Help! Whats wrong with my new clown?

M

moneymm

Member
I just got my first fish wed night (5 full days ago). I got a tiny orange occ, clownfish and a black and white larger one

The Black and white one has yet to eat, he just completely ignores the food.

he spends 99% of the time with his mouth 1/2" from the surface. he is rapidly breathing. here check it out... https://www.dropbox.com/s/hkngdd0ieus0tkv/IMG_9282.MOV?dl=0

I didnt see these symptons until day 2 or day 3, and its gotten progressively worse.

The little orange guy seems to be doing fine, he started to eat on day 2 or 3, and swims around, breathes normal, etc.

I am doing the TTM, and did the first switch sunday morning.

Is this brooklynella? or if it was, would he have died already?

I treated the tank yesterday with prazi pro. what is wrong with him? and what can i do? thanks !!
 
all levels good, as i just transfered them to this tank yesterday, 0 ammonia, nitrates and nitrites, ph 8.2, salinity 1.02 (gradually rising day by day). temp 77-78, i have a air stone and sponge filter bubbler going as well to give the tank as much oxygen as possible as he clearly cant get enough.
 
moneymm said:
all levels good, as i just transfered them to this tank yesterday, 0 ammonia, nitrates and nitrites, ph 8.2, salinity 1.02 (gradually rising day by day). temp 77-78, i have a air stone and sponge filter bubbler going as well to give the tank as much oxygen as possible as he clearly cant get enough.
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How long did you cycle the tank for? Have you tried other foods like mysis or brine?
 
Reeferplax said:
How long did you cycle the tank for? Have you tried other foods like mysis or brine?
Click to expand...

Im doing the tank transfer method, so its new saltwater, (actually im using live nutri-seawater). so its not cycled.

alot of people do it with no filter at all since the fish are only in there for 3 days, i added the filter today for extra bubbles.

i cant use any shrimp as im highly allergic to shrimp and clams. even the pellets i am using are giving me some issues.
 
Do you have a quarantine? If he is sick you don't want it going to your other fish. That said, I had a similar issue with a black and white clown and it resolved itself after I got salinity up to 1.024 and increased the temp from 72-78. Also make sure the food you're feeding is small enough for him to eat. You could also try holding the food in front of him to see if he eats then. Worst case some pet stores offer a guarantee on saltwater fish. I know my local jacks guarantees for 7 days after purchase so you may be able to take him back and say he's sick.
 
moneymm said:
Im doing the tank transfer method, so its new saltwater, (actually im using live nutri-seawater). so its not cycled.

alot of people do it with no filter at all since the fish are only in there for 3 days, i added the filter today for extra bubbles.

i cant use any shrimp as im highly allergic to shrimp and clams. even the pellets i am using are giving me some issues.
Click to expand...

He may just be stressed, wait a few days to see if it gets better. I would definitely try to feed other food to see if he is interested in that. What brand of pellets are you feeding now?
 
With the fish being so close to the top makes me think O2. Do you have an airstone for the tank transfer tank.

Edit I see you got an air stone.
 
Hmm, the heavy breathing and swimming at the top doesn't sound good, but it does seem like you're doing everything right. I like to use a small powerhead in my QT tanks (I have 2 for TT) because I've found that many fish won't eat unless the food is really moving about, and the added oxygen is nice. All this stuff costs money in the beginning, but ends up getting enough use to make it worthwhile, at least in my experience.

While I'm not sure that eating the this biggest problem this clown has, how about trying ROE/ova? I've been using the refrigerated ROE and my clowns can't resist it... and frozen ova is good too. I have had problems getting my fish to take pellets -- now they all do, but not unless they're mixed with other food, which doesn't make it nearly that convenient. Your shellfish allergy sounds scary, and fish eggs are one of the few fresh/frozen foods I can think of that you should be okay with.
 
When i first got my clowns they ignored food for 3-4 days but now they want to eat anything i stick in the tank. I think maybe they just need time.
 
I tried frozen squid today, as well as flakes. still nothing..

i tried a freshwater dip, but that was a nightmare, after being lifeless (which is normal) for about 25 seconds, he came to life and went nuts, it was awful, so i took him out after 5 seconds of that, and back in the QT, the first 5 minutes in, he looked like he was done, one flap every 2 seconds, breathing heavily and completely vertical. i thought he was gone for sure, but then i moved the airstone by him, and he snapped out of it (for the time being atleast). now he is back to the way he was. I will try an array of food again later and see what happens.
 
i thought he was doing good, actually was swimming in the middle of the tank, but still seemed to be breathing heavy.

I had the lights out for the night, but had to go on my pc for work and i turned on the lights and thats when i saw he lost a ton of color, her went from black and white to gray and white.
 
If you could get someone to do it, I would hatch brine shrimp and try to feed that. A lot of clowns tend to swim close to the surface. Also, it is normal for fish to get darker or have their colors fade at night. My blenny turns dark brown when I turn my lights off.
 
Reeferplax said:
If you could get someone to do it, I would hatch brine shrimp and try to feed that. A lot of clowns tend to swim close to the surface. Also, it is normal for fish to get darker or have their colors fade at night. My blenny turns dark brown when I turn my lights off.
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thanks, he seems to have gotten most of the color back.

i could buy brine shrimp at the LFS, however i cant use shrimp or clams as i am very allergic. i tried frozen squid yesterday. will try everything again today.
 
The symptom says not enough oxygen, but if the other fish is breathing normally, it may be a problem in the new fish's gills, possibly ich, but possibly gill flukes---but the Prazipro should have gotten flukes. Is this the larger of two fish? If so, it may not be getting enough oxygen. They were treated the same? The other possibility is ammonia damage. It is puzzling that it's only one. Your shrimp allergy would be alleviated if you wore exam gloves (your pharmacy) when dealing with same, unless you also react to the ammonia. Since tiny mysis shrimp frequently 'bloom' in our tanks, you may have problems just with the water, and having gloves may help.
 
Sk8r said:
The symptom says not enough oxygen, but if the other fish is breathing normally, it may be a problem in the new fish's gills, possibly ich, but possibly gill flukes---but the Prazipro should have gotten flukes. Is this the larger of two fish? If so, it may not be getting enough oxygen. They were treated the same? The other possibility is ammonia damage. It is puzzling that it's only one. Your shrimp allergy would be alleviated if you wore exam gloves (your pharmacy) when dealing with same, unless you also react to the ammonia. Since tiny mysis shrimp frequently 'bloom' in our tanks, you may have problems just with the water, and having gloves may help.
Click to expand...

The other fish is smaller and breathing fine. And eating fine. I have an air stone going full blast at all times. I did prazi pro one time last week but now they are in a new tank as of yesterday morning..Since I'm doing the TTM. I didn't want to dose them again bc I read it can suppress appetite and he hasn't eaten in 8 days now. Yes treated the same. Did a long drip acclimation.. ( maybe too long ??) like 90 min. I don't know what to do. Try another freshwater dip, prazi , or I'm leaning towards nothing and just hope he gets better on his own.
 
Were they in separate bags? Were they shipped?

If shipped, if in separate bags, I fear ammonia poisoning. Acclimation is kind of old-fashioned, and generally should not exceed 30 minutes. Best procedure is to phone the shipper, ask the salinity, prepare your qt to THAT salinity and doublecheck the bag water with a refractometer the moment you open it. Once you do open a bag, the ammonium a fish excretes into the water turns to lethal ammonia, and even a brief exposure to it is bad. If your salinities are equal within .002, put your new fish right on into the waiting qt, and now you've got 4 weeks with no danger of ammonia to bring that qt up to match your display tank.
 
Sk8r said:
Were they in separate bags? Were they shipped?

If shipped, if in separate bags, I fear ammonia poisoning. Acclimation is kind of old-fashioned, and generally should not exceed 30 minutes. Best procedure is to phone the shipper, ask the salinity, prepare your qt to THAT salinity and doublecheck the bag water with a refractometer the moment you open it. Once you do open a bag, the ammonium a fish excretes into the water turns to lethal ammonia, and even a brief exposure to it is bad. If your salinities are equal within .002, put your new fish right on into the waiting qt, and now you've got 4 weeks with no danger of ammonia to bring that qt up to match your display tank.
Click to expand...

Lfs. Seperate bags , but all the same water.. I matched the salinity, I should have just put them right in the tank, but I didn't know any better and did a long drip acclimation...
 
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