Rip clown fish :( help!

mono19

mono19

Reefing newb
Posted on an old thread a few days ago about an update on my tank... I talked about the tank running great and how the tank is stocked and fish are doing great. I noticed a couple days ago however that my once really active clown had moved to the back of the overflow box and stayed there all day long, stopped eating and just breathed really heavily all day long.

I woke up this morning and he was swimming around a little bit more. Came home tonight and he was laying on the sand bed, still had the same really heavy breathing issues..so I picked him up in a net to see if he would move around. He didn't. He just sat there. Well he has now passed away. Really bummed out about it. He was my first fish almost a year ago..sad to lose him. Especially when I don't really know why. All the other fish seem to be doing great until I noticed the second fish I ever bought is starting to do the same heavy breathing. This time it's my citric clown goby. He's swimming around a little bit more but is just sitting there breathing really heavy. He seems really week.

All the other fish seem to be doing great. But anyone have an idea what's going on in the tank? Could it just be age? Salinity is at 1.023 working on bringing that down to better levels. All other levels are doing good. I will be doing my weekly water change this weekend and the corals and inverts are doing awesome.

Stocking in the tank is this
One black clown(the one that died was an orange clown)
Citric clown goby(now seems to have the same thing the clown died from)
2 regular firefish
1 purple firefish
Yellow wrasse
Leopard wrasse
1 blue green chromis
Tail spot Blenny
Coral beauty angel fish
Diamond watchmen goby

All the fish get along great together, non of the others seem to show the same things the other one died from and the one now seems to have. Tank has good flow corals are happy and I feed every other day. Tank is a 56 gallon with a 20 gallon sump. I'm running a uv sterilizer but I keep up with water changes and checking the parameters once a week. I guess I'm just really confused, everything was going great then this started. Any help would be great. Sorry for the long post...
 
Salinity should be going up -- 1.025 to 1.026 is ideal. Why are you trying to lower it further from 1.023?

In any case, that's not what's going on with the fish.

What are your parameters (exact numbers)? pH, temp, ammonia, nitrite, nitrate.

You say it has good flow -- how many and what type of powerheads?

It's not old age. Fish can live for many years (I'd had most of the fish in my tank for 10 to 12 years when I took it down a few weeks ago, including a pair of clowns).

I know you say your fish get along, but you are severely overstocked for a 56 gallon tank. General rule of thumb is 1 fish per 10 gallons -- you had 11, so twice that amount. You didn't notice any aggression, chasing, fighting, etc?

Check this out, it's a long shot since your fish are suffering and not your inverts, but it's worth a shot:

Identifying, Locating and Curing Stray Voltage in a Saltwater Aquarium
 
Oh I have always been told that salinity between 1.021-1.022 was ideal?
Just did a test
Calcium is at 420mg
Alkalinity is at 107.4 ppm
Phosphates are at 0.0
Nitrates are at 0.0-0.2
Temp is in the 78-80 range
I've got 2 koralia 1400s plus the return pump aimed at the top of the tank.

I've never noticed any aggression from any of the fish. They all seem to get along really great. All have their own caves and all just cruise the tank together.

I'll have to see if i can find one of those voltage testers for the tank. All the electric things are brand new and I check them every other day to make sure they are in working order.
 
That alk test seems really low to me for a reef tank, but I'm not entirely sure where it should be for a fish only tank. Also, what is your ammonia, nitrite, and pH level? And are you using a hydrometer or refractometer to measure your salinity?
 
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The alkalinity is low, I have an additive that I add, that i added after I tested last night. Doesn't it go down over the course of a week though? Cause it always goes back up after water changes.

isn't the other readings the ones that I have below alkalinity? I have a API Reef Masters test kit and that's what I have been using. Are there other things I need to be testing for? I'm using a hydrometer. It's about a year old.
 
You listed nitrates and phosphates, but not ammonia, nitrites, or pH (all of which should be part of any basic test kit you have). Alk is tied in with pH, which reflects how acidic/basic your water is and could impact fish and coral health. You want a pH around 8.0-8.4, and an alk around 143ppm. While alk does tend to run low in some tanks, if you are doing regular water changes, I don't think it would run that low. What is the additive that you dosing with? And are you dosing or adding anything else to your tank?

Also hydrometers go bad pretty quickly and are notoriously inaccurate. I'd see if you can get your hands on a refractometer instead (they run around $50). At the very least, see if you can take a sample of your water to an LFS that will use a refractometer to measure your salinity for you.
 
Fishy this is the test kit that I use

Aquarium Pharmaceuticals Reef Master Test Kit - Saltwater - Fish - PetSmart

Does it not test for the other things you mentioned? Ok thanks I will look into a refractometer in the next couple days.

Also I'm running those power heads that I mentioned above, I have one on the right hand side about 5 inches or so from the top aiming across the tank and another one in the bottom left corner aiming up plus the return pump which I stir up the top of the water with. Should I add another pump somewhere to help out at all?
 
No, the test kit you have doesn't measure the basic water parameters that you need to measure (other than nitrate). In addition to what you have, you also need to measure basic parameters with a kit like this: Aquarium Pharmaceuticals Saltwater Liquid Master Test Kit - Saltwater - Fish - PetSmart

As for your power heads, you should see a nice ripple across the top of the water to make sure the water is oxygentated. If you don't, then try adjusting them. Also, do you have any sort of glass top or hood on your tank that would be limiting oxygenation? If so, then I'd remove it.
 
Well crap. I've been using that other test kit since I set up the tank probably 4 months ago......I'll head down to petsmart and pick up the other one today. Do i use both test kits when I get the new one?

I will have to move the power heads around or add another smaller one to get a ripple effect on the top. I was thinking of adding another one anyways.

I had a top on the tank when it was a freshwater planted setup but removed it for the saltwater cause I read on here that it will heat up the tank more and cause other problems...which was scary at first cause I haven't had any jumpers..

And sorry fishy for your other question I've been using a reef builder to help with alkalinity and reef advantage calcium to keep those levels up. As well as fuel and another bottle that was recommended for corals. Can't remember the name though

Besides a refractometer are there any controllers that you would recommend to help check levels? I've been looking into them but they all seem so different.
 
I would adjust one of your powerheads asap - if you aren't seeing a ripple, then your water isn't being oxygentated enough for your fish.

The calcium and alk tests from the kit you are using are good tests to continue with. The nitrate test will be the same as the basic kit. Phosphate tests are pretty unreliable regardless of the company because phosphate only stays in teh water column for a very short period of time (something like 7 seconds). If you are having algae problems, then you probably have phosphate issues. Otherwise I don't think regularly testing for phosphate is necessary. The tests that you should be doing at regularly are ammonia, nitrite, nitrate, and pH.

Also, I want to echo what others have said in terms of overstocking - you are really overstocked in your tank, and if it has been only up and running for 4 months, then you could be having a cycle in your tank as well due to the heavy bioload (the new test kit you pick up will help you figure this out). You really should only add 1 fish every 3-4 weeks to give the nitrifying bacteria a chance to reproduce enough to handle the added bioload from new additions.

Not sure if you posted this already, but how many lbs of liverock do you have in your tank?
 
Well there is a small ripple on the top, it's more like the water draining in a bath tub effect....but i will pick up a power head today when I get off work and get the top rippling.

So when I buy the new test kit all I should use from the test kit I have now is Calcium and Alk? And just pretty much disregard the rest? I don't have any hair algae problems or any red substrate problems, but I am getting green algae on the sides of the tank. When I asked my lfs if that was an issue, i was told it was just a normal thing and to use my macro brush magnet thing to get rid of it. Could that be a result of Phosphate issues?

I will agree with everyone that I went a little hog wild on stocking. I did wait the full recommended 8 weeks before adding anything though. Had the water tested and was told I was ok to add fish. I just figured if I went with fish that didn't need huge tanks and they stayed small that I would be ok. I did add the fish slowly though....probably not as slowly as everyone says, but hey I was like a kid in a candy store...lol

I've got roughly around 130 pounds of live rock in the tank too fishy.
 
FishyReef said:
Also, I want to echo what others have said in terms of overstocking - you are really overstocked in your tank, and if it has been only up and running for 4 months, then you could be having a cycle in your tank as well due to the heavy bioload (the new test kit you pick up will help you figure this out). You really should only add 1 fish every 3-4 weeks to give the nitrifying bacteria a chance to reproduce enough to handle the added bioload from new additions.
Click to expand...

This. This is why testing for ammonia and nitrite is important. Those two parameters are toxic to fish and will indicate whether your tank is cycling.
 
Ok so I went out today and picked up everything that you guys mentioned to me. Refractometer reads so much better. It read at 1.025 while the hydrometer was at 1.022. So I got rid of it.

Picked up another pump and have it aimed at the top making ripples. Looks cool!
Also picked up the kit to test for nitrates, nitrites, ammonia and ph.
Tested tonight
Ph 8.4
Ammonia 0.0
Nitrates 0.0
Nitrites 0.0 maybe 2.5 but I believe it was zero. That color can be hard to read at times.
I'm still at a loss why I lost the clown but I'm happy now that I have the right things to test with. Thanks for the help.
 
I'm glad you to hear that your tank isn't cycling - yay! I'm sorry you still don't have answers as to why you lost your clown. Did your citron goby make it?
 
Thank you guys for all the help. I would probably be still testing the wrong things and still using a hydrometer. lol

Honestly biff I have no idea. He did really well for almost a year, then one day just hid behind the overflow box and then 2 days later was gone...He did stay as close to the top as possible, so I am wondering if it was because the water was not turning over enough.

Fishy, I'm glad I'm not going through a cycle either! I've got too much coral and fish wise to lose. The citron goby spent the last two days on the bottom sitting on a rock looking like it was his last days, breathing got heavier and heavier. But I got that new power head in pointing at the top turning over the water and today he was back to his old self moving to his different spots on the glass and such. He is still breathing kinda heavy, but it has toned down a lot from what it was a couple days ago. So I will just have to watch him better. Everyone else seems to be doing really well though.

I also picked up a grounding probe, well ordered it. So I should have it soon hopefully. After reading about stray voltage I don't want to have that happen to me.
 
They could be stressed from overcrowding. Trust me, coming from someone who is claustrophobic, You dont want to share 55 gallons with 10 others. Think of it as an elevator with 11 people that can never leave.
 
Hello fellow crazy reef loving people!

I would love to post some pics soon, but I'm still trying to figure out the SLR that I have. :frustrat:A lot has been done to the tank in recent weeks.:mrgreen: More on that in some other posts. The Citron Goby I'm guessing died a few days after probably on the 20th I'm guessing. I came home one day and he wasn't anywhere, which was odd, cause he usually was always out and about even when he was sick. So I'm guessing the clean up crew got to him and cleaned him out before I could find him.
I did a lot of research on him to try and see what could have happened, and I noticed that they seem to be more of a cold water fish. We were having really hot temp, the week that he went down hill so I'm going to say that that is what probably killed him. My tank was getting around 82 even 84 degrees one day.

I also went out and bought a fan to place on the back of the tank and plugged it into my timer to have it run during the summer when the Halide light comes on, it has helped a ton. It took a few days of that running for the fish to get used to the noise but they are fine now.

I got rid of two of the Koralia pumps that I had. They both we starting to fail, I would come home from work and either one would be dead or they both would and the only flow was from the pump aimed at the top of the water or the return pump. So I took them both out and replaced them with a Vortech MW10. Love that thing! I have it on Lagoon and Reef mode, which it switches in between both every couple hours and it is an awesome pump. Would highly recommend to anyone that doesn't have one or is thinking of getting one...That one little pump creates enough flow for my whole tank. I placed it on one side about halfway down and you can see water moving from top to bottom, and the corals love it.

All the fish and corals seem to be doing really well, the GSP has starting to attach to the rock as well as a few of the zoas as well. A local LFS was having a 50% off sale on his coral(for once in the last 3 years I love the road construction.) They had the hwy exit he was on shut down so it was really hard to get to his place, and I picked up about $550 bucks worth of coral for $180. Favorite piece I picked up was a Green Scolymia for only 60 bucks...he usually sells them for around 120.

Fish all seem to be doing great. I replaced the clown, he was bigger then the black one that I had in there and as he is going more he is getting little black dots all over it looks cool, and I'm looking at which fish I am ok with taking out so I can solve the whole over crowded thing. I would really just like to get a bigger tank and keep them all haha. One day...But thanks for all the advice! It seems like I have reached the point where I finally get to sit back and enjoy the tank. Keep up with water changes and add the additives and such to keep it running smoothly. It has been awesome and helped my enjoy this tank. I will have to keep you all posted about my new tank idea in my future house.:mrgreen:
 
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