Clownfish Chilling on the Bottom of tank

[reret10]

Hey Everyone
I came home yesterday to find a clownfish in my 30 gallon mixed reef just chilling on the sediment. Ive had him in this tank for 2 or so years and he has never done this before. The only thing I have done is add an algae (lawnmower) Blenny. This is because A few weeks ago I saw substantial algae growth in my tank. After multiple testings my nitrates and ammonia levels came out to be zero so I figured it was maybe just because I stirred up the sediment moving some coral a few days before. Currently my nitrates and ammonia levels are zero and all my corals and my lawnmower blenny are doing fine. Any ideas of what the problem is? Did my blenny maybe give him paracites?

Thanks so Much
Ian

 

[rcmania]

I breed and raise clowns. A lot survive and I lose some. I may lose 4 out of 30. I do every other day water changes. My test come back perfect. There is nothing on my end that causes these deaths. So with that said, It just happens and they fall victims to the cycle of life as any other living thing.

 

[reret10]

Yeah Thats what I was thinking. That really sucks though

 

[Ztrain]

Yeah Thats what I was thinking. That really sucks though

Is the clown still alive? Mine chill on the bottom of the tank. I've got skype setup to auto answer from specific accounts. So I can call in and see my tank while I'm not home. So far I've noticed their behavior is totally different when I'm home vs not.

 

[reret10]

Yeah I was thinking about doing that and hooking up my Gopro as a webcam but I haven't had the time. He actually seems to be doing better but he has some scales that are bent outward which i didn't see yesterday. Maybe he scraped himself or something. He seems to be swimming, then drifting downward and sitting on the bottom for a few seconds and then swimming again which is better then yesterday.

 

[rcmania]

Maybe he will pull through. Just needs some time to heal.

 

[todddye]

If you see scales bent outward I would suggest that you need to investigate this more. If you recently added the blenny without QTing him, you may have introduced a disease or parasite. Is the clown breathing heavily or fast?

I recently had an outbreak of brooklynella and one of the affected clowns started off by acting lethargic at the bottom of the tank and then having small pieces of skin that looked rough or peeling. I was successful treating most of my fish, but early detection and treatment seem to be key.

 

[reret10]

He didn't make it through the night. I think he got the scale problems because he was sitting on the rocks and bumping into them. The blenny and all my coral seem to be doing great though.

 

[cakemanPA]

The timing would suggest that something came in with the Blenny. Did you QT the Blenny?

 

[reret10]

Yeah but only for about a week. I don't like to quarantine fish for to long since my QT tank is only ten gallons and doesn't have any algae or many hiding spots for the fish to chill in so it stresses them out.

 

[todddye]

This is just my opinion:

If you have other fish in the tank, I'd suggest you move them to your 10 gallon and start treating them. The marks you saw on the clownfish were not caused by him bumping into your rocks. Get some pieces of PVC pipe and nori for your blenny.

 

[reret10]

Ok will do Treat them with Copper? how long should I keep him in their?

 

[todddye]

I'm definitely not an expert on this subject, but have done a ton of research lately due to my brooklynella outbreak. The key to choosing the right medication is proper identification of the disease. Unless you have a picture of the clownfish, you'll need to choose a treatment that covers many different diseases. My vote in this case is not copper, but rather chloroquine phosphate. At first I thought I had velvet and treated with coppersafe. Once I realized it was brook through the advice of some great people here on RC, I treated using Formalin dips which were very hard on the fish and is what I attributed 2 deaths to fish that were not showing brook symptoms. I switched to Ick Shield powder which is a form of chloroquine phosphate that is produced by NLS. I'm almost to the 3 week mark and have not lost any more fish after switching.

I would see if you could get snorvich or humblefish to give you their advice as they are the experts on this subject.

 

[reret10]

Do you think I could wait out and see if see any symptoms in my blenny and treat that? I don't think I should just throw a bunch of meds into the quarantine tank and hope for the best. Dislodged scales and staying on the bottom are symptoms for many fish diseases. Any second opinions?

 

[todddye]

I agree, definitely need a second opinion.

Do you have any fish other than the blenny?

 

[reret10]

The Blenny is it so if I wait it won't do anything to bad. Could it be a parasite in the water column or just the fish? like would I have to put something in the tank before I get new fish or am I fine just to treat the blenny? Reef a palooza is coming up in a few days and its the only place around here that I can find neon gobys and I wouldn't mind picking one up

 

[Nautifishy]

Sorry to hear about your clownfish reret. Clownfish are very hardy specially the captive raised ones. I have noticed that when clowns are stressed they tend to breath fast, thats the first sign that there is something wrong with them, sometimes you don't notice because they are still active in the tank but they may not be eating. Once they stop swimming and stay in one spot for an extended period of time, there is usually no coming back. But there is hope. Clowns are survivors so if you act quick enough you can save them. As soon as you see a clown stressed remove it from your main tank and place in a hospital tank. Make sure there is a place for the fish to hide, like a piece of PVC as stated above and that the tank is not exposed to a lot of light. Also keep the water flow low so the fish can conserve energy. If you suspect the fish has parasites or which ever disease you suspect then treat accordingly. Most importantly soak what ever you feed the fish with a supplement booster like selcon which helps improve there immune system. Hope this can help in the future.

 

[reret10]

Thanks for the advice and I will do that if I ever have another incident. Actualy my clown did eat till the day he died. He would sit on the bottom and swim up as soon as I put food in the tank. The only issue is I never know how to diagnose what he has and what i should treat for. Any suggestions for future all around antiparacetics?

 

[Nautifishy]

I personally like to use Methylene Blue. It works great as a parasite treatment and prevention.Dipping new fish before you add them to your quarantine tank helps eliminate any parasites during the quarantine period.

 

[reret10]

Ok sounds good. And I should use methylene blue to treat the lawnmower blenny before I add anything new? I got a really good look at him today and he seems perfectly healthy although thats likely just on the outside. I have to run by the LFS tomorrow to pick up some more salt and getting a new clown would be cool since I only go to the LFS one a month or so. I guess I should wait since my blenny would be in the QT tank but its not like I have any other fish. Should I pick up some Methylene blue whilst I'm their?
Thanks