So I bought my first pair of clownfish about 5 days ago and they paired very easily and immediately. 2 days later I noticed the smaller one was always by the flow outtake and would only swim vertically. I did a water change that day to make sure envy thing was good and while there was less water in the tank he seemed to be swimming fine. A day later and he is still doing the same vertical, awkward, swim and I noticed his pelvic fins are not out. The other clown is the female but gives the male no issues and let’s him do his thing. Please give me any helpful advice you might have, I really don’t want my first fish to die
Clownfish- Pelvic fins redacted, swimming awkwardly. Please help
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RobertTheNurse
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How old is the tank? What are the water parameters? And that fish looks like hes breathing heavy to me. In the tine being ill let others chime in.
Rob
My tank is very new at just a week old, I did add Fritz 9 to jump start the cycle however and both the other clown and my goby seem to be doing just fine
My test kit is a little difficult to read but the parameters are
Nitrite:0
Nitrate:0
Alkalinity:180-300
pH:8.1
The fish is definitely breathing hard, or was. In the evening now the pair seems to be hosting the corner of my tank near my wavemaker, breathing has slowed down from the video and he is swimming sideways against the back wall like they both have been when they sleep. His issue seems to get better throughout the day.
UPDATE: Day 5 of having the fish, he didnt eat today which is very concerning as the first time feeding them he ate more than his share. Found him today hidden behind my back rock work apparently stuck so i moved the rock to let him out. Still breathing hard and he appears to not know how to use his back fin as well as his lower fins.
RobertTheNurse
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A week old tank it too early (based on my experience) to add fish even with these "start up" stuff. I waited 6 weeks before I added snails lol. In any event. What test kit you using? I'd be interested in what the ammonia is.
The test kit is Tetra Brand Easy Strips (ik its probably terrible but I've kinda become broke)
I forgot to mention that the salinity is 1.024
I dont have an ammonia test kit right now, but ill probably go to the store soon and get one.
As of today the Nitrates and Nirtrites still measure 0
RobertTheNurse
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No hard thoughts. But thats what I'm guessing is the issue. You want a fully cycled tank before you technically put any livestock in. Hey, we all start somewhere. I got false readings when I used API test kits. Once I invested in a decent test kit all my readings showed elevated nutrients. Im assuming you're having issues because you have a non-cycled tank. But without accurate readings its hard to tell. Sorry to be a bearer of less than happy news. But I coukd also be wrong
Just came back from the store and the ammonia test kit is saying 0.25, i tested it twice to make sure. Also when I use the other test kit I always do it twice just to make sure. Thank you for your advice and kindness. Im still a bit confused why my other fish seem to be doing just fine, could be that since he is the smallest he is having the most issues with the ammonia? Either way Im going to get some more starter bacteria and place more biomedia in my filtration in hopes that it gets better.
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