lost my 3rd fish within 45 days

X

xhaust50

New member
I can't for the life of me figure this out. In my 45G I started out with a purple pseudo and a small perc. About 2 months later I added a larger perc. Everything seemed fine. Then out of nowhere my purple pseudo started being real timid, and I found him dead a few days later. I waited about a week, and added a yellotail damsel. Seemed very healthy, ate fine. He lived for about a week. I tried again and added another yellowtail this past saturday, and the same story. Seemed healthy, yesterday I noticed he was hiding in a rock cave about the size of an egg all day, today I watched him die under another rock. I can't figure this out. Tank parameters the entire time:

45G
Temp 79
pH 8.2
SG 1.025
Ammonia 0
Nitrite 0
Nitrate 0
dkH 9
Ca 480

Inhabitants: pair of percula clowns, blood shrimp, and some snails/hermits.

It has been brought to my attention that the clowns are possibly mating and are aggressive towards everything else in the tank, but I haven't seen any of this aggression. Where do I go now?
 
since the clowns were the first fish in the tank, they claimed it as there territory. clowns can get pretty aggressive.
since the clowns are still alive and you observed the other fish becoming timid I would guess that was the reason.
sometimes when adding new fish to a tank, if you rearrange the rocks it kind of destroys the establish boundry the older tank inhabititives created.
 
do you have any type of air stone in the tank or skimmer running? just a thought that the o2 is being depleted. your levels look fine.

could be the clowns too.
 
Ray, I was thinking the same thing--but weird that the clowns would not be affected, no? Perhaps they are just hardier?
 
Within my experience When the o2 gets depleted because of the temp to hot or what ever the cause the fish gasp at the surface trying to suck down additional O2. that's why I thought it was the clowns..
 
weird.

do you notice any abrasions, or fighting marks on the dead fish? are their gillcovers flushed at all? anything else weird?

be interesting to experiment next time by putting in a barrier of some sort.

Ive never had a fish killed on acclimation or harassed to death. I guess it happens but damsels are pretty tough, and its not gsms or tomatos.
(actually thinking about it, the only time I had two insane fish was when I added another false perc, and of course they were both female. they just didnt stop, had to separate them so maybe it is the percs.)
 
It is best to add the fish after the lights go out. Rearrange the rock will also force the clowns to find a new location and thus not bother other fish as much.
 
No air stone, I have a regular HOB protein skimmer. Wouldn't depleted o2 mean low ph?

As far as acclimation, I drip acclimated the damsel and then added it to the tank with the lights out for 2 hours. After I put the lights back on he seemed fine, and again seemed fine the next day as well. Swimming, eating, colorful, etc.

Abrasions - the purple pseudo was found in a powerhead inlet, and I only found half of the first damsel, I guess between the shrimp and hermits. The recent one though he only seemed discolored on his bottom area, I didn't see any abrasions. Also, I'm not sure what you mean by gillcovers flushed?

Is it strange that I never see either of the clowns even near any of these fish?
 
It's not strange at all that the clowns aren't nearby--as territorial as they are, they chase everyone away from their prefered spots (as I'm writing this next to me my clowns and a LMB are continuing their daily tiff over a choice spot of rock that I think the clowns want for egg-laying).

I think what you're thinking of with gases and pH is carbon dioxide--as the pH drops, more CO2 goes into solution, and you will also see fish gasping and breathing heavy because they are suffocating from the CO2. That is independent of oxygen concentration.
 
have you seen any mantis shrimp in the tank? clowns usually sleep at the top of the tank at night where his other fish sleep in the rock or on the bottom.


check the rocks at night for any nasty hitch hikers.

clowns are hardier though as sparkle said.
 
Tank was set up in late august, live rock and the one clown are all from the same owner, who had them for a long time. Chance of a hitchhiker? I have no idea. How would I know? The last damsel wasn't chewed up at all, despite hiding for a day.
 
Fish were from reputable shops and quarantined for two weeks prior to going in (except this last one). As far as the mantis shrimp, how could I find one? My damsel died during mid-day yesterday with the lights on. I certainly agree that the other fish are in the rock more, so it is possible. Wouldn't my fire shrimp be in jeopardy though?

Also, I don't think the clowns are hardier than the damsels, and in either case the damsels and the purple pseudo are definitely hardier than the fire shrimp, which is thriving.
 
Also, the purple pseudo was fine for a few months while sleeping in the rock. It seems too coincidental that after the percs possibly paired up that all of a sudden a mantis shrimp is on the loose. But if you tell me what to look for I'll give it a shot.
 
Mantis can be very hard to spt. If you don't hear the tell-tale "clickc' they make at times, the best bet is to feed some mysis after dark and have a look with a flashlight. You are looking for two little eyes on stalks that stick out of a hole in the rock somewhere. Typically, you will find this hole covered with the remains of their last snack, like snail shells. At least thats what mine looked like. I tried and tried to get it for months, but it didn't succumb until my whole tank crashed. Not because of the mantis, but rather neglect secondary to a temporary, but apparently long enough, medical problem.
 
Are they similar in size to a cleaner shrimp or alot smaller? Also, the original owner of the rock had a flame angel, a damsel, and my clown in the tank for over a year without losing anything. I'll try to check tonight though. I'm guessing it has to be live mysis?
 
Also if you don't mind humoring me, if it is the clowns then what is likely to happen if:

I add two fish at a time instead of one?

I remove one of the clowns temporarily and add new fish? Would they each still be aggressive on their own?

I remove one of the clowns permanently? Would the other still be aggressive?


Again I didn't notice the clowns chasing any of the other fish, but certainly possible when I am not around.
 
I was asking about the gill areas thinking some trauma there (bruising, redness etc.) might point towards somthing else, like flukes or contaminants.

I must say I am totally stumped.
 
Well, now the female is spending some time in the rock, which is a first. Now she is sometimes protecting a cove that I can't really see from the front of the tank so I don't know if there is eggs there or anything. If there are, would I see babies or do they need special care? The female clown has a lucky fin about 1/3 the size of her normal fin so maybe I can hit the jackpot!

If I'm not going to see babies how can I go about adding additional fish?
 
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