No Clue whats going on?!?!?

[Herdboy24]

I have had my tank for about a week now. I went to Aquarium store (not mentioning any names) and they tested my water. Said everything was perfect and it was time to add fish. That being said we had been givin the option to buy 2 clown fish and this solution to make it FISH READY (not sure what it was) or buy 6 damsels. We have a 55 gallon tank and we chose option A. The clown fish just look cooler. Everything was perfect for 2 day and then one of the clown fish died. Any clue anyone? Checked water again and everthing checks out.

SW-1.023
Nitrate-0
Nitrite-0
Ammonia-0
PH-8.4

The only thing that is wierd (even the store has not clue what it is) was when we bought the fish a day later there were little pink balls that developed on top of the sand. We then started noticing little I mean little snail looking things on the sides.

Could anyone shine some light?

Thanks,

 

[kristar1982]

snails wouldn't be the culprit.
Ya know, I'd try testing those params myself if I were you. The lfs may have been mistaken.
Dou you have LR? anems for the clowns?
was there any other signs before he/she died?
And when they recommend damsels it is usually b/c the tank is not cycled.
You can't trust most..... they probaly figured they'd sell you a pair of clowns and when they die they get to sell you another pair.

 

[strout]

The pros here are going to need more info on this. When you say the tank is a week old, does that mean you just filled it with water a week ago, do you have Live rock in the tank if so how much, are you running a skimmer. Give them all the info you can on your tank.

 

[BalaShark]

A week old tank is most certainly not cycled. With enough LR, LS, a skimmer etc, it can take weeks to cycle.
Kristar asked "anems for the clowns?" Can you explain that question? Anemones can only be added at a much later stage. I've waited 2.5 years before I added my 1st anemone.
The clown most likely died due to the cycle still in progress.

 

[kristar1982]

the clowns are more comfortable hosting in ....something..anemones mainly even though they shouldn't be added 'til much later....They need some kind of territory to avoid aggression from other species including other clowns.

However, I do agree that he/she probaly died due to the conditions of an uncycled tank....in which case.....I'd flip out at the the lfs who told me it was ok to add him/her and demand some reimbursement....

 

[quaddity]

Sounds like to me the LFS is having you cycle with the clowns. Everything might have been zero because no cycle had started yet.

 

[Chris_A]

Everything might have been zero because no cycle had started yet.

Either way though, with fish in there even for a couple of days there should be *some* kind of ammonia reading if nothing else. I would second kristar1982's suggestion to double check the param's with a different kit. Can't hurt and can only help .

Chris

Edit: It just occured to me... What species of clown did you get? I'm guessing you mean the archatypical clown but A. ocellaris is hardyier (sp?) than A. percula and they *can* look almost identical. A lot of times one needs to know the collection location to know 100%, one comes from around the Christmas Islands and I forget where the other comes from. Also do you know if they were captive bred or wild caught?

 

[Lorna]

I agree that this tank probably hasn't had a chance to cycle in one week unless you set it up with cured live rock in a sufficient amount to neutralize any ammonia from the addition of two clowns. It IS possible to measure zero for ammonia and assume that the live rock went through a very short cycle. The fish if wild caught ocellaris or perculas could easily have succumbed to brooklynella which is common in wild caught clowns. You are much better off and much more concientious to buy captive bred fish when ever possible. They are usually hardier, more able to adapt to new captive surroundings as they have never known anything else. To be specific Kristar clowns will host anything and an anemone is a poor suggestion for any new aquariust or aquarium as they require stable parameters with specific high light requirements. To say that you must put something in for the clown to host is not necessary I have seen them host a powerhead. Captive bred clowns may never host an anemone at all and as most anemones sold are not the natural hosts for ocellaris or perculas they may not host an anemone if wild caught either. It took my clowns over 2 years to find and finally host in my lta. The natural symbiotic host for occelaris and perculas are carpet anemones which get huge and are notorious fish eaters and not recommended for beginners. Sorry I digress.

Recheck your parameters, be ready to do a water change if ammonia spikes with the remaining clown...you will need to get the ammonia down or this other clown may die too. If the tank has enough live rock for it to have cycled, then look for an alternative reason for your clown's passing

 

[kristar1982]

: ) right right..... just...... if a person is is willing to cycle with clowns there could be anything in that tank
never had an anem so I shouldn't have typed that....just thought some kind of territory would be good for the clown and.... didn't know they'd host a powerhead. oi........ I must be careful when typin' from now on. *twirlysmi

 

[Herdboy24]

New News!!

Sorry I was not more detailed. We had the water and the cured live rock in the tank for a week. We choose to go to another fish store. This store was WONDERFUL. They helped explain so much to us. We took water into the store and they said our SW was way to high (1.027). Found out that the hydrometer we use always tests low and is a KNOWN proplem. So even though I was reading 1.023 it was not right. Anyways we managed to lower the SW levels and the fish is now moving around the whole tank. We have not added a skimmer yet was told it is not something we need right now but will need later. So when I can save up some more money and get one in the next month.

Starting to understand more and more each day just really stressful (me and fish) when you really dont have a clue whats going on and then get bad advise. We are going to introduce another fish into the tank tomorrow (if levels stay consistant through tomorrow night) so wish me luck.

Thanks all for the comments and help. ]

 

[Lorna]

just make sure you are ready to do water changes regularily without a skimmer it will be a must. A SG reading of 1.027 although somewhat high is not extremely high and would not have harmed your fish. There would have been some other reason that it passed, probably some pathogen as your water sounds as if it had cycled. I would assume it was probably brooklynella. A good habit to begin is to quarantine all new arrivals in a separate qt tank. This habit will ensure that if the new fish is not healthy you will not be introducing any parasites or illness to your main display tank. You should read the stickies at the top and pay particular attention to the qt one.....good luck!