[55gal]

i have added 4 damsels a week ago 1 is left. they all seemed very healthy swimming eating playing etc. 2 died nearly the same time about 3 days ago one just died today. itwas swimming around fine and the next thing i know is the thing was being eaitin by 3 little hermits. water quality is fine! my clowns are still safe and healthy thankgod but im nervous dont want to lose them!!!!! could the cleaner shrimp attack fish? my clowns seem peaceful with everything, could the damsels turn on eachother? theres nothing else in there except for crabs and snails. what about aptasia could that do it?

im new at this and dont know what to look for . just dont want the clowns to die!!!!!
please help!!!!!

p.s. im feeding spirulina frozen brine and parameters are fine

[Tonz of fun]

What tests are you using? How do you go about water changes? Are you using tap water?

[SweeTang22]

im curious on how you acclimated? with most fish its not a big deal but you may not be that lucky

[glampka]

Count your blessings. In the not too distant future, you'll be glad you don't have them in your tank anymore. Acclimation isn't the problem since they started to die off after being in the tank for a few days. What are your water parameters? Were you using the fish to cycle the tank?

[Dustin1300]

I TOTALLY AGREE WITH GLAMPKA!!! You'll be glad you don't have to catch them, I started with four damsels in my 55 just at start and introduced a mated pair of clowns and I lost the male the first night...and I had watched the damsels thinking they were not picking but when the moon LEDs came on everything must have went down GET RID OF THE 1 DAMSEL YOU HAVE LEFT...Why sacrifice a 75 dollar fish for a 5 dollar damsel???

[pogodzib]

As much as I don't like damsels in my tank, they are just fine to keep. We all need to realize that different people have different preferences in fish. If 55gal wants to stick with cheap, hardy fish in his tank, damsels are the perfect fish. If he wants to keep more delicate/shy/peaceful fish, then it would probably be better to not have the damsels in the tank.

With any fish, the first week or two is when most often a fish will have a problem. You need to realize that before the fish got to your tank, it has traveled throughout the world and probably has not lived in the best conditions and they are probably a little weak and stressed out. Any minor item out of wack may be enough to put them over the edge and kill them. The most common things that I can think of is your tank may have a different salinity, temp, pH, etc.. from the previous tank's water so acclimation should be done over 1hr minimum, your tank may have elevated nitrates, nitrites, or ammonia, other fish in the tank may have been picking on them, or any combination of the above.

Thankfully, once most fish get acclimated to a tank and survive the first couple weeks, they do much better.

[SweeTang22]

you still havnt gotten back to us on the readings of the tank?? everyones a bit curious on those! and just out of curiousity, how did you acclimate. i like the drip method, it adjusts all your levels at a steady rate versus floating, which adjusts temp and then all the levels spike when you add the fish to the tank.

[55gal]

sorry that i didnt get back righ away , had to work today and every day.


parameters are fine
temp 80
ph7.9
sg 24
nitrites 0
nitrates 10
alkalinity 300

the tank has been cycled beforei ever got the damsels.

all other fish (& shrimp) r ok have been in there for months.

i dont think that their sick because they looked and swam fine and suddenly were dead. although im not a fish doctor.

they were the only fish to swim inside of the rocks if this means anything.

[55gal]

acclimation was at least an hour, first just the bag in the water then slowly added my water to the bag etcetc

[Alicamo]

Were they fighting at all? Cause damsels and clowns don't mix some times...

Also, what are/were the size of fish?

I've never heard of a aggressive cleaner shrimp, however hermits i have heard of.

[e_baer]

clowns can get very territorial, especially when they have an anemone.

[Banshee]

I would get your PH TO 8.4,SG to around 1.25 alkalinity-12KH.
That might help in the long run.
I agree that the clowns might have ninja'ed them during the night.