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To be perfectly honest, I have no real idea why this latest clown died but in no way attribute his death to Mike. In my experience (and as a sort of obvious) the shipping process on fish is very very stressful and many fish simply can't make it in the aquarium hobby, no matter how well you're able to care for them.
A good example of this is an absolutely gorgeous 12 inch naso tang I got for one of my store displays about 2 weeks ago. He had the beginnings of streamers and was about 3 inches fat, and was simply a perfect fish. I couldn't wait to see how my babying of him in a 215 gallon tank would result. However in a mere three days, he hadn't eaten. He then had a terrible bacterial infection beginning from the eyes of the tang and following him laterally. I tried a treatment with Melafix, was unaware that was I had was pond strength Melafix, and the fish died. This is after 100 gallons in water changes and a change in tanks. I blamed myself for this beautiful fish's death and estimated his age at some where around 4. But the fact remains, that I knew how to take care of him, provided him with the best environment I could, but this fish didn't want to live in captivity. It's fish like this that make this hobby a real challenge to stay in at times.
I guess the moral of my story is that Mike treated this clown like a king and took every precaution to ensure his survival. Even with a QT tank, inevitably fish will be lost, it's our job to put this loss at an absolute minimum.
Every fish I lose and I'm sure all of ya'll lose is a terrible experience. Let us learn from every death to help as many new fish brought in as we possibly can.
John
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