What the? About to quit.

Yea, he did. I also test the specific gravity daily, it is always 1.022 - 1.024. I add top off water daily. Whatever killed my fish is not something that is obvious, I know that for sure. I think.

And remember the kicker, the pair of clownfish lived.
 
I use the coral life deep six, plastic. I check it five times and then take the average, to be safe. I did a 5 gal. water change before the final chromis was introduced.
 
When the lights go out, photosynthesis stops, which means that oxygen is no longer being given off into the water, and carbon dioxide is no longer being used up from it. You could have a funky live rock, or something going on in your sand that is using up more oxygen lately. Maybe a crab or a clam deep inside a rock died or something. You might not see a spike in nitrites or ammonia, but the decay still consumes oxygen. This could result in active fish with high metabolisms, like the chromis, asphyxiating in the night. Most night time fish deaths that aren't the work of obvious predation are caused by this. If the gills of the dead fish were flared out, this is almost certainly what happened.

Try and add more surface agitation, at least for a couple weeks, and look for anything that might have died out of sight. If it's down in a rock you won't find it, but maybe there's a chunk of food that your lobster missed somewhere.
 
That is a possibility, however, I use my powerhead to add oxygen to the water about 20 min. every other day. Also my shrimp and lobster are always on the prowl for food, I doubt that they would miss anything (29gal) but they might not be able to reach something. Good possibility though.
 
going through a hurricaine, and being without power for 3 weeks, coming home to find the temp in the tank is 96 degrees, and everything you touch when you scoop it out just disintigrates, fish, inverts, corals. that will bum you out, bleaching all the rocks. but i didnt want to give up. stuff happens. just move on
 
Try pointing your powerhead so that it agitates the surface of the water. The bubbles don't really do much, especially for 20 minutes every other day.
 
I agree that the amount you use the PH to add oxygen probably isn't very significant.

That said, I'm not sure that's the cause. Chromis and clownfishes are both in the damselfish family, and are not so different that I would expect all of the chromis to die and not the clowns.

You mentioned that the clowns seemed less active, that, to me, would be reason enough to say that you're not in the clear. I don't think that it's the oxygen, but it certainly a possibility. For that reason you could consider doing something like an airstone for nighttime use, especially if you don't have a sump available for a reverse daylight period.

Dave
 
Since they came from the same place they could have had a parasite with a lfe cycle that kicked in at the same time?

Once I bought a coral beauty and a flame angel at the same time, same LFS. The flame showed signs of flukes after about 5-6 months, the CB appeared fine. But I treated all the fish & everybody seemed fine. Then 6 weeks later both suddenly dropped dead within a day of each other. :eek1: No other casualties and I have 27 fish.

The point is that sometimes stuff happens and you know there is a reason, but you may not find out what it is and it may not be your fault at all.

Sorry about your chromis - they are really great fish but it's not always easy to obtain healthy ones -- they are so often disease infested. And so often recommended as beginner fish. Sometimes I almost think they are for advanced reefers.
 
I think oxygen might of been a issue here. Microbubbles are a hoax in the trade and often cause way more problems than they do any help, they can cause stress to the fish. I have never heard this but a fish store owner said that in some cases a bubble can get stuck in the lining of their eye and cause a infection. Water Surface Movement is key. Point the power head and or filter outtake up or so that they skim the surface making a lot of movement.
 
Clownfish seem to be adjusting to the empty tank, they are roaming around now. Might not be in the clear, but I feel a lot better.
 
Potential cause Analysis:

If it were a change in water quality I would discard that not here are the other posibilities by elimination:

a) Fish disease: If it was a disease it usually do not happen overnight unless it is something really spreading fast which we may no tknow about.

b) Toxin exuded by another fish or critter: Clowns do not exude toxins but there will it be some other source like a cuke?

c) Oxygen deficit: Mentioned above but I doubt it as Clowns survived although more active fishes like cromis may require more Oxygen than clowns.

d) Contamination: Any chemicals added inadvertantly? Deodorant from putting your armpit in? hand lotion? Air deodorant spray?

e) Stray voltage? Is all your electrical equipment in good order?, have GFCI installed and did not tripped? A potential temporary short circuit created by a heater streted on over night then turning off or tripping that you have not noticed?

f) Ran out of options!.
 
I think it might be the oxygen. when I catch fish I can usually transport them home in a 15 gal. bucket with no air or pump for up to an hour. when you throw chromis in the mix, those little hyper breathers will kill themselves off in less than an hour without air. look at how your clowns breath than go back to your LFS and look at how your chromis breath. I am not saying that this is the answer. but look into it. those guys are huffers!
 
My first guess would be the oxygen content overnight . It has been shown in many tanks to drop signifacantly at night . If it is low , fish have been observed rising to the higher parts of the tank at night to try and obtain more oxygen , I would check for that . I also agree with pactrop they are little huffers and puffers just like tangs which are also know to suffer in low oxygen content .
 
were the clownfish tank raised? if so they are hardier.
chromis are much more active, require a lot of food, and they also tend to kill each other off. either that or o2 depletion.
 
<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=7836599#post7836599 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by zemuron114
lots of chromis are caught with cyanide/explosives. Might have something to do with it.
Click to expand...

Funny - that was my first thought too, and was surprised that no one mentioned it until the end.
Fish caught in this illegal way will act perfectly healthy and normal up until they turn belly up. Their color is good, they eat like horses (because they are actually starving, I think I read), and then suddenly, 2 or 3 weeks later they die.

If nothing else in the tank is dead, this is probably the cause, sorry to say. Most of the things others have mentioned would have certainly killed more than the chromis. Chromis are darn hardy fish and if delicates like inverts are ok, and the clowns are too, then I'd say you bought "dead fish swimming"...
 
It's safe to say I'm not buying anymore chromis from the same place. Where is a good online store to get healthy chromis? I like Live Aquaria.

I am in the process of building a sump, about half way done. I know I said I wasn't going to put any more money into the tank, but I think I am going to finish the sump then be done, so no skimmer yet.

What's a good way to get oxygen into the water until then? I have good surface agitation, and I do the bubble thing with the power head, but I guess that's kinda pointless.
 
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