Reef nutrition

Goodbye to My Clownfish

MolaMola

Supporting Member
I got my baby clowns in 2001 and today the mated pair died. So very sad.
Sadly, I have not been taking care of my tanks very well but they seemed stable enough despite nuisance algae. I started messing with my clownfish/BTA light a few weeks ago, left in a tiny skimmer that had stopped skimming, and a very old bag of carbon, so took them out and changed some water. Last week some weird brownish-red algae was on the rocks, yesterday the BTAs, shrooms, and cabbage coral looked shrunken and unattached but fish looked fine. Nothing measured out of whack. I have been having trouble with RODI system and using less than perfect water, so yesterday bought SW from a shop. Today before school I hurried to clean tank and some rock, siphon sand, and do water change. New water parameters looked okay, dumped it in bucket with pump to aerate. Changed 15g in a Biocube, water was cloudy from being stirred up, but felt happy and started giving students state test online. Went to check tank and smiled that nems already looked attached and more perky. But clowns were on the sand behind the rocks gasping. Moved them to another tank but it was too late and they died. I think I stirred up some noxious compounds from the sand and changed too great a volume of water and I am so sorry I did that.
What a sad, sad day.
Two notable memories are the male as a baby swimming up a little overflow tube and somehow getting part of his tail cut off, which never grew back but made no problem. A few years ago the female was on the sand bed choking from a too large piece of fish food she took from a nem. It was stuck in her mouth and my teacher buddy and I removed it with tweezers and she recovered.
I really loved their jazzy little swimming.
 

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That is so sad! Keeping clownfish 20 years is an accomplishment though. Hopefully others can learn from your share.
 
Very sad to see this
but…they were loved and well cared for
they were lucky to have had you as their caregiver, where SO many are not
my compliments to 20 year old fish!!
do it again!! You are worthy

best fishes
 
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