clownfish is breathing faster than normal

[Chad Vossen]

i bought 2 clownfish. false percs. the male doesnt court the female anymore and instead just hangs around in one spot. i compaired their breathing and the male is breathing faster than the female and the female is the one thats zooming from one end of the tank to the other thinking im about to feed her.

i have heard that ick might cause this, the parasite is on the gills? but i cant confirm this unless i see the ick on the skin or fins.

i have a 2 gallon tank sitting around i could treat him in. i dont want to use my quarentine tank because i plan to put corals and inverts in there as well.

im assuming any treatment would be copper based. thats why i wouldnt use my quarentine.

i gota go. please reply with possible solutions. ill check back after school.

 

[kevin2000]

Rapid breathing can mean a number of things. One of the common reasons for rapid breathing are damaged gills .. often due to exposure to ammonia (water quality) and sometimes due to parasite problems (ich,amylo,brooklynella) -- and of course rapid breathing may be due to simple stress.

Not enough info to diagnose your problem --- as problem progresses repost .. picture would also help.

 

[Chad Vossen]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=6807740#post6807740 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by kevin2000
Rapid breathing can mean a number of things. One of the common reasons for rapid breathing are damaged gills .. often due to exposure to ammonia (water quality) and sometimes due to parasite problems (ich,amylo,brooklynella) -- and of course rapid breathing may be due to simple stress.

Not enough info to diagnose your problem --- as problem progresses repost .. picture would also help.

if its damage from ammonia, it should recover? but my fire fish and other clown are unharmed. im not sure if this is the problem.

if it is the parasite problem, how should i treat it? i have a 2 gallon tank i could dip him with any medications. i dont want to use any copper medication in my quarantine tank because i also plan to quarantine inverts in there as well as fish.

some good news, he is going after food, showing interest but when he gets it in his mouth, he spits it out and shows no more interest in food. im gona get a batch of brine shrimp going to see if he just wants live food.

 

[kevin2000]

If the damage is due to ammonia then the prognosis depends on the severity of the damage.

As far as parasite treatment .. depends on what type of parasite. If you were dealing with ich then my first choice would be to Qt all fish and treat with hyposalinity .. leaving the tank without fish for about 5-6 weeks would kill any ich within the ST. If the fish has amylo then I would qt both fish and treat with copper ... if the fish has brooklynella then the preferred treatment would include a series of formalin dips. In short ... no magic bullet that covers all scenarios which is why I suggest you closely monitor and see if you can distinguish which type of problem you may have.

As far as your concerned about using copper in a QT tank ... that's what a QT tank is for and you can pick up a ten gallon tank for about $10 at any Petco/Petsmart. Also ... when using a QT as a hospital tank its generally a good idea to go barebottom without LR ... in that type of stetup the chances of std copper treatment tainted the QT forever would be significantly less.

Hope this helps.

 

[Chad Vossen]

the clownfish in question has his gills flared out alittle. thats the only physical issue i can see. otherwise he would pass for a perfectly healthy fish. its his behavior and breathing thats bothering me.