Clown fish swimming sideways and falling to the sand

[fishermanaurl]

Hi everyone, I'm new to saltwater reefing and really need urgent help. I have 3 clown fish in my tank (2 designer, 1 common) - my tank is 6 weeks old.

To give context, 1 common & 1 designer have been happily swimming around but the 2nd designer is acting really weird.

The 2nd designer seems to have trouble keeping afloat (keeps going sideways and he will turn himself upright again), and he's staying close to the sand, almost sitting on it. Our 2 healthier clowns seems to be huddling up to him today.

Please see video below.

On day 1 when i received him, he was swimming vertically but became better and swam around. Today is Day 5.

Ammonia: 0
Nitrite: 5.0
Nitrate: 90.0 (I assume it should be lower, due to Nitrite being present so Nitrate has slight false reading)
Salinity: 1.025
dKH: 8.0

I know my nitrite and nitrate is crazy high, I got these fish when my nitrite was 0.2 (didn't measure nitrate at that time) but it started rising non-stop after that & it was too late. I'm so sorry, I do not want my fish to die. PLEASE HELP!!!

 

[Jay Hemdal]

That nitrite reading is weird that it is so high. Still, most people don't realize it but nitrite toxicity is mitigated by salt in the water, so it is non-toxic to marine fish even at this level. Just a tiny amount of nitrite will kill freshwater fish though. Besides, if it was the water, I would expect all of the fish would be affected.

Are there any invertebrates in the tank? How are they doing?
Is this fish still feeding normally?

Jay

 

[fishermanaurl]

Yes i read that Nitrite doesn’t really matter. I have 3 hermits, 3 turbo snails for 3 weeks now. They're completely fine and feasting on my algae buffet.

1 common clown eats everything, the other 2 designers don’t eat.

Update, I turned on my lights and the 2 designers immediately swam up to the top of tank (they’re swimming vertically, at the corner of my tank). But they’re no longer floating on their side like the video above.. maybe they were asleep? Now it looks like they’re hosting the side of tank? I don’t know why they’re swimming vertically though.

can anyone explain their behavior??

 

[Cell]

Clowns being clowns. 3 in a tank probably wont work though.

 

[fishermanaurl]

Clowns being clowns. 3 in a tank probably wont work though.

We have 1 more common clown in our QT - he’s undergoing full body cleanse before we add him into the DT

 

[Jay Hemdal]

But if the are still not eating, there is some underlying issue that needs to be resolved....
Jay

 

[Cell]

Yes, listen to Jay. I was merely responding to the hosting the side of the tank/swimming vertically question.

 

[Azedenkae]

Yes i read that Nitrite doesn’t really matter. I have 3 hermits, 3 turbo snails for 3 weeks now. They're completely fine and feasting on my algae buffet.

1 common clown eats everything, the other 2 designers don’t eat.

Update, I turned on my lights and the 2 designers immediately swam up to the top of tank (they’re swimming vertically, at the corner of my tank). But they’re no longer floating on their side like the video above.. maybe they were asleep? Now it looks like they’re hosting the side of tank? I don’t know why they’re swimming vertically though.

can anyone explain their behavior??

Swimming vertical is normal clownfish behaviour. Up, down, left, right. They almost seem like they have a different gravity point of reference. Generally though their belly always points towards a surface of some sort. Glass, back wall, rocks, anemone, corals, sand, etc.

 

[Jekyl]

We have 1 more common clown in our QT - he’s undergoing full body cleanse before we add him into the DT

4 in a tank won't work either in most occasions.

 

[fishermanaurl]

But if the are still not eating, there is some underlying issue that needs to be resolved....
Jay

They ate 1 small pellet today. Anything that can be done? I don’t wanna lose them, I’m very attached to both designer clowns

 

[Jay Hemdal]

They ate 1 small pellet today. Anything that can be done? I don’t wanna lose them, I’m very attached to both designer clowns

I don't know whatr the underlying cause of them not eating is - could be water quality, could be disease, even being bullied by the other clown. You may also want to try other foods, maybe the pellets are too large/hard?

Jay

 

[fishermanaurl]

Hello, so the original fish that I posted about is okay now. He’s happy and swimming.

Now I have a new problem. As you know, i have 3 clownfish.. usually the common clown is the odd one out whereas the 2 designers will swim together everywhere (and sleep together at night). It was ongoing for 2 weeks+.

This morning at 8AM my 2 designers (according to my mother) were suddenly attacking each other. Now my bigger designer fish is on the sandbed struggling to breathe - is he dying and is there anything I can do to help?

what I don’t understand is.... I was pretty sure they were going to pair as my common clown was the odd one out. All of a sudden they started fighting?

Posted a video here:

-update- I don’t know why my video can’t be viewed..

 

[Jekyl]

3 clowns will almost never work out. One will assert dominance and take out any competition

 

[fishermanaurl]

3 clowns will almost never work out. One will assert dominance and take out any competition

Yes but like I said, the 2 designers were ALWAYS together day and night. And always dancing/vibrating with each other (lol). Common is the odd one out.

Furthermore, the one on the ground now is the bigger designer. So I’m just so perplexed?

 

[Jekyl]

Not always the biggest guy who wins the fight lol.

 

[Jay Hemdal]

The clown on the bottom is relatively undamaged (can't see any damage actually). It is also breathing very fast. I suspect that it has something else going on, and the second clown was picking on it because it was weak. I can't tell you what the problem might be - again, could be water quality or disease issues. Ultimately, small groups of clowns in a tank are pretty tricky, their interperonsal dynmaics changes quite a bit.

Jay

 

[vetteguy53081]

4 in a tank won't work either in most occasions.

I have 9 in one tank and 5 in another

 

[Jekyl]

I have 9 in one tank and 5 in another

Hence the "most occasions"

 

[fishermanaurl]

Update: thank you for everyone’s advice, the designer was so weak and have died in the morning

.. RIP