Clown acting lethargic - anything I can do?

[TheLoneSeaMonkey]

I just bought 2 clowns for my tank, and I added them directly to the DT and I know that was a big no no, but I figured it was worth the risk because I had no other fish and the tank was newly cycled and at worst I could just throw out my rock and sand, sterilize and start over. So anyway, I don’t need to be yelled at for that, I know I am stupid

As to the problem, my clowns were both doing great, swimming all over the tank and eating voraciously for the last 4 days. This morning, my little Darwin is lethargic, breathing heavy and not following his buddy around when she goes exploring and he ate breakfast, but not with enthusiasm. I got him from the LFS and he had been treated for parasites (I assume Prazipro but I can get specifics today) and was in a tank with copper preventatively. He is a tiny little guy compared to the other clown and they fought a little the first couple hours but seem to have worked it out since then and have been following each other all over for days. I did drop him on the floor when I was trying to transfer him to the tank from the Tupperware I had him acclimating in because I discovered my net wouldn’t fit into the corners of the Tupperware and I couldn’t get him so I just grabbed him with my hand and he was a lot more upset about it than I expected.

I would love to give the parameters of my tank, but I don’t have them because my test kit is delayed in arriving - I did have my water tested for cycling when I got the fish on Sunday and I didn’t ask for specifics, they just said I was good to go so I assume ammonia and nitrites were 0 and nitrates were 20ppm. Salinity I did check this morning and it is 1.025. I can take my water in to be tested if that is possibly an issue, but the other fish is fine, my CUC is fine and the couple tiny pieces of coral I got (a mushroom and a zoa) to test the waters so to speak are fine as well.

I moved the little guy to a QT tank and he is just sitting in the pvc hide not really moving. Is there anything else I can do for him at this point?

I attached a video, hopefully it will work.

 

[TheLoneSeaMonkey]

I just bought 2 clowns for my tank, and I added them directly to the DT and I know that was a big no no, but I figured it was worth the risk because I had no other fish and the tank was newly cycled and at worst I could just throw out my rock and sand, sterilize and start over. So anyway, I don’t need to be yelled at for that, I know I am stupid

As to the problem, my clowns were both doing great, swimming all over the tank and eating voraciously for the last 4 days. This morning, my little Darwin is lethargic, breathing heavy and not following his buddy around when she goes exploring and he ate breakfast, but not with enthusiasm. I got him from the LFS and he had been treated for parasites (I assume Prazipro but I can get specifics today) and was in a tank with copper preventatively. He is a tiny little guy compared to the other clown and they fought a little the first couple hours but seem to have worked it out since then and have been following each other all over for days. I did drop him on the floor when I was trying to transfer him to the tank from the Tupperware I had him acclimating in because I discovered my net wouldn’t fit into the corners of the Tupperware and I couldn’t get him so I just grabbed him with my hand and he was a lot more upset about it than I expected.

I would love to give the parameters of my tank, but I don’t have them because my test kit is delayed in arriving - I did have my water tested for cycling when I got the fish on Sunday and I didn’t ask for specifics, they just said I was good to go so I assume ammonia and nitrites were 0 and nitrates were 20ppm. Salinity I did check this morning and it is 1.025. I can take my water in to be tested if that is possibly an issue, but the other fish is fine, my CUC is fine and the couple tiny pieces of coral I got (a mushroom and a zoa) to test the waters so to speak are fine as well.

I moved the little guy to a QT tank and he is just sitting in the pvc hide not really moving. Is there anything else I can do for him at this point?

I attached a video, hopefully it will work.

Looks like video didn’t work. I am uploading to YouTube and will link once it’s processed

 

[TheLoneSeaMonkey]

video here

 

[laezur]

video here

edit: Looks like I could be wrong

 

[TheLoneSeaMonkey]

Rapid mouth movement and loss of colour leads me to believe parasite since I’ve dealt with this twice before.

Beat tag #fishmedics

Can you explain what color loss you see? We haven’t really noticed any, but I definitely don’t k ow what I am doing and trying to learn!

 

[Uncle99]

I just bought 2 clowns for my tank, and I added them directly to the DT and I know that was a big no no, but I figured it was worth the risk because I had no other fish and the tank was newly cycled and at worst I could just throw out my rock and sand, sterilize and start over. So anyway, I don’t need to be yelled at for that, I know I am stupid

As to the problem, my clowns were both doing great, swimming all over the tank and eating voraciously for the last 4 days. This morning, my little Darwin is lethargic, breathing heavy and not following his buddy around when she goes exploring and he ate breakfast, but not with enthusiasm. I got him from the LFS and he had been treated for parasites (I assume Prazipro but I can get specifics today) and was in a tank with copper preventatively. He is a tiny little guy compared to the other clown and they fought a little the first couple hours but seem to have worked it out since then and have been following each other all over for days. I did drop him on the floor when I was trying to transfer him to the tank from the Tupperware I had him acclimating in because I discovered my net wouldn’t fit into the corners of the Tupperware and I couldn’t get him so I just grabbed him with my hand and he was a lot more upset about it than I expected.

I would love to give the parameters of my tank, but I don’t have them because my test kit is delayed in arriving - I did have my water tested for cycling when I got the fish on Sunday and I didn’t ask for specifics, they just said I was good to go so I assume ammonia and nitrites were 0 and nitrates were 20ppm. Salinity I did check this morning and it is 1.025. I can take my water in to be tested if that is possibly an issue, but the other fish is fine, my CUC is fine and the couple tiny pieces of coral I got (a mushroom and a zoa) to test the waters so to speak are fine as well.

I moved the little guy to a QT tank and he is just sitting in the pvc hide not really moving. Is there anything else I can do for him at this point?

I attached a video, hopefully it will work.

Sorry, I see nothing that indicates to me, any parasite.
Everything looks normal, I would not call that lathargic.

 

[TheLoneSeaMonkey]

Sorry, I see nothing that indicates to me, any parasite.
Everything looks normal, I would not call that lathargic.

I guess my main concern is that he is acting lethargic compared to how he has been for the last 4 days and didn't eat much today. I guess I will just keep an eye on him and see how he does.

 

[Jay Hemdal]

I guess my main concern is that he is acting lethargic compared to how he has been for the last 4 days and didn't eat much today. I guess I will just keep an eye on him and see how he does.

I don't see anything acutely wrong with the fish in the video.

Without water quality data (especially ammonia) we are pretty much left guessing, which is never a good thing with fish health issues.

Jay

 

[TheLoneSeaMonkey]

I don't see anything acutely wrong with the fish in the video.

Without water quality data (especially ammonia) we are pretty much left guessing, which is never a good thing with fish health issues.

Jay

yeah, I am going to take a sample down to my LFS and have it tested here shortly.

 

[vetteguy53081]

I personally would take a water sample to a trusted store that does not use API kits and Will give you numbers especially for ammonia-ph-salinity.
I agree with others on the normalcy of the fish in question and I see the perc has white poop. I assume youre feeding brine shrimp-mysis shrimp or both ?
For the future, Acllimate acclimate acclimate. There's a reason for that. Risk it was and with differences in salinity of tank and bag, you could have had fish in shock.
Feed them frozen food such as formula 1, lrs fish frenzy, and hikari marine cuisine.

 

[TheLoneSeaMonkey]

I personally would take a water sample to a trusted store that does not use API kits and Will give you numbers especially for ammonia-ph-salinity.
I agree with others on the normalcy of the fish in question and I see the perc has white poop. I assume youre feeding brine shrimp-mysis shrimp or both ?
For the future, Acllimate acclimate acclimate. There's a reason for that. Risk it was and with differences in salinity of tank and bag, you could have had fish in shock.
Feed them frozen food such as formula 1, lrs fish frenzy, and hikari marine cuisine.

I am feeding LRS reef frenzy nano, but they seem to be pretty picky about what they will eat out of it. I did acclimate them and I do know my salinity, I check it with a refractometer and waited until salinity in the tupperware was the same as the tank. The fish store water was fairly close to my water when I measured (1.022 vs 1.025) but I did still acclimate over an hour.

Edit: Also, LFS uses red sea test kits, they are pretty anti-api.

 

[vetteguy53081]

I am feeding LRS reef frenzy nano, but they seem to be pretty picky about what they will eat out of it. I did acclimate them and I do know my salinity, I check it with a refractometer and waited until salinity in the tupperware was the same as the tank. The fish store water was fairly close to my water when I measured (1.022 vs 1.025) but I did still acclimate over an hour.

Edit: Also, LFS uses red sea test kits, they are pretty anti-api.

Good on kits- ask for numbers next time as if something changes, you numbers to compare with and have a baseline.
reef frenzy has some algaes and coral food which they may not favor but overall a good diet.

 

[TheLoneSeaMonkey]

Here is a second video with him in the QT tank - did I just mess up his slime coat moving him or could it be early brook?

August 3, 2022

youtube.com

 

[TheLoneSeaMonkey]

Just had water checked at LFS and the ammonia and nitrites are 0, nitrates at 3. They apparently don’t do pH testing or sell kits for it so I guess I will have to see if I can pick up something locally.

 

[Uncle99]

Here is a second video with him in the QT tank - did I just mess up his slime coat moving him or could it be early brook?

August 3, 2022

youtube.com

I see 2 white dots in the video, something hanging on lower finals.
You didnt mess up. I see what concerns you.
Could be the start of a few things.
Good now in QT.

 

[TheLoneSeaMonkey]

I see 2 white dots in the video, something hanging on lower finals.
You didnt mess up. I see what concerns you.
Could be the start of a few things.
Good now in QT.

it’s hard to see in the video but the white dots are kind of floating next to him, not on him. Looks like it is stuck to clear mucus or something. It also could be that I picked up some sand when I got him in the net because it wasn’t there before I put him in QT

 

[TheLoneSeaMonkey]

The white spots are gone today and he ate a little and seemed to be peeking up a bit last night, but today he is - I’m not sure if it’s turning silver at the tail or more translucent, it’s hard to tell and harder to photograph.

 

[LilsReefTank]

The white spots are gone today and he ate a little and seemed to be peeking up a bit last night, but today he is - I’m not sure if it’s turning silver at the tail or more translucent, it’s hard to tell and harder to photograph.

Something similar happened to one of my clowns : (

I started with 2. One always seemed a bit bigger and healthier and the other one was just a twinge smaller. They both started out as healthy. Fast forward a month, the smaller one seemed a bit lethargic as the weeks went on. I also thought the color seemed to silver out and lose vibrancy in color in some places. Eventually it passed : ( Just kept progressively getting weaker and weaker. It would still eat until it died. I treated it as well just in case but no avail.

 

[Jay Hemdal]

Here is a second video with him in the QT tank - did I just mess up his slime coat moving him or could it be early brook?

August 3, 2022

youtube.com

The primary issue here is the clownfish is breathing way too fast. I ran two counts and got >250 gill beats per minute each time. Anything above 200 is considered critical. This fish is right at the point of respiratory collapse - sorry!

The cause of this can either be high carbon dioxide (a pH test would tell you that) or low dissolved oxygen or gill disease. If the tank has a good air stone making bubbles in the water, then gill disease would be most likely. The trouble is that in its weakened state, any treatment is likely to prove fatal. All I can suggest is to try a 5 minute freshwater dip. If the fish survives that, it will reduce the parasite load, giving you time to start up a treatment.

Jay

 

[TheLoneSeaMonkey]

The primary issue here is the clownfish is breathing way too fast. I ran two counts and got >250 gill beats per minute each time. Anything above 200 is considered critical. This fish is right at the point of respiratory collapse - sorry!

The cause of this can either be high carbon dioxide (a pH test would tell you that) or low dissolved oxygen or gill disease. If the tank has a good air stone making bubbles in the water, then gill disease would be most likely. The trouble is that in its weakened state, any treatment is likely to prove fatal. All I can suggest is to try a 5 minute freshwater dip. If the fish survives that, it will reduce the parasite load, giving you time to start up a treatment.

Jay

Well he just went crazy, zipped all over the tank, got stuck to the filter and then died in like a 2 minute period I don’t see any signs of disease on him now that I can see him closer. His color did wash out as soon as he died but that was it. He has one tiny white spot on one fin. Should I be putting my other fish in QT or treating her for anything?