Clownfish stopped eating, breathes fast, + lethargic. No physical ailments

[SonRK]

Hey guys

I made a topic about the stringy white poo clownfish. I mentioned the other one was being weird....but now he's giving me real heartache since I can see he is clearly distressed.


I bought these fish 2nd week of May, and QTed them for 4 weeks. I put them in on June 12th, and they were super fine. Active, being fatties, etc.

Well recently, I noticed one had stringy poo, and now the other has become sick. He hangs out on the bottom of the tank, seems to be breathing hard, and doesn't want to eat anymore.

Since one has the poo, I wanted to treat with PraziPro, but lethargy + breathing + no appetite can also mean Brooklynella, right? No weird slime / white goo on my fish that I can tell. I uploaded videos so you can see the fast breather.


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7nxQ_4AY3C0&feature=youtu.be (the one that ends up hanging far right at the end of video)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Fs1hkG9ADRw&feature=youtu.be (in this video, he moves quickly to the bottom of the other fish and can be seen breathing heavily...he eventually makes his way up higher towards the end of the video)


He doesn't look slimy, and doesn't have dots. Nothing seems red/inflamed or anything. He just ..... lies there all day with minimal movement and no eating. Doesn't seem to be flashing/scratching himself on rocks

As for new additions to the tank. I added a hammer head coral frag about 1.5 weeks ago, and added a total of 4 frags 2.5 weeks ago or so. So no other livestock besides these frags.

If you guys recommend me treating with Formaldehyde (Brook) , where can I obtain it? Tomorrow is July 4th, so I know some stores will be closed.

Could they have been sick and are just now finally succumbing to their sicknesses? They were so active and would harass me for food by coming near the top when I stopped by. I guess the only other change was switching to primary pellets as their main food, and they would gulp at the top of the surface and get air and would cause/expel bubbles. Perhaps it's bloated with gas or something?

 

[snorvich]

It would be greatly helpful if you were closer and if the lighting were not so dark. Not enough resolution for me to see anything definitive. When you quarantined them what was your process? Did the corals you added come from a system or tank that contained fish?

 

[SonRK]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Fkqpeqi5TOE&feature=youtu.be

Try to set it to 720/1080p for the highest resolution? This is the best I can do with the tank lighting and being right next to them without scaring them off.

The corals were added from a coral frag system, that had fish in...I guess for aesthetic purposes? So it's really a fish system. I bought my frags from: Manhattan Aquariums


-edit- He usually is more towards the bottom and less active. I guess the lights + phone kind of made him wary.

 

[snorvich]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Fkqpeqi5TOE&feature=youtu.be

Try to set it to 720/1080p for the highest resolution? This is the best I can do with the tank lighting and being right next to them without scaring them off.

The corals were added from a coral frag system, that had fish in...I guess for aesthetic purposes? So it's really a fish system. I bought my frags from: Manhattan Aquariums


-edit- He usually is more towards the bottom and less active. I guess the lights + phone kind of made him wary.

I do not see brook in the video provided. Anything wet coming from a system that contains fish should be quarantined.

 

[SonRK]

Yea...he hasn't changed fromt he video and it's been 24 hours now.

Still same symptoms. Not eating, mostly staying there, rapid breathing. No white dots, no weird slime coat increase, etc.

I'm worried he will just starve to death period. I soaked his food in Selcon (since it's so smelly) but he doesn't want to eat. Should I try soaking it in garlic?

 

[snorvich]

Yea...he hasn't changed fromt he video and it's been 24 hours now.

Still same symptoms. Not eating, mostly staying there, rapid breathing. No white dots, no weird slime coat increase, etc.

I'm worried he will just starve to death period. I soaked his food in Selcon (since it's so smelly) but he doesn't want to eat. Should I try soaking it in garlic?

What are you feeding?

 

[SonRK]

What are you feeding?

I have 4 options:

PE Mysis
Rod's Food
NLS Thera A
New Era Flakes

They tend to prefer the Frozen Food, but the sickly ones been pretty anorexic these past 2 days

 

[SonRK]

Hey all,

I'm still at a loss of how to proceed. Could it be Velvet instead?

http://www.ultimatereef.net/forums/showthread.php?t=641327

I found this topic, and my sickly clownfish is definitely darker than the other one, but obviously could just be a normal coloration issue.

This is now the second day since I put PraziPro in and as I mentioned, no improvement.

I did see the sick fish have a little stuck poo near his butt. I guess it's eating something? Still refusing the food I put in the tank, while the other one gobbles it up.

Obviously treating with formaldehyde 37 or copper if it's not brook or velvet isn't safe for the fish and I might kill it giving it those medications. Something is obviously troubling it though, and the lack of anything on its skin is really making this hard to diagnose.

 

[Deinonych]

I don't see anything in the video that indicates disease. It's possible he could be constipated. One of my clownfish acted that way last year; wouldn't eat, breathing rapidly, stayed toward the bottom of the tank. A few days later, he passed a HUGE stool. From then on, he was perfectly fine.

 

[snorvich]

I don't see anything in the video that indicates disease.

Likewise. Visually or behaviorally.

 

[SonRK]

Hey guys, update time (if you could call it that)


http://i.imgur.com/9011oEg.jpg

The lazy non-eating clownfish on the right side.


I did a 50% water change and re-dosed PraziPro. There have been no improvements in his activity levels or appetite for a week now. Is it possible it's not a disease/sickness? The other one is still really active and healthy, so it hasn't contracted a diseased yet.

Is it possible it ate a piece of rock by accident and is just going to slowly starve? Should I put it back in my QT or something? Such a weird scenario :|

 

[SonRK]

:uhoh3: :uhoh3:


So today, my sick clownfish showed more signs of activity (actually swam out of his little area) and actually ATE!

I feed twice a day, and he got food both sessions. This is mind blowing. I guess it finally got hungry, or whatever bothered him went away?

This was also my 2nd PraziPro application, so maybe he had some angry parasite that was finally killed? Should I do a 3rd application on the 5th day?