Clownfish breathing rapidly, looking for advice

[re76]

I just brought home two Mocha Ocellaris Clownfish on Sunday and have them in a 10 gallon tank with air stone, heater, and a 4" pvc tee.

One seems to be doing alright. The other one is breathing heavily and appears to be struggling to stay upright every once in a while. He is hanging out mainly on the bottom of the tank.

I made the water with freshly mixed Red Sea coral pro salt. I have a Seachem ammonia alert in he tank that is still yellow.

They have not yet eaten. The salesperson at the store sold me spectrum 1mm pellets. When I called tonight I was told they have been eating omega nutrition flakes.

I plan on getting some of those tomorrow after work to try to get them to eat. Using an API test kit it looks like the water is right around 7.8 pH. This is lower than I would expect. I opened a window near the tank to try to get some fresh air into the water.

Temperature is hovering right around 78 degrees.

What can I do to help his poor little guy? I have prazipro on hand, which I was going to use later in TTM.

I'm thinking I do a 30ish% water change tonight and see how he is doing in the morning? I wasn't planning on doing my first transfer until I got home from work tomorrow.

This is my first foray into saltwater fish. Am I overreacting? Could he just be stressed? Is this common during TTM?

I don't see any signs of obvious disease.

I can grab a video if it would be helpful.

Any and all help is greatly appreciated!

-Ryan

 

[jenreefer]

leave him alone, seems stressed from all the commotion. leave lights out and let him try to recover. Some frozen mysis would be good to try for food. It sounds like he is struggling, it is 50/50 if you do not get him eating soon. Good luck.

Jen

 

[Playa-1]

Did you match the QT Sg to that of the shipping water and previous holding tank. Many times the LFS or others will keep their Sg at much different levels than your tank and can cause big problems, as a simple acclimation will not work as expected. If you did that and don't see any other signs of disease then I would increase aeration in the tank and see how it goes overnight. The biggest killer in qt is Acclimation, Ammonia and poor gas exchange/aeration.

 

[re76]

Did you match the QT Sg to that of the shipping water and previous holding tank. Many times the LFS or others will keep their Sg at much different levels than your tank and can cause big problems, as a simple acclimation will not work as expected. If you did that and don't see any other signs of disease then I would increase aeration in the tank and see how it goes overnight. The biggest killer in qt is Acclimation, Ammonia and poor gas exchange/aeration.

I have an air stone running in the tank. It's not full blast but up as high as I can get it without the bubbles getting salt and water everywhere. Should I get a really small power head from the LFS tomorrow?

 

[melypr1985]

I just brought home two Mocha Ocellaris Clownfish on Sunday and have them in a 10 gallon tank with air stone, heater, and a 4" pvc tee.

One seems to be doing alright. The other one is breathing heavily and appears to be struggling to stay upright every once in a while. He is hanging out mainly on the bottom of the tank.

I made the water with freshly mixed Red Sea coral pro salt. I have a Seachem ammonia alert in he tank that is still yellow.

They have not yet eaten. The salesperson at the store sold me spectrum 1mm pellets. When I called tonight I was told they have been eating omega nutrition flakes.

I plan on getting some of those tomorrow after work to try to get them to eat. Using an API test kit it looks like the water is right around 7.8 pH. This is lower than I would expect. I opened a window near the tank to try to get some fresh air into the water.

Temperature is hovering right around 78 degrees.

What can I do to help his poor little guy? I have prazipro on hand, which I was going to use later in TTM.

I'm thinking I do a 30ish% water change tonight and see how he is doing in the morning? I wasn't planning on doing my first transfer until I got home from work tomorrow.

This is my first foray into saltwater fish. Am I overreacting? Could he just be stressed? Is this common during TTM?

I don't see any signs of obvious disease.

I can grab a video if it would be helpful.

Any and all help is greatly appreciated!

-Ryan

Hi there! It's great that you have decided to QT. Here's the thing. Heavy breathing usually denotes something in the gills causing the fish difficulty in breathing. Especially if the other is doing just fine. I would recommend a Freshwater dip at this point. Let's see if flukes come out of his gills. If they do, then you've given him some relief and yourself time to run prazi during your TTM. Here's how to do that:

Freshwater Dip: Provides temporary relief for Brooklynella, Flukes & "Black Ich", Marine Velvet disease (Amyloodinium); possibly even Ich & Uronema marinum (both unproven). Can be used to confirm the presence of Flukes.

How To Treat - Fill a bucket with RODI water, and use a heater to match the temperature to the water the fish is coming from. Aerate the water heavily for at least 30 minutes prior to doing the dip, then discontinue aeration while performing the dip. Fish aren’t overly pH sensitive for short durations like this, but you can squirt a little tank water into the dip just before the fish goes in to help bring it up.

Place the fish in the freshwater (FW) dip and observe closely. It is not unusual for them to freak out a little at first. Also, tangs are notorious for “playing dead” during a FW dip. The important thing is to watch their gills; they should be breathing heavily at all times during the dip. If breathing slows, it’s time to exit the dip. Dip the fish for no longer than 5 minutes. Multiple dips may be done, but it’s important to give your fish a day to recuperate in-between dips.

For flukes, use a dark (preferably black) bucket so you can see if tiny white worms fall out of the fish (especially out of the gills) at around the 3-4 minute mark. The worms will settle to the bottom, so you can use a flashlight to look for them there as well.

Pros - Provides temporary relief for a wide range of diseases in a chemical free environment. Can “buy you more time” until a proper treatment can be done.

Cons/Side Effects - Not a permanent “fix” for any disease, as FW dips are not potent enough to eradicate all of the parasites/worms afflicting the fish. Some fish can have an adverse reaction to a FW dip by appearing unable to maintain their equilibrium once returned to the aquarium. If this happens, hold the fish upright (using latex, nitrile or rubber gloves), and gently glide him through the water (to get saltwater flowing through the gills again). It is also a good idea to place the fish in an acclimation box until he appears “normal”.

And here's what to look for:

Let us know what the results are and we can go from there.

 

[Playa-1]

I run an airstone and a nano powerhead in my 20 gal QT. It seems to do the trick for gas exchange. I also fresh water dip my new arrivals and agree with Meredith as this may be a good method to help you figure out what you're dealing with.

 

[re76]

Alright. Got the fresh water heating and aerating now. Will do the dip once the water is up to temp.

 

[re76]

Did the fresh water dip. I didn't really see anything come out. I had to improvise because I didn't have a black bucket, so I used a large measuring cup on top of a black towel.

There were some particles in the water after, but they were very very small. Don't think they were flukes.

I ended up giving both fish the FW dip since it seems like a good preventative measure.

I put them back in the TTM tank. I am going move them to the next tank tomorrow morning. Should I dose prazipro?

I gotta get to bed now. I will report back with how they are behaving in the morning.

Thanks so much for all the help so far!

 

[melypr1985]

Did the fresh water dip. I didn't really see anything come out. I had to improvise because I didn't have a black bucket, so I used a large measuring cup on top of a black towel.

There were some particles in the water after, but they were very very small. Don't think they were flukes.

I ended up giving both fish the FW dip since it seems like a good preventative measure.

I put them back in the TTM tank. I am going move them to the next tank tomorrow morning. Should I dose prazipro?

I gotta get to bed now. I will report back with how they are behaving in the morning.

Thanks so much for all the help so far!

Yeah, you can go ahead and dose the prazi, though I don't think Flukes are your problem here. If it were, they would have shown in the dip as long as it was done for the full 5 minutes. Watch for symptoms like looking dusty, dirty or like the skin is sloughing off.

 

[re76]

Yeah, you can go ahead and dose the prazi, though I don't think Flukes are your problem here. If it were, they would have shown in the dip as long as it was done for the full 5 minutes. Watch for symptoms like looking dusty, dirty or like the skin is sloughing off.

I did the full 5 minutes for both fish. I will give them a thorough inspection in the morning.

 

[melypr1985]

I did the full 5 minutes for both fish. I will give them a thorough inspection in the morning.

OK. keep us posted!

 

[re76]

Fish are still alive this morning. Woo!

The bigger one is still breathing pretty quickly. Maybe not as fast as last night, but it is hard to tell. I wasn't able to do the transfer this morning. The cheap 50 watt heater I got on Amazon did not manage to get the temp up to 78-79 where the current tank is at. I put the fish in the current tank at around 6:00 PM on Sunday, so I am still within the 3 day window.

I am running to the LFS on my lunch today to get a beefier heater, as well as the exact food they were being fed at the store (Omega One Marine Flakes). Is there anything else I should pick up while I am there? Maybe some medications that I MIGHT need? Should I get some sort of garlic something to soak the food in to encourage them to eat? Any stress relief additives that actually work? I'm open to suggestions.

Thanks,
Ryan

 

[Wayneb332]

Usually when I do QT I mix up my saltwater. I never liked to use it straight so I do a water change and use the water from the tank for quarantine. To me it seems to help just my experience.

 

[re76]

Usually when I do QT I mix up my saltwater. I never liked to use it straight so I do a water change and use the water from the tank for quarantine. To me it seems to help just my experience.

This actually crossed my mind. I trust the water in my DT to be pretty high quality, and aerated well, whereas fresh out of the barrel just-mixed salt water might not be. Thanks for the tip!

 

[melypr1985]

Unless you KNOW your DT is disease free, then I wouldn't suggest using the water from there for your QT.

You can pick up coppersafe and an API copper test kit while your there just in case. Garlic might help them start eating again, though you don't want to use this continuously after they start eating. An antibiotic would probably be helpful in the future and having it on hand is better than needing it and the store is closed. Kanaplex or Furan2 are both faves of mine.

 

[re76]

Unless you KNOW your DT is disease free, then I wouldn't suggest using the water from there for your QT.

You can pick up coppersafe and an API copper test kit while your there just in case. Garlic might help them start eating again, though you don't want to use this continuously after they start eating. An antibiotic would probably be helpful in the future and having it on hand is better than needing it and the store is closed. Kanaplex or Furan2 are both faves of mine.

Added coppersafe, copper test kit, garlic soak, and Kanaplex/Furan2 to my list.

 

[re76]

My LFS didn't have Coppersafe so I went with Cupramine instead. They did have the API copper test kit, which I also picked up. I got the Kanaplex as well.

I also got some frozen PE Mysis. So if they don't eat the flakes they are used to I can try to entice them with the mysis.

 

[melypr1985]

My LFS didn't have Coppersafe so I went with Cupramine instead. They did have the API copper test kit, which I also picked up. I got the Kanaplex as well.

I also got some frozen PE Mysis. So if they don't eat the flakes they are used to I can try to entice them with the mysis.

Dang. The API kit wont read Cupramine. You'll need the Seachem kit for that. I'm sorry I should have mentioned the options for both. hopefully you can return it and get the right one.

 

[re76]

Dang. The API kit wont read Cupramine. You'll need the Seachem kit for that. I'm sorry I should have mentioned the options for both. hopefully you can return it and get the right one.

No worries! The store is only ~1o minutes from my work, I can just swing by during lunch or after work one day and return it. I'm not sure if I saw a seachem test kit. They seem to have a ton of seachem products so it might just be hidden somewhere. If all else fails I can just order the seachem kit from Amazon.

 

[re76]

So I'm not sure if he is going to make it. He is laying on his side on the bottom of the tank right now. Still breathing heavily.

I did the transfer. I have some mysis thawing right now but I don't think he is going to take it.

I dosed this tank with Prazipro. The other clown seems to be getting on great.

At this point what do I try? What is standard protocol in a situation like this. If he doesn't make it should I go back to my LFS and try to get a refund or do I just eat my losses?