dying fish!

Question
QUESTION: hi glenn! i know it seems quike but my tank was set up since the week before thanksgiving last year and the first 2 fish i bout were a fire fish and a clownfish. now a couple days after black frisay 1 bought another clownfish because my previous one sat at the top of the tank all the time (moping around) so i decided to buy him a mate. so till this day my clownfish have been striving along with a algae blenny a mandarin goby and my ltest addition a coral beauty. now NONE of these fish showed any aggression toward other fish. althought the clownfish has been twitching or doing a mating dance while he swims with the other clownfish. now to the biggie part, just the same day from my last follow up the fire fish died. now i wasnt to suprised because the alwas hides under  the same rock ever since i bought him. hes swimmin i come back not an hour later and dead. not moving an inch. now i was goung to take hime out but rhe clean up crew of the snails were having a party so i dindt want to interfere. just thought nature should take its course. and to be frank, i hate touching or moving anything that was dead or once alive. so i assuemed it was the dead plant like thing that i put in and took out a week ago because it smelled like snit. or my purple sea urchin but he was in the tank for a long time and hes was never hurting anyone. if anything he was trying to hide. now lastly (hhaha) my clownfish died today. in the morning he was swimmin with the other clownfish and i come home 7 hours later dead. gone. not even movin. now i thought it was wierd becuase the fish shown absoulutely no sign of illness. not one. so i checked the ph,kh, nitrate, nitrite, and the ammonia and it was all in check. and also the clean up crew hasnt even started (eating) him yet so i thought " i need a profesional aquarium hobbiest slash qualified plumber to help me!" and of course thanks!!!

ANSWER: Hey Nick,
Moving too fast there my friend. I'm surprised you havent lost the Mandarin yet. A tank that young(yes, since November, is young) doesnt have the stability, or the additional life forms to support all those lil guys. Mandarins(unless youre adding copepods weekly) shouldnt be added to a tank less than a year old. They eat almost nothing buy pods. And when they die they release a toxin as well as the usual ammonia spike from the decay. Be careful and slow down a bit. Always remove dead inhabitants. They will create an ammonia spike that can be lethal very quickly, and then gone just as quickly. ClowFish(depending on species) tend to be fairly hardy, but sucj a spike would do damage. Now if he was twitching or darting, thats a sign of illness. The only such movements you should see, are when they are housed with a hosting anemone. I lean towards the system not being mature enough to support so many, so soon. The natural foods that develope and the biological filter just hasn't matured/grown enough to support that many fish yet. I would definitely get on a live copepod supplement for the Mandarin as soon as possible too. Just take your time my friend. You'll get there. AND... BIG AND HERE... Get used to removing the deceased from the system or you'll be seeing many more unneccessary casualties.

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QUESTION: oh the mandarin i have gotten many critizim about that but he is stiving hunting and eating. and the macro algae is growing crazy with copepods that i have seen swimming in there and he also eats mysis shrimp that i supply him. now the clownfish, his an occeleris clownfish, there was twiching but i dont have an anenome so that could be a sign of illness. i thought it was a mating dance. and the ammonia was fine exactaly 0. so i am stumped. i just wanted to know so i can fix the problem then and there so it wont happen again. thanks!

Answer
Hey Nick,
It was still probably an ammonia spike. In a system of that size you can get a spike that jumps quickly, then drops again quickly. I, and many other long time aquarists, have experienced this with new systems and a dead pet. Just take your time, make sure to do your maintenance, and always remove the deceased.
Im glad your Mandarin eats Mysis, most dont. I would still dose with live pods. A single Mandarin can deplete the copepod population in a system that size in just 4 to 6 months. That also has an impact on stability and maintaining water quality. Pods are a large part of your clean up crew.