firebirdude
User and Abuser
Newly cycled tank. Been up for a few months now. Added a couple corals that were doing great. About 2 weeks ago, I purchased my first fish. 2 tank raised clowns and a lawnmower blenny. One clown was slightly larger than the other, in hoping to ease the pairing process. All three of the fish seemed to take to the tank very well. Blenny was a little sketched at first, but after about 3-4 days came out of hiding more. The clowns ate like pigs from day one. I rotated daily feedings of mysis shrimp and pellet food. I inspected the clowns about every other day for spots, etc. They all looked and acted perfect.
Well I came home late last night and decided to peek in the tank with the moonlights on. I quickly found one clown, but had to search for the other. I eventually found it lying flat on the sandbed gasping for air rapidly. "$%&#" I thought. But there really was nothing I could do at that point. I awoke in the morning to one dead fish. In the same exact spot. I removed the dead clown and ran tests.
Ammonia = 0
Nitrite = 0
Nitrate = 0 (first time I've ever seen this at zero)
pH = 8.2
Salinity = 1.026
Alk= 6.5 meq/L
Silicate = 0
So what do you think? A fluke? Already sick from the LFS? Total time in my tank was 12-14 days. Other two fish look and act great. I am battling a hair algae problem and have been battling high phosphates, but I doubt that's what did it.
Well I came home late last night and decided to peek in the tank with the moonlights on. I quickly found one clown, but had to search for the other. I eventually found it lying flat on the sandbed gasping for air rapidly. "$%&#" I thought. But there really was nothing I could do at that point. I awoke in the morning to one dead fish. In the same exact spot. I removed the dead clown and ran tests.
Ammonia = 0
Nitrite = 0
Nitrate = 0 (first time I've ever seen this at zero)
pH = 8.2
Salinity = 1.026
Alk= 6.5 meq/L
Silicate = 0
So what do you think? A fluke? Already sick from the LFS? Total time in my tank was 12-14 days. Other two fish look and act great. I am battling a hair algae problem and have been battling high phosphates, but I doubt that's what did it.
If he showed signs of injury like torn fins then thats definately the cause. Otherwise you could have had an ammonia spike in the water, can happen with new tanks because there still isnt enough good bacteria built up to handle the bioload of the 3 fish you bought, (factor in feeding waste etc). If i were you, i would add more biological filter media to your filter, (active matrix, bioballs etc), helps keep the water more stable eventually.
