Lost my clown last night. I had literally posted that he was doing fantastic the night before and that he had doubled in size since arrival. Came home from work yesterday to find him breathing rapidly but no other signs of disease, parasite, or abuse. My anthias had ich, no doubt about that but the clown never showed any signs of it (no scratching, no spots, no nothing). I've been doing this 20 years and the only thing I've ever seen take down a clown fast (less than 48 hours) was brooklynella but this little guy was perfect appearance wise and it is easy to spot. The only thing I could think of was that maybe he had been harassed while I was at work and was just exhausted so I moved him to the refugium. The lights come on at 10am and my wife feeds them shortly after but said she didnt observe them because she was busy with other stuff so I dont know at what point what ever happened, began. At 945pm the night before he was doing great (their last feeding of the day).
Water parameters all check out; no ammonia, nitrite, nitrate undetectable, phosphate .015, pH between 7.9 and 8.1 for weeks, dkH 9, salinity 1.0255 to 1.026. I just dont have any theories. The angel and anthias show no signs of labored breathing, the skimmer isnt running abnormally to indicate something ended up in the tank that shouldnt, ATO working like it should. What the hell kills a fish in less than 24 hours with no visible signs? Crappy day!
I know how that is never fun.
