Clown fish fatality

[HappyHooligan]

well this sucks...I seafood cycled my 90g.
Amm. and Nitrites read 0,
Nitrates read 15-20(possible problem?) after a 30-35% PWC
PH 8.2
SG 1.022
temp.78
I added 40-50 lbs of LR a little over a week ago and it appears pretty much cured. An emerald crab has been cruising the tank and appears fine.

I added a clown fish 2 days ago and seemed ok until this AM when he started swimming circles, head toward the bottom of the tank, appears to maybe be gasping, but I guess he kind of always looked like that; dies with in a couple hours w/ some purplish shading across the body.
I also noticed this AM he seemed to be producing a long trail of excrement.

My initial concerns were the flake food I gave him. It was the same stuff I use for freshwater fish...some tropical blend.
Secondly, my skimmer seems to be sending hundreds of really small bubbles around the tank.
Any of this point to a possible cause?

I bought the fish at a large pet store chain (I know, I know) but I almost exclusively worked w/ someone there who actually steered me away from buying a couple times until the tank was ready.

 

[CaptainAhab]

You cycled your tank before you added the rock, or with the rock? The water readings were with or without the rock?

What are ur readings today?

 

[Kurt_Nelson]

I'm thinking the same thing CaptainAhab is thinking... curious if you took ammonia readings AFTER you added the rock. Just because it looked OK, or was sold as "cured", doesn't mean it really was. You might've started another mini cycle with the addition of the rock.

Nitrates, microbubbles from the skimmer, or FW food shouldn't have been an issue. Most likely, you either got a bad fish from the LFS to start with, or your tank is cycling again. If you're buying fish from a large chain store, you might seriously consider the benefits of a quarantine tank before introducing the fish to your display tank.

 

[HappyHooligan]

I placed the rock after the tank had cycled.
The water readings above were taken this morning when I noticed the fish was acting strangely.
I also, this morning, did a real small 4-5 g water change to vacuum off some of the rock.


I'm taking water from the top of the tank, is it possible ammonia could collect lower in the tank- closer to the rock?

 

[melosu58]

Ammonia should be all over mixed in the water column. I`m thinking that the LR after the cycle might have started another cycle. You might not had enough surface area in your tank without LR to have the proper amount of nitrifying bacteria in your tank. It also could be that there was something wrong with the fish.

 

[HappyHooligan]

I'll test water over the next week or so to look for amm. or Nit.
Use flake food to keep some ammonia up and bacteria alive?

 

[melosu58]

Use flake food to keep some ammonia up and bacteria alive?

Only if there is nothing live in the tank as an ammonia source.If you have fish in the tank, their waste provides an ammonia source that feeds the nitrifying bacteria.

 

[roka64]

I agree with the rest. I would like to add, you probably want to get SW fish food, so it is closer to their natural diet.

 

[HappyHooligan]

The clown fish was the only vertebrate in the tank.
Now just a small crab and some snails. Is that enough ammonia?

 

[thincat]

Yes, that and the die off from the LR that you added to the tank should be plenty.

 

[HappyHooligan]

So I returned to the LFS where I bought the fish and headed right for the tank it came from and lo and behold there is another clown fish rolling on the bottom tank, obviously distressed, acting almost identically to mine just before he died. As if that wasn't bad enough, 2 other clown fish were charging and ramming it.
I think I failed to mentioned that fact earlier; as that was the reason I selected the fish I brought home. It appeared healthy at the time but appeared to be getting ganged up on which I thought was simply because he was smaller. Did the other clowns know he was sick?
My water quality continues to be really good. Are there any dangers aside from what a good test kit will monitor for?

 

[thincat]

Yes, are you going to QT the next fish you buy? If not the biggest danger is introducing a diseases into your main tank.

 

[HappyHooligan]

2-3 week QT for new fish?

 

[Kurt_Nelson]

4 weeks with no sign of illness.

 

[HappyHooligan]

10g qt tank...will Tangs and other roaming fish be ok for that long?

 

[thincat]

Yes, just give them some hiding places in the form of PVS pipes and they should be fine.
Besides there will only be one right.

 

[HappyHooligan]

How long should I wait before adding anything new to the tank?

 

[thincat]

You can add your CUC's. Snails, hermit crabs, a nice shrimp. If you watch your tank you will find out that there are lots and lots of animals in there already, Spot them..try to find out what they are..as you learn the time will really fly and in no time at all you will be putting fish in your tank safely. That's half the fun and the wonder of it all.

 

[HappyHooligan]

You can add your CUC's

CUC's?
does anyone know how fish act if chloramine poisoning happens? I was dechlorination using aeration and topping off with that.

 

[thincat]

CUC=Clean up crew, Mike will have to help you with the chloramine issue...I don't think airation will desipate chloramine but I'm not sure.
here is a short part of that report (http://www.epa.gov/ogwdw000/disinfection/chloramine/pdfs/Q29.pdf