# Other Aquarium Forums > Marine Tanks >  Clown fish keep died

## AngGuKueh

Hi bro and sis

I buy 2 clown fish yesterday but one die the other one won't eat...last month I also tried 2 (died) the LFS said water parameter not good but this time I buy all the test kit and water parameter was ideal...can anyone help me ?


Water

ammonia 0'
nitrite. 0'
nitrate <5
calcium 460
phosphate 1'
magnesium 1260'
temperature 28 - 29
volume 150 litre
using ro water to mix salt
protein skimmer in sump
liverock with some hair algae
snail work great
light 2 tubes T5HO artinic blue and 2 tubes 10k watts

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## dnsfpl

try buying from fellow hobbyist

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## BFG

What's the salinity level of your tank water?

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## AngGuKueh

I jus check yesterday and the water parameter is as below i'm still left this tank without any livestock.

PH 8.1
salinity 1.022
ammonia 0'
nitrite. 0'
nitrate <2-3
calcium 436
phosphate 2'
magnesium 1300'
temperature 27 - 28
volume 150 litre
using ro water to mix salt
protein skimmer in sump
liverock with some hair algae
snail work great (1 died)
light 2 tubes T5HO artinic blue and 2 tubes 10k watts

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## waterfaller1

What are you using to test your specific gravity? You should be using a refractometer. I would bump the SG to 1.025. You have phosphate showing, and you said you have hair algae, and phosphate kits are generally inaccurate..so the actual number could be higher. You should have 0 phosphates. If your inverts are dying, there may be another underlying problem. What is your water treated with where you live? Chlorine or Chloramines? If the latter, you need a Chloramine busting filter set up. And actually if you really want the tank to do well, you should be using RO/DI, not RO water. How are you acclimating the fish? How long are the fish at your LFS before you are buying them? How much surface movement is there in the tank?

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## waterfaller1

I meant to also ask, what kind of test kits are you using? If strip type, they are useless. Get titration type test kits.

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## sulcata

Hi,

Perhaps, you can share what are your usual practice before introducing or releasing new fishes into your tank.

Jon

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## AngGuKueh

Yea I'm using the strip test which titration type test kits would you recomend ? I live in Singapore somehow quite hard for me to get the test kits unless going for electronic instruments or monitors.

Answer for sulcata : I use the most website recommend float the bag for 30 mins and then I diy some drip tubes bout 1 drop per 1 sec to fully fill the bag and pour out half bag water and drip another fully bag before releasing the livestock. The climate was done in evening with no aquarium light and house light, around 7 o'clock the best daylight as I still can see through the tank.

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## waterfaller1

Depending on how long you had the fish in the bag, it could have led to a problem as well. If fish are in a bag much more than an hour, the moment you open the bag the PH plummets, and the ammonia becomes toxic. In this case it is best to temp them and release after you open the bag, immediately. This is what I do anyway, and never lose fish. The only time I make an exception, would be a Linckia starfish, which needs hours to acclimate. How long has this tank been set up, and are there other fish? Have you been feeding the tank a bit, to keep up the good bacteria? You did not say if there is sufficient surface movement? Very important in a SW tank. I am not sure what test kits you have available. Some are expensive. But I use API test kits, and also Salifert. Lamottes are great, but pricey.
Here are several which are good
http://www.marinedepot.com/test_kits__index-ap.html

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## AngGuKueh

Ok thank waterfaller I go try another 2 nemo tomorrow as you said temp them and release after open the bag, immediately. Is api test kit good for all like calcium/phosphate and other product ? I have API calcium and phosphate titration test kit and salifert magnesium titration test kit and for the PH I have 2 types one is from tetra titration test and API strip test kits.

As you mention sufficient surface movement mean what ? wavemaker will do all the job ?

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## waterfaller1

Sounds good. I would buy the PH in the API titration, or even Instant Ocean{might be reef crystals now?} makes a decent one. They are not lab grade, but sufficient. Ditch any test strip kits. The others are fine. No phosphate test kit is 100% accurate. PO4 is a controversial subject, especially is algae is present. If there is a lot of algae, you have PO4. Keeping the lights off for a few days can help the tank soak up some of the excess nutrients. Feed light, keep up with regular water changes, and try to switch to using RO/DI water. Good luck, let us know how it goes. {and if you don't have it, get some surface movement going in the tank}

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## waterfaller1

I would also recommend a hefty water change, and get your PO4 to 0 before trying new fish. Make sure the fish have been at the LFS 1-2 weeks before purchase. This is enough time for any disease to manifest, like Ich or Brooklynella.

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## AngGuKueh

Alright a million thanks for you waterfaller I will try it out and update how it goes.

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## kenny1111

may also be a problem from your fish source, Which LFS u get them?

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## AngGuKueh

from pasir ris farmway the ah beng shop dunno how to describe but the entrance gate got one big arowana statue and the shop is jus behind the aunty shop behind.

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## FuEl

Clownfish very susceptible to brooklynella hostilis, more so for wild-caught clownfish. The survival rate of wild-caught clownfish from the ocean to the end consumer is pathetic, <10%. Ask for captive-bred clownfish if possible. Not to say that captive-bred clownfish are immune to brooklynella, just that they do not have brookynella to begin with. Whether or not they contract this at the shops is another matter, it's a matter of quarantine procedures.

Leave your tank fishless for 1 month. Get a bottle of Interpet no. 7 and medicate your clownfish with this for about 2 weeks (minimum) before you even put them in your tank, even if the fish looks healthy to begin with.

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## waterfaller1

Any updates?

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## AngGuKueh

Sorry for the late posting i been recently busy for these tank and spend most of my time after work to the tank, my maroon clownfish damsel fish work great now even eat well but they stay in one place for most of the time. and my problem is the angel fish now look pretty and cant hold back to buy 3 angelfish bicolour/coral beauty and rusty angelfish but they seem not to eat for 3 days now still training them any advice more to provide ?

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## AngGuKueh

sry its was 5th day

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## waterfaller1

14 fish is way too many in a 3 foot tank. 2 of the fish on your list should be in a tank no less than 125 gallons. 3 Centropyge angels will probably *never* get along. They are most likely stressed, and someone, like your yellow tang perhaps, is doing the stressing. Yellow tangs do not play nice with fish added after them. You need to research how to keep saltwater fish more, and appropriate stocking levels. I have a 4 foot tank and wouldn't put either of the tangs you have in it.

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## AngGuKueh

Thank for reply I seem my angel not stressing today they can swim together closely but it Semmelweis not eating and only looking for thier own food inside liverock I had try alot of fish food to get them. I gonna try raw prawn tomorrow and observe

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