I Need Help Figuring out...

[rlklassy]

What is causing my clowns to die.

I have had them forever and they are the only fish in my tank, along with a peppermint shrimp, nassarius snails, and a pitols shrimp.

All of my parameters tested fine.
The temp is good.
The salinity level is good.
Theres no lose electricity in the tank.

All of my corals look great and are having no issue at all.

So what might be affecting my clown fish and not my corals??
One already died and the other is following.

 

[kmcmurtry]

The fish display any symptoms before like physically or breathing hard?

 

[rlklassy]

They were breathing hard... and acting a little different, ( staying in one spot of the tank, not eating like usual)

 

[kmellon]

Have you examined them for any signs of ich? that attaches to the gills and make it difficult for them to breathe.

 

[Jeremiah]

If you have the body of the one that died you can take it into Neptune's, they have a guy that works that can usually tell what the fish died from.

 

[fishguy69]

Could also be something toxic in the water that may not affect the inverts, IMO.

 

[Munch]

How are you measuring Salinity? Also, do you have an ATO? Wondering if salinity swings are occurring....

 

[rlklassy]

So, i didnt see any signs of ich.. or anything physically visable other then hard breathing, lack of appetite for about 3 days and stayed in one part of the tank which is really unusual. I dont have an ato, and i check my salt with a hydrometer.

 

[Munch]

I had issues with my clowns when I first setup my tank. Also, I used a hydrometer, which was super inaccurate. Also, because I didn't have an ATO, I would evap enough water over a few days to cause my salinity to increase.

If you're confident your parameters are solid, I'd borrow a refractometer, or buy one, and stabilize your salinity if it's off. This might be a cause....

 

[rlklassy]

That is something ill definitly look into. .. What a bummer ... Iv had them since i first started, in my first tank... and when my system crashed, i almost gave up on saltwater completely but they lived so we decided to keep going and re establish the tank and ya.... just dang, what a bum.

 

[FinsUp]

Pretty sure we have a refractometer you can borrow. :smile-new:

 

[rlklassy]

That would be great! I wish i could have caught this sooner!

 

[FinsUp]

We're gonna get your system straightened out soon. No worries.
Also, it's time to start raising the temp on it, slowly. Needs to be around 78.