Dying Clownfish!

[Trip1117]

Hey all! I recently set up a 120 gal aquarium with a 50 gal sump. I've introduced a couple of fishes into it after all my readings stablized (i.e. ammonia 0, nitrite 0, ph 7.8, nitrate 10, ca 440).

I've experienced very little casualty with the fishes (only 1 puffer fish so far which died within 24 hours out of 1 x puffer fish, 1 x big mouth scorpion fish, 2 x sand crabs, 3 x hermits, 1 x snail)

Two weeks ago I introduced a BTA, LTA and a Carpet. They all seem to be doing well.

The problem is that every time I add a clownfish they die within 24 to 36 hours. They seem to be stressed from the moment they are introduced into the tank.

By stressed i mean that they never seem to stop moving. They're always swimming quite rapidly arround the tank as if looking for an escape.

Any ideas why my clowfishes are dying and not the other fishes?

By the way, I transfered the other fishes in the sump temporarily so that they won't harass the Anemones and the clowns.



Thanks in advance.

 

[commandertekki]

How do you acclimate the clownfishes to your tank?

 

[Trip1117]

Thank you very much for your reply!!!

I leave the container that the clown is shipped with in the tank for 30 to 60 minutes then i open it and add a cup of tank water in the bag every 5 minutes. When the bag is almost full I empty half of it out and add a cup of tank water again every 5 minutes till it's full. I then get my fish net and remove the clown from the container and add it to the tank.

 

[commandertekki]

The only thing that I can think of is that your nitrate is at 10ppm... If it is a new tank... I would wait just a little bit more. In the 560g, I waited almost 6 months before I added chromis as a test subject to see if the water column was stable.

 

[saltydude]

With your next clownfish, instead of putting him in the tank, buy what I think is a breeders net. It is a squared off net that hooks on the inside of the tank. You can buy it at petco or petsupply, whichever you have in your area. put your in there and let him get used to the tank from there for a bit. It may give him a chance to calm down, it works for me. Another thought is that he may sense the scorpionfish and it has him very nervous, it may be a instinctive type of thing.

 

[redvipe2010]

Thats too many anemones in your tank. You shouldn't even have one anemone yet. Stick to one species of anemones. Your stocking way too fast.

 

[Trip1117]

Thank you very much for your suggestions and comments!

One thing I failed to mention is that I also added a couple of live rocks, corals and polyps into my tank and I just saw a "hitchiker" that I've never seen before just a few minutes ago. I'm assuming that if I've never seen that there must be more of them in the rocks, corals and polyps that I've never seen before.

Could it be that some of the hitchikers are producing or excreeting substances that are harmful to the other inhabitants of the tank? Or, like the scorpion fish, could the clowns be sensing danger from the hitchikers?

Once again, thank you for your inputs. =)

 

[Trip1117]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=9338240#post9338240 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by redvipe2010
Thats too many anemones in your tank. You shouldn't even have one anemone yet. Stick to one species of anemones. Your stocking way too fast.

Sorry for the late reply. I just saw your msg. As a beginner may I ask why it's bad to have more than one species of anemones. Thanks

 

[cschweitzer]

They'll battle. You can do it successfully, but need large room and a lot of space between them. Most of the time the same species will not purposefully attempt to outcompete the other, but it can still happen even within species. Also, for a beginner, wait at least six months for an anem and try to keep a more stable anem first. You need this time for the tank to establish itsself and and for you to gain a grasp on your tanks needs. Every tank is different and you need to control it instead of it controlling you. You go to fast, you'll get burned.

As for the question, do you find the clowns bodies or do they just disappear? Most likely not a hitchiker killing them. Most likely one of your agressive fish...clowns are food to most large aggressive fish. Your ph is low and should be around 8.2-8.4 As you add alkalinity to raise ph, keep an eye on your calcium as it will drop...you have to find a happy medium between these. Calcium is really only very important for stony corals, though, so should not be an issue to raise ph. How are your phosphates? These can be a quick killer. Sounds like new tank syndrome...needs to cycle and stabalize(not just cycle) before you add many of the things you have.

My best advice would be to get the anems and scorpion out for a while while the tank stabalizes. Taking it slow is the best advice you can get. If those anems start battling or even just recessing and dying, you are going to have a lot more problems than just a few clowns loss.

What lighting do you have?

 

[cschweitzer]

What other fish do you have?

 

[redvipe2010]

I don't believe you will be sucessful with 3 different types. Your anemones will quickly out grow your tank. You will have chemical war between the three.

 

[Trip1117]

I have a trigger fish, a puffer fish, a scorpion fish, 2 sand crabs, couple of hermits and a snail. They are all in the sump away from the main tank.

"Your ph is low and should be around 8.2-8.4 As you add alkalinity to raise ph, keep an eye on your calcium as it will drop."

How do I do this? I've added corals and used a commercially availabe PH increaser but it's not working.

"...you have to find a happy medium between these"

sorry but I don't understand what you mean.

 

[redvipe2010]

Lots of info here:

http://www.reefcentral.com/forums/forumdisplay.php?s=&forumid=112

Check out the Reef Chemistry Articles.

 

[Trip1117]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=9339704#post9339704 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by redvipe2010
I don't believe you will be sucessful with 3 different types. Your anemones will quickly out grow your tank. You will have chemical war between the three.

Thank you for your reply.

Which anemone do you think I should remove. The LTA, BTA or the carpet. BDW, the BTA is only about 2" to 3" in diameter.

Thanks again!

 

[Trip1117]

"What lighting do you have?"


I have 2 T5s. One white and the other blue. Not sure about the Wattage

 

[redvipe2010]

It would be best to remove all of them until you have a better understanding of your system, and your tank is more established.

A BTA is known to be the hardiest, but still considered difficult.

 

[hansonfam]

OKay first how recently is recently? And if you have a 120gallon tank those 2 t5's are not going to supposrt a lta.And i really don't think that will support a carpet either. And chemical warfare is going to be big Are the t5's high output or regular t5's?
Have you tested your alkalinity? With the calcium and alkalinity in the right spots that helps to keep your ph stable. I have to agree that you are going way to fast. This hobby is not for impatient people. Everything in time. Its hard to look at that tank and only see one fish but in the end you will have a much happier and healthy tank.
How much rock is in there and when did you add that?

And anemones need incredibly stable water. Everything needs ot be right on track and with a new system you can't provide that. I would have to agree and say that you should really take the nems back.

Lisa

 

[hansonfam]

Oh yes and i forgot to write about the clowns...lol

If your ammonia is all right and you are finding them on the sand dead i would say some kind of disease or a bad shipment...I dunno really on that one.

If you are not finding them i would say those big sharp teeth in those other fish are eating them. If they are small enough to get in there mouths they will eat them

Lisa

 

[redvipe2010]

I'm not real familiar with T-5, have been researching it. I'm not convinced the lighting you have is even enough for a BTA.

 

[cschweitzer]

To be on the safe side(not have a total crash), I would take all three out, read up on everything you need to, and then decide which one you would like to keep.