My Clownfish Die Yesterday

[1geo]

I have a 20 gal tank that's well establish, chemistry is great, has live rock and did have two 2 1/4 inch Perculas in it. One of the Perculas had a funny habit of playing dead. When she got excited she would lay on her side motionless on the bottom of the tank only to come alive again and continue with her activities. She would also go into a stupor. For example, when she was feeding she would all of a sudden just tread water and food would float right by her mouth with no response from her. a tap on the tank would wake her up and she'd start feeding again. About two days ago she started swimming at the top of the tank near the heater; this was unusual since the two months I've had her she swam low in the tank almost on the bottom on the opposite end of the tank. Now at the surface, she would dart rapidly around the tank and again take up station at the surface near the heater; often gaping at the surface. This behavior last two days before she lost all her color and die. For the life of me I cannot figure out why? 1geo

 

[dalston]

When you say great chemistry, what are the exact readings?

How is the water agitation on the surface? could be a lack O2...

 

[1geo]

Ammonia, Nitrates, Nitrites all zero. PH 8.2, KH 12. The only thing low on the tank is Ca which is 320. I don't have an O2 test but have plenty of air pumps on the tank so I don't think that is a problem. The other Percula in the tank is and has behaved normally and is doing well; eats like a pig.

 

[davewbush]

Sounds like she might of had Amyloodinium, but this is just a guess.

 

[matt_in_ak]

what temp is your water at? Also salinity (specific gravity) level. warm salt water has lower redox. Sorry to hear about your little clown. were there any aggression issues between the clowns? domanance behavior that might have stresses the clown?

 

[1geo]

Water temp 78 specific gravity 1022-1023. There was aggressive behavior between the two clowns. The one that died was the subordinate. The other clown would often bother her while feeding to a point that sometimes she would withdraw from the feeding area. That would be my guess, undue stress caused from resolving dominate issues. When I got these clowns they were both full grown. They could have been two dominate females and one could not adjust to being a subordinate; that's as far out a guess as I've got. 1geo

 

[1geo]

After thinking and reading a LOT on the subject I agree with davewbush that Amyloodinium is probably the culprit. I have one large Percula left so I put together a 10 gal hospital tank and started a copper treatment for her. And, not to soon either, she is starting to get a liaison on her side. From everything I've read, I need to keep her in quarantine for three weeks and the tank she came out of, fish free for three weeks. This will break the life cycle of Amyloodinium and cure the fish and the tank. The only question now is did I start the cure in time? Hopefully she survives. 1geo

 

[1geo]

It has now been 4 days since I put my Percula in the copper treatment tank. I am keeping the CU at between .2 and .25 ppm. So far the Percula is responding positively. Her color is back and she is eating well. As the parasite leaves her and falls back into the copper water and dies her chances of survival improve by 7% a day. If she lasts another three days she will have a 50-50 chance of surviving. After that, its all in her favor. I plan on keeping her in the copper tank for a minimum of three weeks and possibly four. The tanks she came out of will be barren of fish for at least four weeks; some forum members recommend six weeks.