Clownfish breathing heavy? HELP!

selmer_paris3 · Oct 25, 2020

Hey all,

I got a pair of clowns 3 weeks ago at my LFS (LAX aquarium) and one of them appears to be doing really well but the other looks not good, I am concerned he is sick. He is breathing heavy, his bottom fins are tucked in, he is pale and only swimming by the rocks.

The tank is new, these are my second attempt at adding fish (had a firefish die after the tank got too hot). 30 lbs of live sand and rock in a 30 gal tank. I log my water levels in google sheets that you can see here. I have attached some photos of the lil guy

The other one does not seem to bully him, they seem friendly.

Thanks in advance

selmer_paris3 · Oct 25, 2020

he has died

P-Dub · Oct 25, 2020

You have started, in my humble opinion, adding fish too soon based solely on the info provided on the google sheets.. I'm a strong proponent of adding fish only after the tank has fully cycled and things have settled. Once the tank has settled and your bacterial populations have stabilized you should not be able to detect ammonia, ever. If there is detectable ammonia, you do not have a stable and/or adequate bacteria population. I waited 4 months before adding fish. I have always gone the slow and steady route of cycling and then adding, slowly, inhabitants. Dr. Tim's is good stuff but it is no magic in a bottle. Different tanks and systems develop at different rates. To factor out the possibility of fluctuations in ammonia levels, cycle your tank, feed the bacteria, wait for everything to stabilize, and then add animals.... slowly...