Clownfish keep dying..

[evolutionZ]

Hey guys. I'll share a little story about my reefing journey first..

6 months ago, i set up my first reef tank which is a 12x12x14" tank (9 gallon).. my first pair of fish was a pair of false percular clown.. bought it cheap from a LFS. they turn out to be infect with brooklynella few days later and passed on soon after.

Tank was fishless for 6 weeks and started adding 2 other fishes (hector's goby and mandarin dragonet). Both did well for the next month or so and so i decided to add yet another pair of clown. This time round it was a true percular from a reputable LFS. within 3 days, one died and one went missing (suspect jump out) and they body was never found. Weeks after the death of the clowns, my friend decom his nano tank and gave me his percular clown which he kept it for 6 months. Yet again, within a few days it went missing.. no bodies were ever found. i went to the extend of taking out all live rocks in search of bodies.. but to no avail..

The tank continue to thrive for a total of 6 months with 3 fishes. Hector's goby, mandarin and bi-color blenny..

I finally got the chance to upgrade and i upgraded to a 48x24x14 tank.
shifted my corals and the 3 fishes from the nano tank to this big tank and since i was using cured live rocks from another reefer and reused my LR from my nano tank, i only experience a mini cycle..

i added 2 Banggai cardinal fish 1 week after set up and they are still thriving well and eating well after a week.

Today, 2 weeks after tank was running. i decided to try for yet another pair of True perc.. This time round from a farm which is highly reputable for its quality and healthy fish. A pair caught my eye and asked for pellet feeding demo.. They went straight for the pellets and were very healthy. Feeling confident, i packed them home straight.

Upon introduced to the tank, i tried feeding them and both male and female readily took some Hikari pellets. They soon decided to swim near the top left corner of the tank..

Not long after, the male decided to take a jump, luckily i was near the tank and quickly place him back in. i then placed some eggcrates as cover. They both continued to swim near the surface but no sign of gasping for air..

Few hours passed, i tried feeding again, the male was still eagerly eating but female ate and spat the pellet out.. both are starting to behave more and more strangely..

Now, 7 hours after introduced into tank, both are swimming on sideways very near to the surface.. somewhat as if they have no strength at all.

This video shows the pair an hour ago..
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xNHmDazYa8c&feature=youtu.be

Im uploading a video of them now.

My water parameters are :

API Test kit:

pH 8.0
Ammonia : 0
Nitrite : 0

Salifert test kit :

Nitrate : 1
Phosphate : 0
Ca : 380
Mg : 1380
Alk : 6

any one has any idea what is going on? once this pair passes on, im never going to try any clownfish again...

 

[roenicknewf]

My guess would be brook is still present

 

[evolutionZ]

This is what they are doing right now

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j4nLPKmYjyw&feature=youtu.be

 

[evolutionZ]

My guess would be brook is still present

the current pair of clown are in a totally new tank... definitely not brook. the previous pairs died/went missing with no sign of brook.

 

[gone fishin]

My first guess would be to many fish in the nine gallon tank caused your problems. As for the larger tank I would take a stab at O2 levels. What is the tank temp? It looked like you only had one PH. Maybe try to get more surface adgitation to produce more gas exchange.

 

[saltyair]

how do you acclimate them?

 

[evolutionZ]

My first guess would be to many fish in the nine gallon tank caused your problems. As for the larger tank I would take a stab at O2 levels. What is the tank temp? It looked like you only had one PH. Maybe try to get more surface adgitation to produce more gas exchange.

I doubt its o2 level, i have a wp40 (15v) pointly upwards and there's a ton of surface agitation.. the overflow box does produce some bubbles as well..
tank temp is at 78 - 79F.. i also have another 3000l/hr wave maker hiding behind the rocks.

how do you acclimate them?

put them in a small container floating inside main tank with main lights off, original bag water pour in the container with the fishes.. pour in small amount of tank water every 10 mins, over a period of 1hour.. maybe alittle more.. i then siphon out the water in container and slowly release fish in.. the original water's SG was 1.025 which was the same as my tank.

 

[roenicknewf]

It could be possible that you brought it (brook) over to the new tank when you did the transfer

 

[evolutionZ]

It could be possible that you brought it (brook) over to the new tank when you did the transfer

does brook attack the new fishes so fast? within 7 hours?

Thanks

 

[evolutionZ]

they are not having any thick mucus of any sort too..

i just tried feeding and the male went straight for it.. female chased it alittle but went back straight to swimming sideways.. they appears to be doing it for fun?

 

[roenicknewf]

It is a fast killer,,but then again if you see no symptoms of it ,???

 

[evolutionZ]

It is a fast killer,,but then again if you see no symptoms of it ,???

yes no symptoms of it at all..

 

[spieszak]

I watched both videos, and I don't see anything that isn't "normal" behavior for a clown fish. Maybe I'm missing something, but at this point, my opinion would be you are overreacting based on past losses.

 

[evolutionZ]

I watched both videos, and I don't see anything that isn't "normal" behavior for a clown fish. Maybe I'm missing something, but at this point, my opinion would be you are overreacting based on past losses.

thanks for your reply, i really home i am just overreacting.. the thought of "clownfish curse" keep ringing in my mind now.. i really liked this pair and i hope they can do well.. i've turned my wp40 down to just doing 400gph to see if its the flow thats making them this way.

 

[roenicknewf]

Well i'll be honest ,,i didn't watch the vids ,but after spieszaks post i did..I would tend to agree with her at this point

 

[evolutionZ]

Thanks,

The light's off now and they are away from that spot.. probably asleep now.. will update!

 

[evolutionZ]

Anyway, the female clown are still doing the same, swimming on its side but the male stopped doing so.. both are aggressively chasing pellets and eating them.. my flow has been greatly reduced for a day, they don't seem like they are bothered by flow.

 

[Lsufiregal]

Mine did that for a couple of months. You said you got them from a breeder right? So did I. Consider that they have probably only been in a bare bottom tank with PVC hiding places, no live rock, and only other clownfish. I would think live rock and waving coral would be scary so I just gave them time. One they realized they were safe they started swimming around more but it was a full four months before they would swim anywhere near the rocks. Lol and they are the only fish in my cube.

 

[evolutionZ]

Mine did that for a couple of months. You said you got them from a breeder right? So did I. Consider that they have probably only been in a bare bottom tank with PVC hiding places, no live rock, and only other clownfish. I would think live rock and waving coral would be scary so I just gave them time. One they realized they were safe they started swimming around more but it was a full four months before they would swim anywhere near the rocks. Lol and they are the only fish in my cube.

i got mine from a farm. woah 4 months! thats a long long time.. anyway i noticed for the past 2 days, at night or early in the morning, they stay away from their usual spot and venture around the tank.. This morning was the same.. lights are off, they are probably awake from the day light, and they are swimming around the tank.. i'll update tonight.