Newbie and a death already

[Dipper]

Hi folks,
Had my 30l Newa more tank for six weeks and after battling high ammonia for a few weeks I finally got it bang on!! I had two clownfish, a diamond goby and a few turbo snails and a few hermit crabs. I got a Xenia and a few zoa's and added some reef roids and almost immediately (maybe coincidence) the male clownfish started acting strange, flipping out, spamming, swollen stomach and then just sank and died. I have taken the fish out but what should I do now???? (Trying to attach photo)

 

[BlackTip]

Sounds like ammonia poisoning. How did you cycle your tank? Did you use live rock?

It seems like your tank is too young to have livestock especially corals.

And, you should consider quarantining your fish for several weeks, before introducing them to your main tank.

 

[gone fishin]

I would say you stocked to soon and overstocked as well. I would be hesitant to put one fish in that size tank. With a tank that small changes can have a huge impact on the chemistry of the tank. just my 2 cents

 

[Reef Frog]

Welcome to RC!

30 liters? That's about 7 gallons. If that's correct, you added fish that were way too big for that water volume and too many of them, and all at once.

Here's what probably happened. New tanks go through the the nitrogen cycle and build up a small bio filter of bacteria. You added too many fish too quickly and the bio filter was probably too immature to handle their waste and any uneaten food that started to decompose. The ammonia build up was probably the culprit with other possible contributing factors of no or improper quarantine and general stress.

In a 30 liter tank, I'd be thinking adding maybe only one small fish that is not an open water swimmer. Something like a yellow or green clown goby. Before doing so I would double check that your new system can properly process the ammonia & nitrate into nitrates. Good luck going foreword!

 

[Dipper]

Ok thanks guys - yes I have live rock and I probably did stock too quickly but was given dubious advice. I was told to put in special blend three days in a row to sort my ammonia.
Ammonia - 0.1
Nitrate - 25-50
Nitrite - 0.1

Using interpet

 

[reefbroao]

a 7 g tank isn't even large enough for 1 of those fish

 

[chimmike]

you need to do water changes in that probably daily with that kind of bioload.

 

[CStrickland]

The nuva 30l is a 30 gallon long tank

It doesn't sound like your cycle was quite finished since you still have some ammonia and nitrites so that could be it. Or it could be something else. What is your salinity and temp? Did the clown have stringy poop or anything like that, did it eat ok until it died?
Sorry for your loss btw, it happens sometimes while your learning, don't give up

 

[Dipper]

Salinity is 1.022 and there was stringy poo. In gallons it's 28 - I may have unintentionally misinformed a few of you

 

[CStrickland]

Stringy poo, swimming weird, and swollen stomach are all symptoms of an internal parasite. He may have been sick all along, some of those are hard to spot until they are really bad. If the other fish is still alive you might want to read some of the threads at the top of this forum http://www.reefcentral.com/forums/forumdisplay.php?f=87
to learn what to look for and how to treat it. There are good medicines for parasites.

A lot of saltwater fish come to us with issues, it's just part of the game. That's why people set up a little tank for quarantine (QT) so they can make sure the fish is healthy before hey put it in their tank. That way you won't get the other fish sick, and some of the medicines will kill coral so it's easier if the fish is in a separate hospital tank.

Another good thing about a qt is you can make it the same salinity the fish is used to and give them a chance to get used to the lights and noises of your house, and the fish food you use, without being stressed by other fish. The less stress they have moving into their new home, the better because their natural immunity will keep them healthy too so they can fight off cooties without needed as much medicine since some of the meds have bad side effects.

Ammonia is really bad for fish, it burns their gills and even if it doesn't kill them it makes them weak so that other things like parasites can kill them easier. If your fish store sells something to get rid of ammonia you should use it as directed on the bottle until the ammonia and nitrites are both zero.