It was probably something internal you had no control over. I lost a 10 year old (young) Oscar fish from cancer...sad stuff . Sorry for your loss, but don't blame yourself if your water and other fish are fine.