Clownfish are breathing heavy

[thisnthat]

So I almost finished with my cycle and my ammonia is at .25 (I am using the api saltwater test kit so it might not be accurate) Nitrite is at .5-.8 ish salinity is at 1.025 Ph is 7.9 and tempature has stayed the same at 77.2 F. My problem is: this morning I woke up to both of my clownfish breathing hard. Yesterday I noticed one clownfish was having some labored breathing so I did a water change and dosed the tank with prazipro for any internal or external parasites. This morning it has gotten worse and now both clowns are breathing heavy and I don’t know why. I know prazipro takes about a week for the full effect but if this isn’t a parasitical problem I need to find out what it is now. My wavemaker was off over night from me unplugging it and not realizing enough to plug it back in, and I think also my filter was off as well. So in total there was no water agitation. This could be the problem but it also could be ammonia poisoning. My ammonia reached zero a couple weeks into the cycle and crept back up for some reason. I added live rock and more nitrifying bacteria after the recent water changes and hoped that would make a difference. If anyone could help by saying what might be the problem I would appreciate it. I hate seeing my clownfish like this.

Also my fish ate this morning, not a lot, and are hanging out where they usually do at the bottom corner of the tank. If this was not enough oxygen in the tank wouldn’t they hang out at the surface?

 

[vetteguy53081]

Also my fish ate this morning, not a lot, and are hanging out where they usually do at the bottom corner of the tank. If this was not enough oxygen in the tank wouldn’t they hang out at the surface?

Does the fish have a hazy cloudy look to it’s skin?
Has it lost its appetite fully?

 

[thisnthat]

No it still ate, so by doing further research and backtracking on what I did to the tank… I realized I cleaned my filter, wave maker, pumps ect. In dechlorinated tap water. I remembered to put the Dechlorinator in the water I used but maybe some chlorine from the tap made it’s way into the tank? They are showing signs of labored breathing but since they are clowns and they are both young it’s hard to see if their gills are red. Slime coat seems to be fine. I put some more water conditioner in the display just incase and started to oxygenate the water since then. The breathing seemed to be better and they seem a little more at ease

 

[thisnthat]

No it still ate, so by doing further research and backtracking on what I did to the tank… I realized I cleaned my filter, wave maker, pumps ect. In dechlorinated tap water. I remembered to put the Dechlorinator in the water I used but maybe some chlorine from the tap made it’s way into the tank? They are showing signs of labored breathing but since they are clowns and they are both young it’s hard to see if their gills are red. Slime coat seems to be fine. I put some more water conditioner in the display just incase and started to oxygenate the water since then. The breathing seemed to be better and they seem a little more at ease

I cleaned them a day prior btw

 

[thisnthat]

Does the fish have a hazy cloudy look to it’s skin?
Has it lost its appetite fully?

Also, the tank has RO water and it’s not tap. I’m not sure if the chlorine from the tap is the issue but adding water conditioner and aerating the water seemed to calm my fish down nonetheless. If you have any suggestions I’ll take them because I don’t want my fish to be at fault for my mistake

 

[vetteguy53081]

Also, the tank has RO water and it’s not tap. I’m not sure if the chlorine from the tap is the issue but adding water conditioner and aerating the water seemed to calm my fish down nonetheless. If you have any suggestions I’ll take them because I don’t want my fish to be at fault for my mistake

FW dip offers temporary relief if start of brooklynella. Formalin baths with quick cure will do wonders

 

[thisnthat]

You think I should do a freshwater dip?

 

[Cantusaurus]

You think I should do a freshwater dip?

Just make sure you make the temperature and Ph at least pretty close to in your tank. So you need a Ph buffer, and I'd recommend buying Seachem Stressguard for ammonia (Ammonia could be lower than you think since you gotta really shake the bottles well). Stressguard will also help fish in general when transferring them into a container for a FW dip.