clown constipation

aquadonkey

aquadonkey

New member
Okay.... I really am sorry about this....

My little male clown (I have a pair of juvi occ. clowns - about an inch long each) has literally been try to poop all day today (was trying to poop yesterday too) - so pooh half way out....

I'm guessing I've been over-feeding the past few days - judging from the amount of pooh I've seen from corals and fish alike. So I think I'll take today off of feeding.

On close examination, the clown's little belly looks really full. I want to say distended, but it actually looks full of food - noticeably different than the female clown.

Anyone?

My course of action for now is the usual - wait and see......
 
stringy poo with clownfish is usually a sign of parasites or something similar. prazi pro can help cure them... but waiting to see is not a bad idea, it may not be a big deal.
 
I feed frozen 50/50 - a mix of blood worms, brine, and mysis.
I'm started to be more worried about this - the pooh isn't stringy, it's just not coming out. His little belly looks like he swallowed a small pea, and there's a little piece of clear-ish pooh seeming to block the rest from coming out.
It makes me want to reach in and give him a little squeeze - which I'm NOT planning on doing, btw....
 
not a good sign. i've got a almost full bottle of prazi-pro. i'm going to swap ,lmk. qt tanks are your friend. clowns are extra sleezy ,i'd treat sooner than later.
 
um... I'm not quite sure what you mean by sleezy? But I gather you think the clown has a parasite?
What are some symptoms?
Right now the pooh is gone - the little guy is still looking pretty full though.
I've learned my lesson about moving everyone into QT before I was sure of a problem - it was extremely stressful for the fish and they were barely even sick.
Does everyone need to go in your opinion? Or just the one clown?
 
That's all I feed - small quantities twice a day, plus coral frenzy 2x a week to the corals. I've been thinking about varying the feeding more - what would you suggest? And do you think this clown is actually sick?
 
Okay - here's what's on the package:
H2O Life
50/50 Plus
Brine shrimp/bloodworms plus mysis for added nutrition
frozen aquarium food
phytoplankton - enriched for coloration and complete nutrition
 
aquadonkey said:
That's all I feed - small quantities twice a day, plus coral frenzy 2x a week to the corals. I've been thinking about varying the feeding more - what would you suggest? And do you think this clown is actually sick?
Click to expand...
I don't believe anyone can say for sure if your clown is sick based solely on this thread. I've seen super obese healthy ocellaris before. (Anyone remember drtango's?) I do believe you can improve your clown's diet by switching out what you feed him. (Diet might be related to the problem here.)

I would not feed blood worms at all unless you're target feeding a specific organism with them. Ditto with brine shrimp.

HUFA enriched mysids are a great food to feed occasionally, IMO. Step up the HUFA enriched mysid feedings in order to get clownfish to spawn ;)

I would feed ocellaris clowns: Cyclopeeze, Spectrum pellets, and (perhaps) some Rod's Food. Ocean Nutrition makes some great flake foods. Nori is oaky, too.

This species isn't fussy.
They'll eat until they explode. (J/K)

Don't feed them too much.
 
clowns are the backbone of marine fish industry. most lfs and breeders pay the bills by selling nemo. they are prone to many parasites and illnesses. more often than not ,cheaper is better. the majority of these fish are pumped out as cheaply as possible. qt is something many people choose not to do. the dump and pray method is popular for many reasons. i choose to qt even though it takes more effort. i qt 90% of anything i get before it enters my display tank. i think the damage is done. the fish most likely has a parasite. i'd either cut my losses and cull,or keep up water quality and pray.
 
block head said:
clowns are the backbone of marine fish industry. most lfs and breeders pay the bills by selling nemo. they are prone to many parasites and illnesses. more often than not ,cheaper is better. the majority of these fish are pumped out as cheaply as possible. qt is something many people choose not to do. the dump and pray method is popular for many reasons. i choose to qt even though it takes more effort. i qt 90% of anything i get before it enters my display tank. i think the damage is done. the fish most likely has a parasite. i'd either cut my losses and cull,or keep up water quality and pray.
Click to expand...

I feel like this is pretty harsh - just get rid of the fish??
I think I'll wait - he's hopefully just over-eaten for the past couple days.
One of the reasons I chose to get clowns was because they are tank-bred and supposed to be very hardy! Is this incorrect?
Both clowns were treated with the full 10-day regiment of herbtana (reef-safe medication against parasites) when I got them 2 months ago.
 
I wouldn't worry. Just switch to a good marine staple pellet food (Spectrum, like Gary mentioned, is fantastic) and supplement with PE mysis and Cyclopeeze.

Brine shrimp is like potato chips. Spirulina enhancement makes it a bit better, but there's too many better choices out there when it comes to fish food.

Edit: I wouldn't bother with the Herbtana. QT is a much better option in the future, if you're able to.

Just keep excellent water quality and feed good foods. :)
 
aquadonkey said:
I feel like this is pretty harsh - just get rid of the fish??
I think I'll wait - he's hopefully just over-eaten for the past couple days.
One of the reasons I chose to get clowns was because they are tank-bred and supposed to be very hardy! Is this incorrect?
Both clowns were treated with the full 10-day regiment of herbtana (reef-safe medication against parasites) when I got them 2 months ago.
Click to expand...

it is rough,that's why i qt. anytime u put something in your tank u really don't know what your subjecting your tank to. your basically playing russian roulette. u might get lucky 100 times in row. play it enough ,and your going to get bit. i really don't know what will happen. my guess is that it will end badly for the clown. worse case scenerio ,the whole tank goes with it. it could easily end up being nothing to worry about. the best advice i can give, take things slow. ask lots of questions before you buy
 
Liz, try the Rod's food if you haven't already...heck, i'll even break off a chub for ya to you can take it for a test drive. My tang had pooping issues until I switched to this stuff. I wouldn't give up on the fish yet...it is true, however, that you can never be quite sure...and everything we put in our tanks runs the risk of disturbing what is already in there in one way or another...but i just don't think this is the case here...I know you are careful and you spend a lot of time asking questions...just keep an eye on him.
 
Good news - the little guy is looking much better today!!
He finally got it all out..... poor little guy.
I entered all the food suggestions into my cell phone my fish will be getting a more balanced diet starting tonight :) :)
 
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