Blood Orange Clownfish - Is this normal?

[balajeek15]

I went to LFS to look for a pair of gold stripe maroon clown but didn't find it, near by petco surprisingly had four Blood Orange Clownfish around 2" (3 in one tank, 1 in another small tank), when asked they told me the 1 in small tank is aggressive (may be female) with others so they separated him (honestly that 1 looked really beautiful) but i did not want to take chance so i got 2 from the other tank that had 3, I saw two swimming close by so i bought the 2, pretty much same size. 2 out 1 was hosting in the anemone also. the 3rd one (which i did not get) also hosting another anemone

Got home and transferred to my QT, 1st day i notice one doing twitch dance occasionally but other times they where swimming together. they did eat flakes i feed, next day i added the CP right level. I had two plumbing pipe on each side, the next day each took one spot. they occasionally meet each other then back to their places in the each corner hiding inside the pipe all day long. When i go near and stand for sometime they wait and come out look around and back to the pipe.

Tested ammonia and seem near zero, salt level good.

3rd and 4th day its not eating, tried pellets one day, flakes today and also brine shrimp, they don't bother to eat even when the food fly in front of them, they simply ignore them. They are swimming normal but not very active.

Is this normal or should I be concerned for anything and take action.
Plan is to leave in QT for 30 days.

(FYI: 30 days ago i had one Coral Beauty and Neon velvet damsel in QT/CP and they are now in DT-70g doing fine)

Thanks in advance for your feedback, If a video of clown swimming would help i can post it soon.

 

[Frtdrmrose7]

Any marks on them? White stringy poop?

 

[balajeek15]

Here are some clips.
First link the two clowns are near by, the one on the front hang out the other side of the tank that you see in rest of the pictures and that's one have some mark in the white bar that you can notice in the picture (i am guessing it could be the fight scares)

https://drive.google.com/open?id=1QZpK9T2mLola_kVHDYs324iTrRZ-OhhY
https://drive.google.com/open?id=1yc3Gd6FGVvLtfbuM7KvibT_r0dOSCfZ1
https://drive.google.com/open?id=1GPvOmoO7q40O9ML_QY8XDnYoupGif3wU
https://drive.google.com/open?id=1sWUjx0YqvmYb_dvQ4b6FR7VcYuW1NUD4

 

[balajeek15]

Any marks on them? White stringy poop?

no stringy poop i see.
see pic for marks

 

[balajeek15]

I haven't seen any response from fellow reefers, Please advice if its something i need to take some quick actions.
I am hoping the CP on this clown is okay. How long the fish can be without eating anything, i even tried seaweed last night but it didn't care.

 

[Frtdrmrose7]

Ok, if they are not eating still then let’s discuss your CP dosing. How many MG did you dose? Were you dosing prophylactively? Other than the sore on his head and not eating any other symptoms? Have you used other meds? Have you done a FW dip?

 

[balajeek15]

As per what i have read, dosage is 40mg/gal for prophylactic treatment, i filled in 12 gal water (8gal fresh + 4gal from DT) on my 20gal QT, the CP pills i have is 250mg each, so 40mg x 12 = 480mg, so i took two pills and crushed it and mixed with DI water in a small cup to dissolve completed and poured in the tank.

No other treatments or medicines.
I do Seacheam Seed as per their instructions everyday (its a cap full) to keep ammonia spike
I did not do the FW dip, when i got form the store i did drip acclimation for an 1 hr and transferred just the fish.

I also checked ammonia and nitrate again last night and all are good.

Should i ask the petco i bought from what food they where feeding the fish? may be i can try that variety.

One good thing i notice both the clowns are swimming together now and no more fights. day time they each hang out inside the pipe one on each corner as I mentioned before and occasionally come out and look around, but as soon as the lights are off the clown on right come close the left and hangs on the top of the pipe while the other inside the pipe.

Sometimes i wonder, transfer the fishes soon to the main tank instead of my 30 day time.

 

[Frtdrmrose7]

As per what i have read, dosage is 40mg/gal for prophylactic treatment, i filled in 12 gal water (8gal fresh + 4gal from DT) on my 20gal QT, the CP pills i have is 250mg each, so 40mg x 12 = 480mg, so i took two pills and crushed it and mixed with DI water in a small cup to dissolve completed and poured in the tank.

No other treatments or medicines.
I do Seacheam Seed as per their instructions everyday (its a cap full) to keep ammonia spike
I did not do the FW dip, when i got form the store i did drip acclimation for an 1 hr and transferred just the fish.

I also checked ammonia and nitrate again last night and all are good.

Should i ask the petco i bought from what food they where feeding the fish? may be i can try that variety.

One good thing i notice both the clowns are swimming together now and no more fights. day time they each hang out inside the pipe one on each corner as I mentioned before and occasionally come out and look around, but as soon as the lights are off the clown on right come close the left and hangs on the top of the pipe while the other inside the pipe.

Sometimes i wonder, transfer the fishes soon to the main tank instead of my 30 day time.

Did you see the fish eat before purchase or before you dosed CP? Where did you get your CP from?
Even if you can get them to eat brine it really has no nutritional value. I would go get some Mysis and try that. The sore on the clowns head is that from aggression? Is this the male (smaller one) that has the sore?
I would do a FW dip to rule out any issues from flukes. If they won’t eat mysis you should consider dosing General Cure into the water. Typically you treat internal parasites through food but if they aren’t eating then the GC in the water column may be enough to get them eating if it is internal parasites.
@HotRocks @4FordFamily

 

[Frtdrmrose7]

As per what i have read, dosage is 40mg/gal for prophylactic treatment, i filled in 12 gal water (8gal fresh + 4gal from DT) on my 20gal QT, the CP pills i have is 250mg each, so 40mg x 12 = 480mg, so i took two pills and crushed it and mixed with DI water in a small cup to dissolve completed and poured in the tank.

No other treatments or medicines.
I do Seacheam Seed as per their instructions everyday (its a cap full) to keep ammonia spike
I did not do the FW dip, when i got form the store i did drip acclimation for an 1 hr and transferred just the fish.

I also checked ammonia and nitrate again last night and all are good.

Should i ask the petco i bought from what food they where feeding the fish? may be i can try that variety.

One good thing i notice both the clowns are swimming together now and no more fights. day time they each hang out inside the pipe one on each corner as I mentioned before and occasionally come out and look around, but as soon as the lights are off the clown on right come close the left and hangs on the top of the pipe while the other inside the pipe.

Sometimes i wonder, transfer the fishes soon to the main tank instead of my 30 day time.

I would strongly recommend NOT transferring to your DT until this is figured out and you know the fish are healthy.

 

[balajeek15]

First day when i had them in QT is without CP and they did eat the flakes.

I asked a friend of mine to bring this from India when he was returning from vacation, he got it from the pharmacy.
https://www.practo.com/medicine-info/lariago-250-mg-tablet-20827

I honestly don't know which one is male. (when picking from petco out of 3 i picked the one thats hanged closer)

When you say General Cure, what do you mean, water without any medication!
I prepared the water ready yesterday and planning to do a water change tonight, if just a water without medication would help, i can remove like 8-10 gal of water and replace with new water without medication.

 

[4FordFamily]

General cure is prazi and metro combined. It will treat flukes. If fed, it will treat a broader range of internal parasites. It is normal for fish to have less appetite in CP for a few days. You can soak food in garlic guard to make it more palatable with medicated food if you'd like to treat prophetically for internal ailments (I always do).

 

[ReeferBean]

Its not unusual for clowns to not eat the first few days to a week in their new home. I wouldn't worry just yet if they are not showing any signs of disease and are acting normally (other than not eating).

 

[balajeek15]

So can i give it a few more days in CP and observe, if they eat then continue in CP
Else, try GC

 

[Frtdrmrose7]

CP can suppress appetite in some fish, how long have they been in CP?

 

[balajeek15]

CP can suppress appetite in some fish, how long have they been in CP?

From 31st March, today will be the 5th day

 

[vetteguy53081]

Focus on swimming behavior, breathing and at least an interest in food when fed.
Adding garlic may entice them to eat. Do not overfeed in an attempt to get them to eat. If unsure on water, perhaps take a sample to a trusted LFS and have them test it to confirm readings and compare to yours.

 

[balajeek15]

Each one hangs inside the pipe on two far ends, when we approach and watch they it comes around after a 30sec or so, both swims around and back to the pipe. I did a water change last night, wondering should i add the CP to compensate for the new water or not.

 

[balajeek15]

Want to report that the clowns looks better in their swimming and when i fed shrimp it started eating, later in the day i fed pellets and it ate them too (but i am guessing it couldn't chew it, it grabs it then spits it out then grabs it again and again for few times, even though i soaked it for 30 min) Other than that they are still hosting the pipes on each side.

I see both swim together around the tank when they come out, if one comes out the other follows it. yesterday i noticed touch mouth-to-mouth and circling few times, does this mean their is going to be no more fight?

 

[moz71]

My experience is that that is beginning of fighting. They may lock jaws and do rapid circling. As long as they don’t nip fins. When I first got a pair they were great for a day then the fighting started. Lasted about a week but all of a sudden they stopped and swim and sleep together. Drive me nuts because they didn’t even eat while they fought constantly. Happy ending though. One became the female

 

[balajeek15]

I have a question on 20gal QT prophylactively, when i complete the 30 days and move the fish to DT, should I discard all the water from QT or just do small water change (and add the CP appropriately) and use it for next fish i am going to buy immediately.