Clownfish laying on sand

[Clown79]

There are a few things that could have caused issues.

 

Water source.

 

Death in the tank. If things died and they were left in the tank, it can cause an ammonia spike, especially in a newer system.

 

The system can't handle the bioload. How much liverock is in the tank?

 

How are the goby and shrimp?

 

Have you tested the water since the clown loss? Were the clowns bodies removed from the tank?

 

 

I would not add anything livestock wise until this is resolved.

[nancymatthews]

Your ammonia needs to read an absolute ZERO. Ammonia will slowly kill your fish. They were probably laying down like that because the ammonia is depleting the oxygen levels in your tank. Prime will detoxify and mask the ammonia but it WILL NOT remove it. If there is something dead in the tank, that needs to be removed. Otherwise, I would advice water changes, even once a day until your ammonia is completely gone.

[Dmann1985]

Well both clowns are gone, removed bodies from tank. Checked yesterday and ammonia is still high, will start daily water changes when i get home. The goby and shrimp and my snails are all fine as of last night, i had to move my rock to find one of the clowns, so they've been busy rebuilding their burrows.

Its just really strange that they suddenly died right after i added the heater, not saying it isnt a coincidence. It has been making a clicking noise since yesterday, makes me wonder.

[nancymatthews]

Well both clowns are gone, removed bodies from tank. Checked yesterday and ammonia is still high, will start daily water changes when i get home. The goby and shrimp and my snails are all fine as of last night, i had to move my rock to find one of the clowns, so they've been busy rebuilding their burrows.

Its just really strange that they suddenly died right after i added the heater, not saying it isnt a coincidence. It has been making a clicking noise since yesterday, makes me wonder.

R.I.P. clownfisies. Sorry for your losses.

Clicking noise in your heater.....not good.

It would be okay to do 20% or 30% water changes until your ammonia is gone. You can add some Prime after each water change to mask the ammonia to protect the livestock in there now.

[ajmckay]

Interesting... Ultimately more info is needed to make a definitive call...

 

How long had the 2 clowns been in the tank before they died?

 

If there's a stray current in the water due to faulty equipment I'm guessing that you would be able to feel it when you stick your hand into the water. I've felt it before and it's pretty obvious (also due to a bad heater). As for your clicky noise it may not be bad - most cheap heaters use a mechanical thermostat that might make a little noise. Totally depends on your model though... Did you rinse the new heater off before adding it? Some products can still have manufacturing oils and debris on them that could be poisonous to your fish - though again if there were a poison in the water chances are your goby would also be affected.

 

Check your test kits - some can give false positives. Just use a different test kit, preferably a different brand, and compare the results using the same water sample.

 

As for disease being the culprit, a detailed timeline of when symptoms appeared would be necessary.

 

Good luck.

[Dmann1985]

They had been in the tank for about 3 months. Showed no symptoms of disease or acted strange at all until the morning after i added the heater and were dead within 24 hours. I did not rinse the heater before i installed it. Its an aqeuon 100w.

Ill try to find a different test kit.

One thing that i did notice was as soon as i mounted the heater, the clowns were hovering around it, kinda hosting it i guess.

[dandelion]

Last fish you added were they quarantined? Maybe brought in brook that killed the clowns and left the others alive? Did you suffer from a power loss when you're sleeping/away at work?

[Dmann1985]

No new additions since the snails about 3 weeks ago, did not quarantine. Only other livestock are the orange spotted goby and pistol shrimp which have been there about 2 months.

No power outages recently.

[Clown79]

If there was stray voltage - you'd feel it upon putting your hand in the water. Theres no way i can imagine all else survived electric shock but the clowns.

 

My heater clicks when it turns off/on but its not continuously clicking.

 

As for disease - its very possible for them to have an internal parasite with it going unnoticed. Fish poop is a good sign of internal parasites.

 

When did the ammonia start rising?

Before or after the death?

 

If before, good chance the fish died from ammonia and possibly their health was already compromised and add the ammonia spike caused a deadly mix.

 

If the tank is only a few mnths old, its possible that the system couldn't handle the bioload. Its also possible the heater may have had some residue on it causing a spike.