Nemo just died, any fish doctors in the house?

[kayaaandjaden]

I just went to check on Nemo before bed and he was face down in the rock rubble.
I am testing H2O now.
So far,
PH 7.8
Nitirites 0
Ammonia between .25 and .50
salinity 1.025 refractometer
Nitrates 20
Temp 78

History,
He has been in the QT since 9/10, just over two weeks.
Yesterday, we put a flame scallop in the QT with him. That is the ONLY thing that has been different. I just read they are not aggressive. I cleaned the scallop off, scrubbed him with RO before adding him to the tank.
He had been eating good, swimming around happy, came to the top of the tank everytime we came around. Very responsive and seemed healthy, anyone have any ideawhat could have happened.
Behind his right gills was brown. Not on the outside tissue but the inside, possibly an organ. He has not and still has no extrernal discolorations, or any typical "symptoms" that I was supposed to be looking for in a sick fish. ?????????

 

[TheVillageIdiot]

i think those detectable ammonia levels are to blame here.

 

[kayaaandjaden]

I thought that clowns were more tolerant to ammonia levels?

 

[kayaaandjaden]

So, tomorrow, I am going to do a water change in the QT. How long should we wait before we add another fish. I thought that the tank was cycled, that I was seeing an increase due to the size of the tank and a need to do a water change.
The scallop is still in there and he "looks" fine.
There is a shallow layer of live sand,some fully cured LR rubble, and it has been running for a little more than 4 weeks.

 

[RokleM]

You should have a QT per specimen. A QT tank can contribute to the issue if you cycle multiple things through it without a breakdown/bleach/etc between. This is especially true if you introduce something during the QT of another. Not saying it caused the issue, but it won't help you in the long run.

Ammonia was very likely the issue? How small is the tank, and are you doing water changes every couple of days?

 

[RokleM]

BTW, nothing that I'm aware of is "tolerant" of bad water per say. Some can just survive or struggle longer before death in worse conditions.

 

[jallard]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=8236154#post8236154 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by kayaaandjaden
I thought that the tank was cycled, that I was seeing an increase due to the size of the tank and a need to do a water change.

In a cycled tank ammonia wont build due to a lack of water changes. When cycled the benificial bacteria will take care of it.