AcanLord Posted July 31, 2016 Share Posted July 31, 2016 Is got my 5 gallon nano from my lfs, already cycled. When I bought it, the owner gave me a small clownfish and a bicolor dottyback. After getting home I noticed the bicolor was a territorial jerk and this little tank wasn't enough. I got a second clownfish to have a pair that was a little bigger than the first clown. The dottyback chased the small one to no end and ended up causing it to get white spots and breathe very heavily and ended up dying. A few days later the bigger one got the same symptoms and I moved him to my bigger 75 gallon tank and he made it about a week but unfortunately also died. I got rid of the DB and told my lfs he needs to do my research before sticking any two fish in a tank. Now, there are two tiny clowns in the tank, been in for a 8 days and they're lovin it. I got a pair of clowns for my big tank and they've also been very happy and not getting chased or bothered at all. This morning I came out and the smaller one in the big tank is sitting on the bottom with labored breathing. Looks like the same signs. I just did a water test and the only thing that's even close to being out of a safe range was Ph at 8.4 the only thing I can think of is the water is only 70 degrees because my house has been getting very hot during the day so I turned the tank heater down so it could cool off at night. I just treated the tank with SulfaPlex and going to keep tabs on it. Does anyone have any ideas? The big tank also has a Foxface lo and a coral beauty and a second clownfish with an arrow crab and 2 emerald crabs plus snails and hermits which are all doing fine. Not sure what to do? Any ideas? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
milesmiles902 Posted July 31, 2016 Share Posted July 31, 2016 There is all sorts of stuff that could cause this. A picture might help, but it would be sad to post. Although, it would help if you list the parameters in the tank. It is so hard to target this stuff. Have you seen the other fish picking on the clown? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Emerald525 Posted July 31, 2016 Share Posted July 31, 2016 It could be any number of diseases. What comes to mind first would be ich because that will linger a long time in your tank and some fish can develop a resistance to it but will tend to target the younger more stressed and weaker fish. Pictures would help. And no it doesn't sound like it has anything to do with you parameters as fish do find and the. Start deteriorating which is more typical of a disease that you spread to your main tank too. And lesson learned dottybacks while beautiful and small are really more like a large fish as they like a lot of territory. I actually had an orchid dottyback in an agressive tank with trigger fish and it held its own. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AcanLord Posted July 31, 2016 Author Share Posted July 31, 2016 I spoke with Jody from TEC in depth and he said its most likely ammonia poisoning from the lfs not letting the fish acclimate. There are no aggresive fish in the tank and he's been totally chill for the past few days. Eating just fine and swimming normally, then this morning he's struggling to live. At my lfs I've personally watched the owner open his box of new fish, tear open the bag and dump it into his tanks. His corals all are about 70% healthy. Some are bleached. I'm new to the hobby but all the red flags are starting to stand out with this guy. The worst part is he's trying to take credit for the succes of my nano tank. I'm going to be going to Jody from now on. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AcanLord Posted July 31, 2016 Author Share Posted July 31, 2016 If I could figure out how to post a photo from my phone I'd love to share my tanks with you guys. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AcanLord Posted July 31, 2016 Author Share Posted July 31, 2016 Here's the poor clown. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AcanLord Posted July 31, 2016 Author Share Posted July 31, 2016 I guess the pic didn't work Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Emerald525 Posted July 31, 2016 Share Posted July 31, 2016 I spoke with Jody from TEC in depth and he said its most likely ammonia poisoning from the lfs not letting the fish acclimate. There are no aggresive fish in the tank and he's been totally chill for the past few days. Eating just fine and swimming normally, then this morning he's struggling to live. At my lfs I've personally watched the owner open his box of new fish, tear open the bag and dump it into his tanks. His corals all are about 70% healthy. Some are bleached. I'm new to the hobby but all the red flags are starting to stand out with this guy. The worst part is he's trying to take credit for the succes of my nano tank. I'm going to be going to Jody from now on. Jody from TECO will be honest with you. Glad you found him. He was one of the few online coral stores that his pictures were true to life. He also would give frags a chance to heal for a week or 2 before shipping them out and they always did well for me. There is an easy way to post pics on tapatalk but I don't use it so someone else would have to tell you. I download to ohotobucket first and then click the image link. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AcanLord Posted August 1, 2016 Author Share Posted August 1, 2016 Sadly, I got home from work, 10 hours later and my Arrow crab and 2 Nasarius Snails were eating the poor clownfish. RIP Blacky Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AcanLord Posted August 1, 2016 Author Share Posted August 1, 2016 On a side note, in an odd display, my Foxface Lo and Coral Beauty started swarming my grabber tool and flaring out their fins like they were protecting him. Not sure if that's what was happening but that's what it looked like. It takes away a mans confidence when he can't keep a beginner fish alive. I have moderately difficult coral thriving in my nano, but can't keep a clownfish alive for more than a couple weeks. I'm going to figure out the root of the problem. I don't want to kill anymore fish. Sucks. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Emerald525 Posted August 1, 2016 Share Posted August 1, 2016 Sorry to hear that. I lost a clownfish too when I set up my Nuvo 20. He just wasn't acting right. No other fish looked ill. It does suck but happens to the best of us. Many an expert has had a tank crash. This hobby is challenging. You are trying to replicate nature don't let it get you down. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Higher Thinking Posted August 1, 2016 Share Posted August 1, 2016 You mention that your parameters were fine, but also mentioned maybe ammonia poisoning. Did you test for ammonia? How was the tank "already cycled?" If it was established you could still cause a mini-cycle if the sand bed gets all kicked up. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AcanLord Posted August 3, 2016 Author Share Posted August 3, 2016 It was already up and running as a display in the store. I bought it, drained the water into a 5 gallon bucket, put the 3 live rocks in the bucket, drive home and put it back together. It's been running at my house for 6 weeks now and was running for 6 weeks at the shop. So it's technically 3 months old in my opinion You mention that your parameters were fine, but also mentioned maybe ammonia poisoning. Did you test for ammonia? How was the tank "already cycled?" If it was established you could still cause a mini-cycle if the sand bed gets all kicked up. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AcanLord Posted August 3, 2016 Author Share Posted August 3, 2016 It was already up and running as a display in the store. I bought it, drained the water into a 5 gallon bucket, put the 3 live rocks in the bucket, drive home and put it back together. It's been running at my house for 6 weeks now and was running for 6 weeks at the shop. So it's technically 3 months old in my opinion You mention that your parameters were fine, but also mentioned maybe ammonia poisoning. Did you test for ammonia? How was the tank "already cycled?" If it was established you could still cause a mini-cycle if the sand bed gets all kicked up. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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