fish died.

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snesbit01

New member
sadly i just found one of my clownfish dead in my tank. it looked like it had ick or brook im not sure which. i tried treating it with lifegaurd and it looked better for a few weeks but in the past day or two it went downhill quick. my other clownfish appears to be healthy and is eating well. its other tank mates include 4 blue leg hermits and a medium sized hermit and a cleaner shrimp. the shrimp and the medium hermit just molted and appear healthy and happy. i just tested my water yesterday and my ammonia is at 0.25, nitrite is at 0 and nitrate at
10. im doing a 50% water change right now. i guess im just trying to figure out if i did something wrong or did i just have bad luck with a clownfish. this is my first tank and im very new to this so any input is greatly appreciated. thanks.
 
Bummer, sorry to hear.

Same happened to me. Was told it sounded like Brook. I did not QT, learned that lesson hard way. Lost 5 fish in matter of 3 days. No hospital / QT.....no chance. By the end I declared mercy on last resident and it seemed he willingly gave his last flutter into the net.

If you wish to treat, make it happen fast my friend. Don't treat in display. Inverts will not suffer from the disease, but won't survive any copper treatment. Display needs to be fishless for 72 days. Yes it sucked, but I had new pair of Tomato's in QT for good 7 weeks so they would be ready when tank was.

I don't know plan of medicinal attack, but I am sure others will chime in shortly.
Good luck.

Sent from my Nexus 6 using Tapatalk
 
how old is your tank and are you sure it was fully cycled before you added your livestock? a fully cycled tank should have ZERO ammonia.

sorry for your loss, it's always tough to lose a fish.
 
the tank has been up for a little over two months. ive heard the api test kit im using always reads 0.25 ammonia so im getting ready to get another test kit. i did add both of the clownfish well before the cycle was complete because i didnt understand the cycle process at the time. they were added a week after the tank was set up. since then ive been doing weekly 50% water changes to keep all the levels as low as possible. im just trying to be better informed on this hobby before i make more mistakes. thanks for the input.
 
Buy an SeaChem ammonia badge and stick it on your tank. Most people don't keep these on their displays but while your a newbie I'd recommend it. That should be easier to read than your api. Plus you will always know your ammonia level just by looking at the badge. But .25 is too high for ammonia and indication you may not be cycled.
 
i'm sorry for your loss. the fish that died most likely had ich imo.

assuming it's ich,
when ich is already in the system, the other fish has ich as well even though it appears to be healthy and eating now. ich will show up again when it's stressed. so it's best to take out the remaining fish, treat it with TTM while fallowing the system fishless for at least 72 days.

if it's brooklynella, you need to treat it with Formalin baths while fallowing the tank fishless for six weeks.

i'd suggest to quarantine in the future to avoid all these problems.
 
I've given up on the seachem ammonia badges. I've had 2 of them fail miserably.

When I was cycling and dumping pure ammonia into the tank, they always showed 0 ammonia when several tests(API, salifert, red sea) showed I clearly had 9ppm of ammonia in the tank. Even while I do TTM they still never show any trace of ammonia.
 
homer1475 said:
I've given up on the seachem ammonia badges. I've had 2 of them fail miserably.

When I was cycling and dumping pure ammonia into the tank, they always showed 0 ammonia when several tests(API, salifert, red sea) showed I clearly had 9ppm of ammonia in the tank. Even while I do TTM they still never show any trace of ammonia.
Click to expand...

Hmmm. Maybe you had a bad batch. I held a badge above a bottle of windex and it turned the darkest blue you can imagine. It didn't even touch the liquid.

They have a shelf life of a year and they come with protective plastic. I'm sure you took it off but figured I'd mention it for anyone reading.
 
Thats what everyone tells me, but I've had 3 right in a row that did nothing. Only time I got it to change color, I put a drop of pure ammonia on it, even then it only changed a slight purple.

And yes they were within date, and I removed the protective film. lol
 
ok. the ammonia badge showed up today and i got it in my tank. it said on the packaging that it takes a while to calibrate but its been in there for about an hour now and it still shows safe levels of ammonia. im also in the process of getting my 10 gallon qt ready for my fish. hopefully i can get it ready for the transfer by tomorrow.
 
Marchillo said:
Buy an SeaChem ammonia badge and stick it on your tank. Most people don't keep these on their displays but while your a newbie I'd recommend it. That should be easier to read than your api. Plus you will always know your ammonia level just by looking at the badge. But .25 is too high for ammonia and indication you may not be cycled.
Click to expand...

I would love to use them, except they don't work, same with the API ammonia test kit.
 
i may have another problem. i just tested the ph of both tanks. my display tank is only reading 7.8 and my qt is reading 8.2. both tanks were setup using the same rodi water and salt mix. how are they so different in readings? is it safe to transfer my fish to the qt with that big of a difference in ph level?
 
snesbit01 said:
i may have another problem. i just tested the ph of both tanks. my display tank is only reading 7.8 and my qt is reading 8.2. both tanks were setup using the same rodi water and salt mix. how are they so different in readings? is it safe to transfer my fish to the qt with that big of a difference in ph level?
Click to expand...

your display tank possibly have more dissolved CO2. that's why pH of two tanks are different. but from pH 7.8 to 8.2 is not a big jump. it's fine to transfer the fish imo.
 
Thanks for the reply. I'm gonna transfer my fish tonight. Should I try to raise the ph of my display tank or just leave it alone?

Sent from my SM-G930V using Tapatalk
 
Ok. Thanks for all the help. Hopefully I can save this fish and keep this from happening again

Sent from my SM-G930V using Tapatalk
 
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