why do my fish die?

Question
QUESTION: hi nick

my fish always seem to die when i put them in the tank they are clownfish.
we got the water checked at the pet store and everything seems to be ok but they still die!!!
do you have any ideas what could be wrong?

ANSWER: Hi Ben. What kind of acclimation procedure are you utilizing when adding these new fish to your tank? You should be acclimating slowly over a period of 30-40 minutes(any longer of an acclimation period can be just as detrimental to the fish as not doing any at all) adding a small amount of your tank water to the bag as it floats every 5 minutes. You can also use the drip method which uses a piece of airline tubing to slowly drip some of your tank water into a bucket where the new fish is placed with the bag water. These methods will ensure a smooth acclimation from the water the fish is used to being in to the new water in your tank. If you are already doing this and your tank water is testing good then you may want to consider the source where you are buying your fish from. Some fish supply stores will keep their salinity extremely low to force any parasites to go dormant and not show up on the fish so that they appear healthier than they are. This can have a detrimental effect on the fish if housed this way long term and make the whole acclimation process into your tank more traumatic. Try buying fish from a different retailer if you haven't already. You can also try finding a source of captive bred clownfish. These fish are much more hardy and haven't been exposed to the stresses of being captured and shipped like the wild caught specimens are. When netted from the ocean some fish are stunned using cyanide to make catching them much easier. This will have a very detrimental long term effect on the fish. The ones that survive the capture are then sent to a holding facility where they are not fed. They are not fed again until they reach the retail store and some times they are so stressed out from the capture and shipping that they won't even eat once they get there. It is a wonder how any of these fish make it at all. The problem here may not be your tank but the acclimation and/or the retail store where you are purchasing them from. How long are the fish living in your tank before they pass? This bit of information will go a long way in helping me to determine what is up with the fish that you are having so many problems with.

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QUESTION: hi again

i have tried three times with clownfish and they all die i have waisted a lot of money and its depressing to see them die :(
they look like they are struggling to breath and try and gasp air from the surface they die after three days.
Just like to know whats wrong.

regards Ben thanks for answering before!

ANSWER: Hello again. Usually when a fish is gasping at the surface of a tank the potential problems are lack of oxygen, toxins with in the system, gill disease and/or too high of a temperature in the water. Lack of enough oxygen can occur in a tank where there is not enough filtration or improper gas exchange at the surface. To solve this problem simply increase aeration with the addition of a power head or two, making sure that the surface tension of the water is being broken and constantly turned over. A good clean up and partial water change may be necessary as well. Check the temperature that you are keeping your tank at. Hopefully you have a trusty thermometer placed somewhere in the water to accurately gauge the temperature of the tank. Do not use the thermometers that stick on the outside because they are rarely ever accurate and never rely on a heater that has a number setting as a guide to your temperature. Heaters malfunction and do so often. Too high of a temperature directly corresponds to the amount of oxygen in the water. Warmer water is unable to carry as much oxygen as cooler water is. So if you don't have enough aeration and your temperature is too high this would cause the symptoms you are seeing. Lastly there is the possibility of toxins in your tank. Make sure you are only using distilled or reverse osmosis water to mix with your sea salt and for top offs. While most tap water is perfectly safe for human consumption, the amount of chlorine and chloramines added to city water supplies is enough to kill any fish with in a few days. Don't rely on dechlorinating media or additives. It doesn't take much to harm your fish. There are other nasty chemicals put in city water supplies that are not as easily taken out of the water. Never chance it when setting up a saltwater tank by using water from this source. Even well water can carry in it many chemicals from run off water. The well water may test fine and then all it takes is a heavy rainstorm and all sorts of chemicals can enter the water supply from cyanide to ammonia depending on what area you live in.(weather farm land or industrial land) Toxins can also enter your tank in many other ways unintentionally. From your hands, aerosol sprays, pesticides, smoking in the room where the tank is, home improvement projects and the list can go on and on. Internally generated toxins can also be a problem. I am sure you know of the problems that can arise from ammonia, nitrite, nitrate, but there are a few other internally generated toxins like hydrogen sulfide which can cause a very toxic environment in your tank. These are mostly attributed to not enough or not very good water circulation and maintenance procedures and are much more rare then externally generated toxins. This is just a list of things for you to check for. You didn't mention if you have any other fish in your tank thriving or not. If you do and it is only newly purchased clownfish you are having trouble with then you should probably consider the source. Also if you do have other fish in your tank then there is always the possibility of bullying.

---------- FOLLOW-UP ----------

QUESTION: There are no other fish in the aquarium, i have got a fluval 200 filter for a 4 foot tank and it breaks the water and gives a lot of circulation.
the temp is 30 degress.
and also  when i was cycling the tank the heater had tunred off for a few days would that have mucked up anything?

Answer
Your temperature is 30 degrees Celsius and that would translate to 86 degrees Fahrenheit Right? May be a bit on the warm side. The temp should really be closer to 80 degrees F or about 26 degrees C. This may be a small part of the problem. You say you have one fluval filter on a four foot long tank? Although this may seem like enough it may not be enough circulation on your tank. I have a four foot tank as well and I have two large filters, a protein skimmer and two large powerheads stirring things up in my tank. This coupled with the higher temperature may be causing not a high enough oxygen saturation in the water. Remember your aerobic bacteria utilize a great deal of oxygen simply performing their functions of ridding your tank of ammonia and nitrate. You may see the surface of the water moving but if there is not a good circulation down at lower levels the oxygenated water will remain near to the surface. If your tank has a tight fitting lid with very little open space at the surface this will also cause a lot less oxygen to enter your tank no matter how much circulation you have. There is only a 2-3 ppm difference in oxygen concentration between a healthy tank and a tank that will not support life very long. There would be no harm done to your tank if you were to add a powerhead down at a lower level and lowering your temperature may help as well. The heater failing during cycling would not have an ill effect on your fish you put in there now. I really can not find any other explanations except for the ones I have pointed out to you thus far. If all of your levels are testing good and you have tried different sources of fish from different stores and there is no way a chemical could have entered your tank then I am out of other explanations. There is either something wrong with the fish you are buying or there is something wrong with your tank. Since chances are it is not the fish since they were all alive when you bought them then I would have to guess that there is something going on inside your tank that either you have not tested for yet or can not test for. What about the water supply you are using for making up saltwater or topping off? Could this be part of the problem? From the behavior of your fish I would say that it has to be one of the problems I pointed out in my last answer. The hard part is figuring out which one of these is the culprit.