Cause of death help?

[Woodcock1995]

When setting up the tank originally, we bought an already paired set of clownfish, however during a large outbreak of disease a few weeks ago we lost the smaller clownfish. The disease outbreak is now completely under control (after several water changes and treating with a number of chemicals).

A few days ago (last thursday) i introduced a new clownfish, one which is smaller than the already established one. When i woke up this morning, we found it dead with what looked like chunks missing from its tail and fins. Originally i thought the fin rot was back as this is what broke out originally but no other fish showed signs and were still dosing with treatment so this couldn't be it.

we never saw any aggression, when we first put the small one in the did that twitching dance thing they do but other than that they slept on opposite tank sides and swam together during the day. What would be your guess as to why this clownfish died? is it aggression?

Also, if this was aggression, whats the best way of adding a new clown to an already established clown fish?

 

[Netta]

What kind of clownfish are they? Some are more aggressive than others.

 

[Woodcock1995]

Common clown/ false percula

 

[pyithar]

what kind of disease? bacteria infections? parasites?
if that was aggression, you could use a fish acclimation box next time. put the new clownfish in the box for a few days and let the resident clownfish get used to it.

 

[Woodcock1995]

The disease was a combination of ich on my regal tang, and fin rot on my clowns and yellow tang. Since then they have both been cleared. Does the breeding tank theory work?

 

[homer1475]

If you had ich and its only been a "few weeks", its not gone and could quite possibly be the reason for the death.

Only three ways to cure ich, TTM, copper, and hyposalinity. DT has to remain fallow for at least 72 days. Have a look at the stickies at the top of this forum, there is one for ich.

 

[pyithar]

If you had ich and its only been a "few weeks", its not gone and could quite possibly be the reason for the death.

Only three ways to cure ich, TTM, copper, and hyposalinity. DT has to remain fallow for at least 72 days. Have a look at the stickies at the top of this forum, there is one for ich.

this. i'd just like to add chloroquine phosphate will also cure ich and hyposalinity does not work on some ich. you should treat the fishes in the quarantine/hospital tank and fallow(fishless) the display for at least 72 days like homer1475 mentioned. good luck.

 

[Woodcock1995]

Hospital/ quarantine tank isn't an option due to space and funds so that's out straight away so it's not possible to leave the tank fallow for that long. The tank had been dosed with various parasite/ bacterial/ fungal medicines and all symptoms have gone on all fish. However, the symptoms the deceased clown fish displayed all looked and pointed towards aggression but I just needed this confirming. Symptoms included pieces or chunks missing from the fishes tail and dorsal fin. Also, for the hours before its death it was 'lying' on the sand bed and floating round. Skin looked clear and all other features were intact and as normal so really only the fin and tail that caused me to question its death. Any opinions on whether this is the correct conclusion?

 

[Jason S]

It could be aggression, but I am leaning towards something else. What are your parameters and what else is in the tank? Also know that Ich can be attacking a host with no visible signs. You may not see a single spot, but the fish's gills could be infested. This is one more reason that it is so critical to quarantine everything.

One thing to note that a clownfish can change from juvenile to male to female, juvenile to male, or juvenile to female. They can not go backwards from male to juvenile or female to male. That said, size does not always dictate what sex they are. In a mated pair, the female should either be or become larger, however, we can not assume that if we put a smaller fish with an established female that they will be a male/female pair. It is possible that the smaller fish was a female as well causing aggression. It is also possible that if their was aggression, they just were not a compatible pair. I have seen Maroon females nearly kill many males trying to find a suitable mate.

 

[Amoo]

Hospital/ quarantine tank isn't an option due to space and funds so that's out straight away so it's not possible to leave the tank fallow for that long. The tank had been dosed with various parasite/ bacterial/ fungal medicines and all symptoms have gone on all fish. However, the symptoms the deceased clown fish displayed all looked and pointed towards aggression but I just needed this confirming. Symptoms included pieces or chunks missing from the fishes tail and dorsal fin. Also, for the hours before its death it was 'lying' on the sand bed and floating round. Skin looked clear and all other features were intact and as normal so really only the fin and tail that caused me to question its death. Any opinions on whether this is the correct conclusion?

Few things to note here:

1. You can go to Wally world and spend $20-$30 on a 10g fish tank, you can pick up 2 5G buckets from Lowes or HD for $5. Funds really shouldn't be an issue. Even if you have to set the tank on the ground for 12 weeks.

2. Every new fish you put into your system from this point forward is going to have ich. It doesn't matter what chemicals you bought to "cure" it, all you did was mask the symptoms.

3. This usually ends one of three ways.
- 1. That person is part of the 2% (Making up a number here) that never get ich again in their tank. This is the least likely scenario and basically never happens.
-2. That person listens to everybody and treats their fish and runs a fallow tank and cures the ich and continues on enjoying the hobby in 3 months, learning from their mistake.
-3. That person becomes an ad on craigslist selling all their equipment because "this hobby sucks".

You get to decide, but honestly the facts around how your clownfish died should be so far down on the priority list right now, it really isn't worth mentioning anymore.

 

[homer1475]

I'm currently part of the 3 -2 crowd.

Lesson learned the hard way. QT setup, DT will be fallow for 72 days, and every fish going forward will go through TTM, 8 week QT, and 2 rounds of prazipro.

 

[Marchillo]

I have to agree here. You know you had ich. There is no magic cure. I just read a huge article about it. Some of the fish in your tank could have a temporary immunity to it for some reason or another. And it's not the chemicals you put in. You'd be a millionaire if you found a reef safe ich cure. So the fish you added could have come in with it or gotten it when introduced. Both are reasonable scenarios. The ich will not go away since there are hosts in the tank (fish). You have to run it fallow. It you have no funds for qt call the LFS and donate the fish back or get a credit for future purchase once you survive the fallow period.

We have nothing to gain by giving you the tough truth. Good luck.