Could someone confirm or deny my fears please?

[Cobrasvt1999]

Hello all!

So I just got two new little clowns to start my new tank with. I brought them straight back from the store and after temperature acclimating them and making sure the salinity was a perfect match to the water they had in store, I put them into my quarantine tank.

Within an hour or two, one of them was up and about swimming around and exploring, the second one however has me concerned. He found a hiding spot behind a pvc T and is now laying on his side and breathing very rapidly. This is freshly mixed water using reef crystals and RODI water.

Could he just need some time to adjust, or should I be concerned that he will die on me... rather frustrating :headwalls:

 

[christopherjudd]

is the qt tank fully cycled?

 

[SoloGarth]

Just give him time. I treat all new fish somewhat harshly as they get TT treatment as soon as they are brought home. I've rarely lost any. It is better to lose them in QT than expose them to a bit less stress but endanger the whole tank.

 

[SoloGarth]

is the qt tank fully cycled?

It is not necessary nor practical to cycle a QT tank in many cases. Better to do water changes and use an ammonia detoxifier. In addition if he just added the fish this will not be a factor.

 

[Cobrasvt1999]

is the qt tank fully cycled?

No, This is because I am putting them through the tank transfer method to deal with any possible ich. I have however tested for ammonia even though they have only been in there for about 2 hrs and have gotten 0 ppm. I also have some ammonia neutralizer on hand incase it gets bad (but i dont expect it to for such small fish before they get in another tank.)

That said, the qt tank they will be in for the rest of the month after the TTM will have some cycled filter floss in it from the main tank (which is cycled)

 

[Cobrasvt1999]

Just give him time. I treat all new fish somewhat harshly as they get TT treatment as soon as they are brought home. I've rarely lost any. It is better to lose them in QT than expose them to a bit less stress but endanger the whole tank.

I agree that its better to loose em here. Thats why these two are here even though they are my first fish... That said, because they are my first fish, I feel like I have to tie my hands to prevent myself from trying to do something when he looks near death.... :sad2:

 

[SoloGarth]

No, This is because I am putting them through the tank transfer method to deal with any possible ich. I have however tested for ammonia even though they have only been in there for about 2 hrs and have gotten 0 ppm. I also have some ammonia neutralizer on hand incase it gets bad (but i dont expect it to for such small fish before they get in another tank.)



That said, the qt tank they will be in for the rest of the month after the TTM will have some cycled filter floss in it from the main tank (which is cycled)

You are doing things correctly. Just carry on. Hopefully the clown will be alright. It is safe to assume any fish from a LFS may be diseased. Sometimes the stress from being moved is enough to overcome them. This is why picking healthy looking fish that are eating is important.

 

[SoloGarth]

Could someone confirm or deny my fears please?

I agree that its better to loose em here. Thats why these two are here even though they are my first fish... That said, because they are my first fish, I feel like I have to tie my hands to prevent myself from trying to do something when he looks near death.... :sad2:

Unfortunately there isn't likely much you can do. Better to just leave them be than stress them further.

One thing to mention though:
When doing TTM I find it is easier on the fish to take water out of a cycled tank for each transfer rather than use freshly mixed SW. I just do water changes and use the discarded water for each successive tank transfer.

 

[Cobrasvt1999]

You are doing things correctly. Just carry on. Hopefully the clown will be alright. It is safe to assume any fish from a LFS may be diseased. Sometimes the stress from being moved is enough to overcome them. This is why picking healthy looking fish that are eating is important.

Unfortunately there isn't likely much you can do. Better to just leave them be than stress them further.

One thing to mention though:
When doing TTM I find it is easier on the fish to take water out of a cycled tank for each transfer rather than use freshly mixed SW. I just do water changes and use the discarded water for each successive tank transfer.

Ill just leave him be and hope for the best then....
They all looked healthy when I saw them in the store, and the store attendant is a friend of mine who I trust. He told me they were eating earlier that day before I got them.... We will see I suppose.

 

[Coelli]

Just wanted to say I know how you feel. I lost two tiny baby clowns in QT and was just heartbroken. It was a couple of months before I decided to try again and that pair has been happy and healthy for 9 months now. In fact they're being obnoxious teenagers. If your clown doesn't make it try not to take it too hard. Unfortunately sometimes even though we try our best, we lose something.

 

[SoloGarth]

If you have a small powerhead I would use that rather than the air stone. Better gas transfer.

 

[Cobrasvt1999]

If you have a small powerhead I would use that rather than the air stone. Better gas transfer.

You would use it even with the TTM? I understood them to be harder to dry completely and make sure no ich made it?

 

[SpSChief85]

Is the clown that you believe is acting stressed eating? Sometimes in my experience a clown in a new tank that is bb will lay on its side in the spot it feels comfortable in... I've had several do it, if he is eating I wouldn't be too worried and you are doing things right.

 

[Cobrasvt1999]

Is the clown that you believe is acting stressed eating? Sometimes in my experience a clown in a new tank that is bb will lay on its side in the spot it feels comfortable in... I've had several do it, if he is eating I wouldn't be too worried and you are doing things right.

I haven't attempted feeding yet. I was planning on trying that in the morning. So otherwise, he is too new for me to tell

That said, what worrys me more is the extremely rapid breathing...

 

[SpSChief85]

I haven't attempted feeding yet. I was planning on trying that in the morning. So otherwise, he is too new for me to tell

That said, what worrys me more is the extremely rapid breathing...

In my experience clowns are extremely hardy within reason, I would be suprise if he doesn't make it, don't be afraid once you start feeding to use the ammonia detoxifier.

 

[toothybugs]

You would use it even with the TTM? I understood them to be harder to dry completely and make sure no ich made it?

Run it in a strong-ish bleach solution for 10 minutes to sterilize it. Rinse in fresh water, discard fresh water, re-rinse in fresh water with a touch of Prime or H2O2 to neutralize any remaining bleach. Done, and any diseases are killed off.

 

[shermanator]

I would have suggested a formalin dip prior to tank transfer.

The problem is that many LFSs run sub-therapeutic levels of copper to mask disease while they are in the store. Once they get into QT, viola, the disease emerges (e.g., brook). I always bring a vial and ask for the LFS water when I buy a fish locally (which is becoming less and less). And essentially all the stores around me are running low copper in their fish systems. Thus, with clowns, I assume they all have brook and do the formalin dip prior to TTM. Buying from a LFS that has the clowns in with coral can be safer (obviously not running 0.1-.2 ppm Cu with coral), but still obviously need to QT.

(I get a vial of water so I can test it prior to opening the bagged fish -- I have also seen people use syringes to get water from the bag and reseal while testing, but the vial is easier).

Most of my purchases these days are from Diver's Den. I still do a full QT (I got an assessor that developed ich in QT), but it's going to be very rare to see a fish come from DD with brook, etc.

 

[SoloGarth]

You would use it even with the TTM? I understood them to be harder to dry completely and make sure no ich made it?

Yes. I just have two sets of everything for TT. I rinse the bucket, heater and powerhead with FW then let it dry out.

 

[Kactai]

Now I'm still pretty new but you did mention that it was freshly mixed salt water and I've read that any undissolved salts can damage fish gills. I was told to mix salt 24-48 hrs prior to water changes. This is however speculation... Just thought I would mention it. I'm still doing all the research myself and I'm always learning!

Good luck with the clown! I know how it feels I lost my smaller clown a few weeks ago (still a mystery)

 

[SoloGarth]

Now I'm still pretty new but you did mention that it was freshly mixed salt water and I've read that any undissolved salts can damage fish gills. I was told to mix salt 24-48 hrs prior to water changes. This is however speculation... Just thought I would mention it. I'm still doing all the research myself and I'm always learning!

Good luck with the clown! I know how it feels I lost my smaller clown a few weeks ago (still a mystery)

Yes this is exactly why I recommend doing a water change on the display and using the waste water to fill the TT bucket for each transfer. Not necessary but minimizing stress on the fish as much as possible is important during this process.