a fish died, any thoughts?

[Mavrk]

I have a 90g tank that has been up for 3 months now. I put in a couple oscellaris clowns about a 3-4 weeks ago and one of them died tonight suddenly.

My levels read 0 on nitrite, nitrate, and ammonia. pH is 8.4 (as it has been the whole time). Salinity is 35‰ on my refractometer that is calibrated with pinpoint solution. Temperature is 79-80.

When I pulled it out, I saw a red spot above the anal fin that seemed to be internal. It was very active up until tonight and by the time I set up my QT (about 15-20 min), it was dead. It did look a little thinner tonight than before.

I am guessing hemorrhage of some sort, but I don't know if it was damaged by a fish/powerhead or if it was an internal issue. Any thoughts?

Oh, and my other fish (only 4 of them), snails, and shrimp are doing fine, but I will keep an eye on them.

[ScubaDiver93]

Old age?

[msuzuki126]

Originally posted by ScubaDiver93
Old age?

Yes most likely considering the tank is 3 months old and LFS usually sell old fish

To the OP, I'm not sure, some fish just don't do well in captivity.

[uscharalph]

I lost a few clowns around the 3 month timeframe.

[Blown 346]

Depending on how the fish are caught in the wild will drastically effect its lifspan. Some use cyanide to catch the fish which knocks them out. But there are problems with this as fish are poisoned by this type of collecting. Some fish go blind, some die from internal damage, and some die from the cyanide.

I make sure to ask if from a LFS, how the fish were collected, yes they can lie to make a buck. I watch the fish for a few weeks, or just order online where I know they were collected the old fashioned way.

[Bono007]

salinity at 35% is about 1.027-1.028, I think??? but that is a little high IMO

[reefman13]

Bono- I as well as pretty much every reefer and LFS in my state, keep there salinity at 35 ppt, and we have no problems.

[Macimage]

Bono-As reefman13 noted 35 ppt is right on target. If you go the the Tank of the Month section, you will see all these awesome tanks at 35 ppt.

Joyce

[Mavrk]

Yeah, it is sometimes a mystery as to why fish die. I just thought the red spot was suspect in this case. The fish was still a juvi and the LFS I got it from thought it was tank raised. I guess it either had something that finally manifested itself, or it got hurt somehow. If it had been in the tank longer I would be more curious. But since it was only a short time I am guessing it was something internal.

Originally posted by Bono007
salinity at 35% is about 1.027-1.028, I think??? but that is a little high IMO

Like others have said, 35ppt is the salinity of natural seawater. This is the target for most of us. Some people keep salinity lower for fish. SG is temperature dependent, but in general 35ppt is the equivalent to a SG of 1.026.

[TitusvileSurfer]

I got a question wrong on the first oceanography test of the semester:

What is the salinity of the world's oceans?
In my haste, I wrote: 1.026 and moved on

The answer was 35ppt. The teacher did however recognize what I was going for and wrote me a nice note. I still missed the problem though and was told to read the question more carefully. The only one I missed!

[TitusvileSurfer]

Originally posted by Bono007
salinity at 35% is about 1.027-1.028, I think??? but that is a little high IMO

This by the way is a ridiculous statement. Even much of the dead sea is only 30%. What I think you meant is salinity at 3.5%...35% definitely "is a little high IMO"!

[Mavrk]

Originally posted by TitusvileSurfer
This by the way is a ridiculous statement. Even much of the dead sea is only 30%. What I think you meant is salinity at 3.5%...35% definitely "is a little high IMO"!

I'm pretty sure they meant 35‰