Any Ideas what happen?

[Abigor]

My tank is 4 months old now I have a 12g Nano setup ~12lbs LR and ~12lbs live sand. I have 2 hermits and a good mix of snails as a CC, I have Cheato and some rock rubble in my sump as well. 3 pieces of coral Tree Coral, Rico, and a Zoo (17 or so polyp's) Tons of new Corline forming on the LR the Corals are doing great so far...so I figured it was time to add my 1 fish to the tank so I ordered an Ocellaris Clownfish figured they are pretty bullet proof for my first fish. I drip acclimated him for 2 hours added him to the tank, leaving the lights off for that first day for him to adjust. All seemed well and good until 3 days after he was added to the tank I get home from work and he is dead. I pulled him out of the tank and tested my water. Results are:

SG - 1.023
PH = 8.0-8.1
ammonia = 0
nitrites = 0
nitrates = ~5

Should I just chalk this up to bad luck or bad live stock? Or am I missing something here?

Thanks in advance for the help/advice.

[Victor1046]

What kind of test kits are you using? It is the consensus that the Salifert is best.... maybe take a sample to LFS and have them test
Good luck

[Aquarist007]

Was he feeding---I have learned the hard way as I know many others have--always make sure the fish is feeding before you purchase.
Many stores will let you buy a fish and observe for a week or two before you take it home
If you fish died it could be from starvation that happened a long time before you put it in your tank.

[Aquarist007]

oh--I should add--feeding on the required food for this fish.
I once purchased a moorish idol that the vendor was happy to point out it was eating romaine lettuce from a clip.
Not the food this fish can survive on.

[kidcurry1000]

not an expert on this mate but i think you have had bad luck.
iv got 2 clowns in a small 10 gallon tank 2 months old and they woof every thing you put in front of them.
your tank levels are allmost the same as mine.
good luck

[backyardspecial]

Looks like you tank prams are fine. It didn't die due to parasitic infection, did it? If the fish looked clean and was eating then it's probably bad luck like previous posters said.

Just to let you know if your looking to do a reef setup it would probably be best to have your SG at 1.025-1.026

[spinninmidwater]

i agree with capn_hylinur. your parameters seem fine. have u tried and fed your fish? was it eating your food?

if the fish are not adapted to eat manmade food, they may have been starving eversince being caught and kept in lfs. next time, look at the belly and see if it's sunken. that's one sign

[papagimp]

I'll go along with most of these guys, bad luck if not starvation.

Also would like to point out that wild caught clowns are more likely to have internal parasites, much more likely. QT and appropriate dip treatments would be the way to go if you wanted to play it safe next time round.

If it makes ya feel any better, my first attempt to purchase a clownfish...it was dead in the bag before I ever even got it home (less than 5 miles from store tank to my tank) , yet he was swimming and eating and looking all sorts of just spiffy in the display tank at the LFS. Sometimes you just get unlucky like this.

[Randall_James]

a fish is not going to starve in 3 days, many go weeks without feeding during the collection and resale process. (sunken belly as stated earlier is a good indicator)

Thermal shock is a good candidate or just plain stress. I have seen an awful lot of very small clowns for sale that I think are just too tiny for all the stress.

My best luck comes from fish that have been in the store at least 10 days.

I typically float them for 20 minutes, give them a 10 minute 50/50 tank/bag water soak and then drop them into quarantine for 4 weeks.

[ahullsb]

What has the temperature been? It's a small tank so there could be temperature swings going on.

[Kayak_Guy]

Originally posted by ahullsb
What has the temperature been? It's a small tank so there could be temperature swings going on.

Good question.

I killed a lot of fish when I was a kid, I had a 10 gal FW that sat by my window. Took like 20 neon tetras before I figured out the it was getting way hot in the day and way cold at night.

[Aquarist007]

Originally posted by papagimp
I'll go along with most of these guys, bad luck if not starvation.

Also would like to point out that wild caught clowns are more likely to have internal parasites, much more likely. QT and appropriate dip treatments would be the way to go if you wanted to play it safe next time round.

If it makes ya feel any better, my first attempt to purchase a clownfish...it was dead in the bag before I ever even got it home (less than 5 miles from store tank to my tank) , yet he was swimming and eating and looking all sorts of just spiffy in the display tank at the LFS. Sometimes you just get unlucky like this.

Yeah we all have bad luck stories------I knew it was a crap shoot---two dwarf angels in the same tank--- but I always wanted a flame angel---paid 80 dollars for a really nice one----killed overnight by my coral beauty.
Taught me not to gamble

[Icefire]

The same happened with my 1st YWG, died on day 3, no reason.

Got another one elsewhere and it's fine

[Aquarist007]

then there is the case of an emerald crab patiently stalking a yellow tang until one day he caught it

http://www.reefcentral.com/forums/sh...readid=1156367