Ocellaris lethargic, breathing heavy.

[riecraig]

Hey everyone.
I posted this in the reef discussion forum without seeing this one first.

I have a pair of ocellaris clowns that have been in QT for roughly 4 weeks now.

The QT setup is a 55 gal with a HOB filter, maxijet 1200 and a pre seeded porous ceramic block.

I've had the pair, whom I believe to be a male/female pair, at 1.008 for the entire 4 weeks. Both were eating great until this afternoon when I noticed the male was laying on the bottom, breathing heavy. I threw in a bit of mysis, which he refused. The female is currently acting normal.

Two tests show ammonia and nitrite at 0. Nitrates are 10 ppm. Salinity is 1.008 and held there by an ATO.

Anyone have any idea what I'm dealing with? Brook?

 

[MarinaP]

1.008 is an absolute low that clowns will tolerate. There is no margin for error. Bring SG up a bit to 1.009-1.010. I would guess SG went below 1.008 and it is very stressful to the fish.

 

[WaffleWalffle22]

I've had this happen to different clowns in different pairs of mine for different reasons. One time it randomly happened. I guess it's just like a human getting the flu, however it was with a clown. It made no sense. She was laying on the bottom in pain for a day, not moving or eating, and I was considering putting her out of the misery. At the time, she was carrying eggs, so it just made matters worse. It could be like that. Another one of my clowns, also a female, but from my Picasso pair, has internal parasites and so does her mate. Ever so often, one will become bloated, lethargic and will lose their appetite. Is your clown bloated? It could be a sign of an internal parasite.

1.008 is an absolute low that clowns will tolerate. There is no margin for error. Bring SG up a bit to 1.009-1.010. I would guess SG went below 1.008 and it is very stressful to the fish.

+1

If the salinity is that low, that's more than likely the cause. However, the fish can live through it. There was a test done by some dude (heard about this on another reef forum) where the guy acclimated clowns to freshwater and guppies to saltwater. They were actually selling them as freshwater clownfish. I assume you didn't acclimate them over a period of weeks though, so they are probably taking the hit harder.

Just my two cents. Good luck!

 

[riecraig]

Thanks guys.
I bumped the salinity up to 1.009 this morning to see if that helps him.
I'm also considering a buffered freshwater dip to see if that helps.

 

[jbax]

with Hyposalinity you got to watch the oxygenation. if your at 4 weeks it's prolly time to bring it up.




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