Help, Oc clownfish won't eat & is stationary

[sjs07]

My oc clownfish hasn't ate in 2 days and is staying either down low in the corner or up high in the corner of the tank. It also is becoming darker in color all over. Fins look ok, breathing seems normal. Has been in tank for almost 2 weeks, the other clown I bought at the same time is doing fine.

PH: 8.2
Amm: 0
Nitrite: 0
SG: 1.022

New to the hobby, thanks for any help!

 

[Cymonous]

You should get your salinity up a little. I would recommend to at least 1.024, 1.026 with corals. I would do this slowly of .001 every 24 hours.

Also, how is your gas exchange? Do you have a sump/skimmer? Powerhead pointing slightly up for water movement at the waterline of DT?

 

[asharerin]

Before he stopped eating did you by any chance get to see what his poop looked like? Was it white and stringy that would hang on for a while or was it short and expelled right away? Can you observe the poop of the second clown that is still eating (he should poop a few mins after eating) - if it is a parasite indicated by the long stringy poop then the second one will have it as well and will be a good clue as is to what is going on.

The fact that he has stopped eating and becoming darker is telling me it certainly has some issues and its slime coat is becoming compromised. You have to do your best to get him eating. I would try soaking the food in garlic and if you are feeding pellets go the 0.5mm small size. There is not a whole lot else you can do....putting him in a QT and randomy trying different meds will stress it out and do far more harm than good. Keeping the water as stable as possible and getting him to eat is his best chance for right now until you can narrow down what exactly is going on.

 

[sjs07]

Thank you for your feedback, I will work on salinity. I have the CPR Bak-Pak 2 Protein Skimmer Bio-Filter w/ Accela Pump in a standard 29 gal tank.

The poop is stringy white & hangs on awhile on both clowns. I just got some Kent garlic xtreme and put 3 drops in the water (they stated 1 drop per 10 gal). I have my frozen foods soaking in the garlic & also Kent's Zoecon & Zoe.

 

[asharerin]

The white stringy poop, lack of eating and lethargic behaviour is pointing to a possible internal parasite IMO. If you are going to change salinity then you will want to lower it, not raise it if your goal is to help your fish....but the best coarse of action for now would be to keep it stable. Hopefully the garlic will entice your fish to eat and if it does it should be able to beat the bug on its own. If it does not eat after a few more days then it may be time to try meds....you may at that time want to try prazipro and hope your parasite is one it treats. Just be warned prazipro will lower the oxygen level in your tank so make sure you have very good surface agitation and circulation to compensate. Also have carbon on hand in case you need to remove the med ASAP.

 

[sjs07]

Thank you for your help! Guess I'll keep my fingers crossed that it starts eating soon & take it from there. It didn't eat tonight, but looked a bit interested. Thanks again