Clown issue 2.0, same problem differ fish.

[GibsonGuitars]

Hello, a beginner here and having a repeating problem. The first time was quick: purchase two clowns, Clarki and a black snowflake, Clarki is fine but the snowflake died 36 hours after introduction to my tank. He was perfectly fine for the first 24-34 hours, then went downhill fast. He was struggling to breath , gills flared out, inner gills red and swollen, swimming backwards and into rock. He died about 2 hours after noticing there was an issue. As a beginner I asked around, and my LFS offered to replace him. Armed with new info from Reef2reef I asked to hold the plastic transfer tub they use to bag him. I looked closely and snowflake #2 was NOT breathing hard in anyway, gills were not flared so could not see if the gills were red, but assumed no hard breathing and no flared gills he should have not have red gills. Did a thorough acclimation and he was fine for the first 12 hours. Now the second snowflake is hard breathing, gills flared, and red inside. The other clown (Clarki) I bought a week ago with the first snowflake is still in the same tank and nothing going on and he is healthy. Notes: the Clarki came from a different tank .... the two snow flakes came from the same tank even though they were in separate divided compartment of the same tank. My tank is 2 mo the old and My tank Chemistry is literally perfect, I have no Ammonia, no nitrate and no nitrite.
What would cause a fish to breath hard and get swollen gills when my water is perfect? The Clarki is fine, the two snowflakes from the same tank are struggling. Any ideas please advise. I was going to do a freshwater dip today, but LFS and I inspected fish #2 and he wasn’t flared or breathing hard when at the store. Thanks in advance

 

[Big G]

Sorry for you loss. This hobby can have a rather sharp learning curve.

Some LFS's treat their tanks with sub-therapeutic levels of meds and or copper to suppress illness. So as soon as you take the fish home and it is now out of "their" treated water, disease/illness comes roaring up with frightening speed. So what can you do to compensate for this? Consider a first easy step. Give the fish a FW dip. It will either confirm or eliminate "flukes" from consideration. Plus, if there are external parasites like Brook (common for clowns), velvet, or ich, it will remove them temporarily and give you time to consider additional treatment for parasites.

Freshwater dips look kinda scary the first time you do one. Healthy fish, and even fish with parasites usually tolerate the FW dip. But there is always the chance that the fish is in really poor health and the dip could be rough on them. Here's a link with more info on FW dips:

Freshwater Dip

Freshwater Dip What It Treats – Provides temporary relief for a wide range of diseases: 1) Marine Velvet Disease (Amyloodinium ocellatum) 2) Brooklynella hostilis 3) Uronema marinum 4) Flukes (Monogeneans) 5) Black Ich (Turbellarians) Can be used to confirm the presence of Flukes (see video...

www.reef2reef.com

 

[GibsonGuitars]

I did the freshwater dip last night. Is is not hiding in the cave anymore, but still breathing hard. I am also noticing something weird with his mouth. The skin around his lips is almost translucent now and is sinking in behind his lips. Almost like a depression is forming around his mouth. . I have a pic, it’s not great becasue his rapid breathing makes it blurry. I will try to take a better one, but for now.... here it is

 

[Big G]

Looks bacterial. For treating areas on and around the mouth, Sulfaplex aka Triple Sulfa alone, or with Neoplex added too works. The usual antibiotics like Furan2 and Kanaplex don't seem to work well in this particular area of the fish's body.

 

[GibsonGuitars]

Thank you, I found another post on here from years ago, similar issues and they treated by doing both Metroplex and Canaplex at the same time. I am new, and don’t have a quarantine tank yet, so this guy is swimming in my 2 month Old reef tank full of frags and 2 small bubble anemones. I guess I’ll have to Go now buy a cheap 5-10 gallon from petco to treat? Should I pull him out of my Reef tank ASAP! So much to conciser here... thanks so much, I don’t know what I would do without this forum... I couldn’t imagine starting this hobby without this amazing resource. If I had to rely on the mooks down at my LFS I would be totally hosed!

 

[Big G]

Thank you, I found another post on here from years ago, similar issues and they treated by doing both Metroplex and Canaplex at the same time. I am new, and don’t have a quarantine tank yet, so this guy is swimming in my 2 month Old reef tank full of frags and 2 small bubble anemones. I guess I’ll have to Go now buy a cheap 5-10 gallon from petco to treat? Should I pull him out of my Reef tank ASAP! So much to conciser here... thanks so much, I don’t know what I would do without this forum... I couldn’t imagine starting this hobby without this amazing resource. If I had to rely on the mooks down at my LFS I would be totally hosed!

There is an old rule of thumb that you can use antibiotics in a "bath" at X2 the regular dose for 30 minutes. And in some cases the treatment can be more effective. Just remember to heavily aerate the bath water for 30 minutes before dosing and giving the bath to the fish. And keep the temperature same as your tank.

 

[GibsonGuitars]

So, made some progress... got a little 5 gallon rimless on sale from Petco for 14.99, sulfaplex and Neoplex, stuck a heater in there and a wavemaker. Figure it will get to temp over night and I can dose in the morning. I added an air stone to the reef tank to help him breath over night. Then I realized I never see air stones in salt water, was that OK to do?

 

[AmaleeC]

My clown started like this, and then died of brooklynella

I’m not saying I know for sure you’re has this. But just in case, I thought I’d share.. I sat by the tank one evening in my usual spot, and saw that he had white lips. Then I noticed his whole body was turning white and fading - this was only visible in the blue light. I then learned he had brooklynella and did two fw baths. He was dead the next morning.

Here’s an index of all fish diseases that has proved to be very helpful: https://www.reef2reef.com/ams/fish-disease-index-pictorial-guide.199/

I went through a few ocellaris clowns before I tried a maroon clown. He’s survived and I’m hoping he doesn’t turn into a she because he’s going to be a total jerk. But he’s the closest thing I’ve got to “Nemo” lol Regardless, I wish you ALL the best!! happy reefing!

 

[GibsonGuitars]

AmaleeC, I think you may be on to something there... my snowflakes lips and areas of the face that are sunken in glow in the blue light, as do the rim of his gills.

Anyway, his is all tucked into his hospital bed. I used the NeoPlex and SulfaPlex as previously suggested, regular doses and figure I can keep him saturating in his own 5 gal tank for aWhile. So sad, him and the Clarki are trying to get to each other because they can see each other though the glass. I hope those meds works on the Brooks stuff, really sounds like what AmaleeC described. .. if not I’ll have to take another 68 mile drive to my LFS and get other meds. (I live in the sticks of Nor Cal) He was not eating for days, but found he will eat the little tiny shrimp that come frozen in the cubes... gobbles them up. So I gave him a cube and out the blue lights on... now we wait and hope ... thanks again everyone

 

[GibsonGuitars]

 

[GibsonGuitars]

Hard to see, so I clipped and zoomed the pic, but his lips and cheeks are still glowing. He has been in the med bath about 6 hours and his breathing is slightly less labored, but he is still pumping for air... the blood red gills are now kind of brown red.

 

[AmaleeC]

Nice to hear he’s not breathing as heavy and hes eating. Fish have a way better chance of survival if they’re willing to eat. Wishing you all the best, keep us updated!