Last night before I go to bed I'm checking on the fish, and find a small clown loach dead. He was quarantined with 6 others for almost two months and had been living in the community tank for another several months. Once again, no discoloration, spots, torn finnage, etc. He was a little bloated, but I had fed cocktail shrimp earlier in the day and it looked like a full tummy swell. Oddest thing was both of his spines were fully protruded.
This morning I found a dead adolescent SAE and an adult sidthimunki stuck to my power head that both looked perfectly fine aside from the damage from the filter. I had had the SAE for about 3 months and the sid for 2 years.
Tonight when I got home from work, a second small dead clown; another of my young odd balls
Same deal, with no visible marks or discoloration, except for one red mark/bruise right between the eyes. He also had his spines out.Water parameters have been fine; I'm doing small twice daily water changes and treating with mela-fix to combat...? The fish, living and dead, have no visible symptoms. No new fish or plants. No new foods, meds, fertilizers.
Recently my three largest clowns have started fighting for the first time, locking barbels, clicking loudly and leaving lots of deep, red wounds on each other. It makes me wonder about the small clowns dying with their spines out, especially the one with what appeared to be an injury. The bulldog plec was old, and the sid and SAE were both quite small; could they be getting caught in the way of the larger clown's aggression?
any thoughts in general? the numbers aren't telling me anything and the fish look fine. I don't know what to do; I couldn't stand the tank crashing for no reason at all.
