Help with clownfish!!!!!!!!!!!!

GrimReefer82

GrimReefer82

Roll Tide!!!
I bought 4 oc clowns the other day and put them in QT and one died yeasterday and another today. The symptoms start with loss of appetite then swimming in one spot and a white looking appearance to the fish. Within 24 hours of them starting to swim in one spot they die. IME this appears to affect only clownfish or maybe just mostly. I need help because the last 2 have started to show signs of loss of appetite.

Anybody have a clue what it is and how to treat it quickly?
 
It looks fungal but I don't think it is. You would think that if it were a fungus that it wouldn't kill them so quickly and that you would probably see the fungus before the symptoms. The other 2 look fine just not eating, but I know from past experience that they already have it and will be dead within a day or two if left untreated. I had the same thing happen a few months ago, I bought a clownfish and put it in qt and then a week later I bought another and added it to qt. The one died while the other looked fine and then suddenly died so I know that whatever it is it's contagious and deadly.
 
I didn't know what else to do so i treated the qt with chem-marin stop parasite. Hopefully it will head it off before the other kick the bucket.

I am still open for suggestions on how to treat this.

I need some formalin i think but no one here sells it. I need some other solution and a quick one.
 
There will be products that have formalin as an ingredient, but don't have it in the name. I am trying to remember what I picked up, my local PetsMart had them.

But, it sure does sound like Brook. I will see if I can find a thread that I had when my clowns came down with it.
 
Definitely sounds like Brook. Formalin is the preferred treatment method, but malachite green seems to help as well as Quinine Sulfate. National Fish Pharmaceuticals online sells all that stuff, though I don't know in what quantities
 
I think I am screwed....I treated the tank with stop parasite and went down to the store and picked up some garlic extreme. They are still not eating even with garlic soaked food.

From what I have read most clowns that get it die like 90% so I think it's kinda hopeless. Good thing I got 'em really cheap.

Good news is I got my clown tang to eat like a pig with the garlic extreme!
 
I would also suggest that if you lose these fish, that you break down your QT and wash every small piece of it (HOB filter pieces etc) really well with hot water and vinegar, rinse it well and leave everything out in the sun to dry completely before trying to restock the tank. You might also want to try buying fish from another source since it sounds like you may have been purchasing fish that were already sick.
 
If you can find this locally, its great stuff. I love this brand!

formailin.jpg


http://www.novalek.com/kordon/formalin/index.htm
 
Update: 2 of the clowns are still alive, one of them has alot of white slime around its right gill and eye but they seem to be a little better other than they have an erratic "jerk" every now and then. Not sure why. I am still feeding them with garlic soaked food and treating them with stop parasite, I am actually surprised they are still alive. No type of formaline solution is available around here, I have been trying to find some for 2 days. Anything else you guys can think of to reduce stress on them and help this along? I think I might lower the salinity a little maybe down to 1.020 over the next 24 hours...............right now its at 1.024.
 
Sounds like you bought wild caught specimens.

First off you should never buy 4 clownfish. A pair would be the best solution. Also tank bred clowns produced by Sustainable Aquatics, ORA or another reputable source is the only way to go with clowns. You could buy one medium size and one small and hope that they pair up. I recently added a very small SA Fancy into my 10 gallon with a 10 year old female and they paired up immediately.

Also was your QT cycled and plenty of hiding spots so the fish can feel safe? A common mistake is the second rate care that most QT tanks receive. They should be on par with you display or you are asking for more problems.

I think I would personally find another LFS as if they are selling wild caught specimens they are irresponsible and if they sold you four of them at once they are also irresponsible in my opinion. I would shop elsewhere. The best case you could hope for in buying four clowns is that the two weaker would be killed and the two remaining would pair up.

Other may disagree with what I say but I have had really great success over the years with clowns of all types.
 
You can keep 4 oc clowns in one tank at one time...its probably the only species of clownfish that you can do that with. Check out some of the breeder tanks that have 50-60 specimens in the same tank. I agree most clowns should never be put in more than a pair.

The QT is a 29 gallon tank with plenty of lr....water is almost identical to what i keep in the display.

You are right about them being wild caught tho....I found this out yesterday when I contacted their distributor. From what i have found wild caught specimens only have about a 5% survival rate while tank bred have about a 95% survival rate. However wild caught maroons, tomatos and cinnamons are perfectly fine and have a very good survival rate. I have a wild caught maroon clown in my 90 reef that has hosted a BTA since the first day.

So far I have been able to keep all clowns until the last few months....my favorite lfs suddenly stopped carrying SW and the only other one in town is the one I got the clowns from. I beleive that something isn't right with their tanks.....guess I will have to buy online or drive 60 miles from now on.
 
The breeders can keep 50-60 in a tank because they are still juvis. Once a pair forms of your 4, the odds are very good that you will end up with just that pair -- doesn't matter if the are O's, or another type of clown.
 
These were juvi's and very small......My intention was not to keep them in the same tank after QT anyways. 2 were supposed to go in my sons tank and the other in my wifes tank. I understand that you can't keep more than 2 clowns after they mature unless you have a very large tank and more than one anemone.
 
<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=15342649#post15342649 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by GrimReefer82
These were juvi's and very small......My intention was not to keep them in the same tank after QT anyways. 2 were supposed to go in my sons tank and the other in my wifes tank. I understand that you can't keep more than 2 clowns after they mature unless you have a very large tank and more than one anemone.
Click to expand...

you are still looking at 4 VS 200. The aggression if there is any is more condensed in your sitiuation. That being said if I were to keep all four in the same QT I would put a divider in the tank with 2 on each side.

I am not talking down or standing on a soapbox by any means I just see so many people having trouble with these fish and I could literally shoot the clowns I have with a shotgun and I would expect them to pull through. I have kept wildcaught and captive bred and have never found one to be any more difficult than the other. With captive raised specimens available it baffles my mind why anyone would buy wild caught. I would not tell them to bag them up unless I knew for sure that they were captive bred. It would be the first question I would ask when buying a clownfish besting the "are they eating and can I see them eat".

Have you checked ammonia levels in that QT?

I keep my QT going at all times. When there are no fish in it I add ammonia every day to keep the biological filter going and ready to handle a decent bioload at any given time.
 
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