My Perc Clowns Keep Dieing?

[CathyandWilly]

I am not having alot of luck with these Perc clowns. I keep buying them in pairs and only one with survive. I have bought them from different locations to see if that was the problem, but no, one will survive and the other will die. All my tank readings are fine, just the akaline reading is just a bit high. Could that be the cause??? All of my other fish are fine. I am getting real tired of paying for these Perc's (but I love them) and having them die. Any suggestions???

 

[SkiFletch]

Just to make sure, can you list your temp, salinity, pH, ammonia, nitrite, nitrate for us? Everything may be "fine" but the numbers tell a different story

 

[haulme]

Agreed there is no way one species should just keep dying contiuously. Is there anything else in your tank we should be aware of?

 

[CathyandWilly]

Just to make sure, can you list your temp, salinity, pH, ammonia, nitrite, nitrate for us? Everything may be "fine" but the numbers tell a different story

Our saltwater "expert" recommended we use the strips to test our water, therefore I don't have number readings I can give you. Our water temperature is 78.1 and everything else is in the safe zone. I went back to the store to see about getting the liquid test kit and he insisted I didn't need it that they use the strips as well. I brought some water for him to test and he said everything is fine. I have 4 damsels I am now wondering about. They don't bother anybody during the day and evening when I am watching but I am now wondering what is going on during the night. I just lost another clown last night. He was fine, showed no signs of distress and ate but when I got up today he is MIA. We have a coral beauty angelfish, 4 damsels, common starfish, 1 remaining perc clown, two bottom feeders (I forget what they are called but they are the ones that are a flat circle and have five arms, but they rarely come out of the liverock. I also have 2 cleaner shrimp. I am thinking of TRYING to catch all the damsels and get them out of our tank.

 

[SkiFletch]

Well, my lfs telling me my water is "fine" is never good enough for me, but thats a personal preference. The fact that you have 5 healthy fish in there leads me to believe that your fish are being killed via aggression, or consumption. If I had to guess, I'd say either your damsels or your carpet are the culprits. Have you checked around the tank if they jumped? Or is it covered with a hood? If you dont find them on the floor, the spawn of satan are probably your cuase

 

[CathyandWilly]

Well, my lfs telling me my water is "fine" is never good enough for me, but thats a personal preference. The fact that you have 5 healthy fish in there leads me to believe that your fish are being killed via aggression, or consumption. If I had to guess, I'd say either your damsels or your carpet are the culprits. Have you checked around the tank if they jumped? Or is it covered with a hood? If you dont find them on the floor, the spawn of satan are probably your cuase

I have a hood on my tank so they didn't jump. I guess that leaves the spawn of satan. We have decided to take all the damsels out of our tank and try some more clowns. I want to thank you for responding and answering my questions.

 

[Mr Miagi]

I have 4 damsels I am now wondering about. They don't bother anybody during the day and evening when I am watching but I am now wondering what is going on during the night. I just lost another clown last night. He was fine, showed no signs of distress and ate but when I got up today he is MIA. We have a coral beauty angelfish, 4 damsels, common starfish, 1 remaining perc clown, two bottom feeders (I forget what they are called but they are the ones that are a flat circle and have five arms, but they rarely come out of the liverock. I also have 2 cleaner shrimp. I am thinking of TRYING to catch all the damsels and get them out of our tank.

That statement stands out to me. IMO, if it was the damsels, they would not kill one out of every pair, they'd kill both. What is the "flat circle and five arms" critter? There are some Sea Stars which predate on fish. (Again, highly likely they'd kill only one clown).

I think it could be over aggression by the clowns remaining.

 

[ostrow]

Let me get this: you had a pair of clowns, then one died, then added another pair, and one of those died? Or both of those died?

Or added one more, and one of the, now two, died?

If one is left after each addition, is it always the same one?

My hunch is clown-killing-clowns.

 

[sacramonel]

I am in agreeance with ostrow. I always believed that clowns were never to be put together. Even the more peaceful strains have the ability to be very agressive.

 

[Mr Miagi]

I am in agreeance with ostrow. I always believed that clowns were never to be put together. Even the more peaceful strains have the ability to be very agressive.

Clowns of the same species are fine together. Generally a single pair, but I have seen groups together. Otherwise, completely different looking clown pairs can co-exist.

If you read CathyandWilly's first post, they mention "Perc Clowns", a couple of times. Im pretty sure they are not adding different species.

 

[CathyandWilly]

I have 4 damsels I am now wondering about. They don't bother anybody during the day and evening when I am watching but I am now wondering what is going on during the night. I just lost another clown last night. He was fine, showed no signs of distress and ate but when I got up today he is MIA. We have a coral beauty angelfish, 4 damsels, common starfish, 1 remaining perc clown, two bottom feeders (I forget what they are called but they are the ones that are a flat circle and have five arms, but they rarely come out of the liverock. I also have 2 cleaner shrimp. I am thinking of TRYING to catch all the damsels and get them out of our tank.

That statement stands out to me. IMO, if it was the damsels, they would not kill one out of every pair, they'd kill both. What is the "flat circle and five arms" critter? There are some Sea Stars which predate on fish. (Again, highly likely they'd kill only one clown).

I think it could be over aggression by the clowns remaining.

I have 4 damsels I am now wondering about. They don't bother anybody during the day and evening when I am watching but I am now wondering what is going on during the night. I just lost another clown last night. He was fine, showed no signs of distress and ate but when I got up today he is MIA. We have a coral beauty angelfish, 4 damsels, common starfish, 1 remaining perc clown, two bottom feeders (I forget what they are called but they are the ones that are a flat circle and have five arms, but they rarely come out of the liverock. I also have 2 cleaner shrimp. I am thinking of TRYING to catch all the damsels and get them out of our tank.

That statement stands out to me. IMO, if it was the damsels, they would not kill one out of every pair, they'd kill both. What is the "flat circle and five arms" critter? There are some Sea Stars which predate on fish. (Again, highly likely they'd kill only one clown).

I think it could be over aggression by the clowns remaining.

The bottom feeder is a brittle star fish. I have two of them. I have only bought perc clowns, and no the same clown does not keep living and this time it was the smallest clown to survive. We have since gotten rid of the damsels so we will see how we make out . I think I will only keep two clowns from now on and see if we can keep them alive.

 

[xNOTLOCx]

if you get any more try acclimating em slower it might help, and try to get something besides true perculas, if the lfs hasnt had any success feeding em, wich they are known to not feed for awhile its hard to get em to, then thats a reason they could be dying. if they didnt eat at the lfs then they certainly might not eat in your tank, myne took a week to get him to eat and hes doing good now.

 

[JJ1234567]

probably a dumb question, but i didnt notice anywhere what size tank you were shoving all these fish into, maybe it was agression because there arent enough "homes" for everyone to feel comfortable.

 

[CathyandWilly]

Our tank is a 72 gallon with about 75 lbs of LR. There are tons of places for everybody to hide. We are not over crowding our tank. Also, we have had no problems with the new clowns eating. Sometimes takes a couple of feedings but then they dig right in. We have just bought another "False Perc" to keep our sole remaining clown company. We will see how we make out with the damsels out of the tank. I think I will just keep the two and not add anymore.