Why Are My Clowns Dying

[Sharon]

Hi...I'm Sharon, and I love Clown Loaches. However, they don't seem to do well for me. I have had several die over the past few months, and I can't really figure out why. My tank is 55 gal. The tankmates are 1Angel, 1 Ghost Knife Fish, 1 Clown Pleco, 1 Leopard Ctenopoma, 8 Rainbows, and 3 otos. Tank temp is 78. The tank is cycled. Ammonia 0, Nitrites 0, and Nitrates never get above 20. My last Clown death occured recently. I had three, all of which were thriving. All three had grown and were quite fat...two died for no apparent reason. The one survivor got really skittish so I added two more last week. I have had a ph spike recently, and I'm not sure what is causing it. I added a new substrate in May, and I'm thinking that may be the cause. My tapwater is 6.4, and the tank has recently jumped to 7.2. I'm wondering if a fairly large water change could have caused the ph to drop and cause problems for the Clowns. I've recently checked for stray current, but I didn't get consistent results, so I can't really draw any conclusions from that either...Does anyone have any ideas on why my Clowns keep dying.

[chefkeith]

There are a number of possibilities.

Do you quarantine new fish? Cross contamination of parasites and bacterial disease is a possibility if you don't quarantine.

Osmotic shock could be another. What is the Total Hardness and/or TDS of the tank water and the tap water? Large changes in the mineralization of the water can be very harmful. Do you have rocks or substrates that might be leaching minerals in the tank water?

Another cause could be low Oxygen. Do you have plants or algae in the aquarium. When you changed out the substrate you could of caused a bacterial bloom and that could of caused low O2. Dangerously Low Levels of O2 usually happens at night. This is when plants and algae use up O2. Bacteria will always consume O2.

There may also be some fish compatibility issues. A Ghost Knife, Leopard Ctenopoma, and Angel fish aren't the greatest of tank mates for the clowns. The tank seems a bit small and overstocked too.

Clown loaches do best high flowing highly oxygenated water, like a river. Some of the other fish wouldn't do to well in a river tank environment.

[Sharon]

Thanks for the suggestions ...I doubt low oxygen is the cause as I'm running two air stones. I don't have a test for total hardness, but I think I'm going to have to get one. I think the problem is connected to water changes, and I need to investigate that further. I realize the tank is not large enough for fully grown Clowns and I plan on getting a larger tank when needed.These guys are not over 2 inches, and if my success rate with them doesn't improve, I may not need a larger tank. Actually, none of my fish are fully grown, at this time. Thanks for your suggestions...I appreciate it! BTW...when I tested for current, I initially got a reading of 41. I unplugged the heater, and got 22. I plugged heater back in and got 22. I then turned up the heater, until it cut in, and got a reading of 31...Does that make sense to anyone???

[helen nightingale]

i think Chefkeith has a valid point about oxygen. do you have plent of ripples or splashing at the water surface from your filters or powerheads? the amount of oxygenation you get from airstones is really very small in comparison.

because clowns need warmer water, they need more oxygen than some other fish anyway. they can be quite sensitive to drops in oxygen levels. even if you have lots of oxygen normally, but did something that would cause oxygen to be consumed quicker than normal, like a sudden bactial bloom like Chefkeith mentions, then the clowns could suffer from the drop in oxygen levels, even if there is still sufficent oxygen in the tank for less needy fish, or those that had been used to lower levels.



here you can see the sort of splashing at the surface i mean. it doesnt have to be quite this much, but the clowns and other loaches enjoy it.


when you get a hardness or TDS tester, check the tank water and the tap water to make sure they are not too different. what type is your new substrate, and did it come froma trustworthy source? maybe something nasty was introduced then

sorry i have no clue as to your current readings. it seems odd, but i dont understand electrics at all

[Sharon]

My two airstones are causing bubbles to break at the water's surface at both ends of the tank . There seems to be quite a bit of surface agitation.I have seen the Clowns playing in the bubbles. The substrate is Geosystem River Gravel. I changed from rounded gravel to this, because I researched that Clowns need a sandy substrate. I do have some low light plants, but they are a a fairly new addition. My problems with Clowns started before I added the plants. The problem started before I added the new substrate as well. I have to get the test for water hardness out of town, so it's going to be awhile. The only tests that I can get here is Ph, Ammonia, Nitrites and nitrates...Thanks so much for helping...I'm still thinking it's related to water hardness, as I do have rocks in the tank, that could be leeching minerals. (I've also tried them without carbon in the filter, and with carbon. )At this pont, do you think I should remove rocks from the tank, considering that they may be leeching some mineral into the water?

[chefkeith]

I hope the fish are doing well.

There are a few variables to what could be wrong here.

If there is stray current in the tank, you need to fix that.

If rocks are leaching they should be removed.

If you haven't been quarantining new fish, then you need to start doing that also.

I even read at one place that Geosystem River Gravel is not inert.
http://ovas.ca/index.php?topic=28164.msg186201
I don't know if that is true though, so you need to monitor that.