Clownfish Not Eating (trying to at least), One dead

[LifeOfAquatics]

Hey, so I got a clownfish (actually 2) about 3 and a half weeks ago. They have been in quarantine for that period in a 5 gallon (they are pretty small, the biggest one I would say is just below an inch). They are with a cleaner shrimp and a fighting conch who were part of my old tank. I was going to add them to my main display last Saturday but I fell sick and couldn't leave my room. Sunday morning, the smaller clownfish is dead. It looked like it had been completely eaten with just a thin layer of skin left. I, at the moment, blamed myself for it because I hadn't cleaned the tank for the past 3 weeks (I've had a lot of exams and I do take ownership for this). I do feel horrible that my small clownfish died because of it. But before that, it was perfectly fine. Both were active and eating Friday night, Saturday didn't check, sunday basically a thin sheet of skin.
Anyway, the past 2 days my other own, the roughly 1 inch one, it has been doing ok. still active, but its not eating, or not swallowing per se. The past 2-ish days, I've been feeding him he shows interest in the food and even puts it in his mouth, but doesn't swallow it. normally i feed pellets, but today i decided to try mysis shrimp incase maybe he didn't like the pellets for some reason. same thing, he tried eating it but just spat it back out. he's completely active, follows my finger even at times, gets excited when i come close to the tank like he normally does when i feed, but he just doesn't eat in front of me. I'm not sure if he actually eats the food when I'm gone, but he's just not eating it. also, he is having some white stringy poo.
i cleaned the tank sunday immediately when i found out that the smaller clown died. salinity is around 35ppt. he's not swimming weirdly or anything. tank has a heater and up until the other clown died, it had a air pump. has a hob filter as well. also i put photos down below the torn fins he and the other clown have both had for a while i think its just from their old tank there were like 20 clowns in one tank when i got them and they were on the smaller side.
i looked it up the day i noticed him not eating and i think i saw someone say to another person who went through their clown dying and the other one not eating as them "just missing their friend". didn't know what to make of it so i thought id give it another day. hes a mocha clown btw they both were. I'm not really sure what is going on hes never resisted food before and hes acting just fine. although i will note (i may just be paranoid so pls don't pay too much attention to this part) but i think i saw some white stringy poo a few weeks ago and he was still eating. my mind might just be playing tricks on me with this fact but maybe it could be useful.
if anyone could help it would be greatly appreciated!

 

[blaxsun]

Is the survivor still in QT or have you moved him into the DT? When fish die, everything will avail themselves of the free meal.

 

[LifeOfAquatics]

Is the survivor still in QT or have you moved him into the DT? When fish die, everything will avail themselves of the free meal.

Survivor has been in QT, neither of them even touched the DT yet

 

[LifeOfAquatics]

Bump? Pls I need some advice rn

 

[moz71]

Could have been ammonia Bildung since a small new QT. WTer changes could wonders. My not respond immediately to eating but should over a couple days. As long as you don’t see any bacterial infections nothing more to do. Can try some live brine shrimp if you can get a hold of some

 

[LifeOfAquatics]

Could have been ammonia Bildung since a small new QT. WTer changes could wonders. My not respond immediately to eating but should over a couple days. As long as you don’t see any bacterial infections nothing more to do. Can try some live brine shrimp if you can get a hold of some

Its still very active tho, ill just see how it goes for rest of the week.

 

[Sharkbait19]

I couldn’t tell from the pics, were there any white spots or fuzzy patches on the clown? Many diseases suppress appetite.
Or perhaps an intestinal parasite?
How big are the pellets? A problem there could be that they are too big for the clowns to eat. I had that problem and by crushing the pellets they were able to eat again.

 

[moz71]

So looking at the pictures it may appear missing some tail fin and small pieces on dorsal. (Very small). Could be from nipping from other clowns or could have been from bacterial infection. However rest of fish looks ok to me. Either way just keep up on water changes to ensure no aminos build up. White stringy poo is could be sign of internal parasite but I am not sure that would cause him to stop eating.
calling @Jay Hemdal aince he is expert and usually in fish disease section

 

[Jay Hemdal]

Hey, so I got a clownfish (actually 2) about 3 and a half weeks ago. They have been in quarantine for that period in a 5 gallon (they are pretty small, the biggest one I would say is just below an inch). They are with a cleaner shrimp and a fighting conch who were part of my old tank. I was going to add them to my main display last Saturday but I fell sick and couldn't leave my room. Sunday morning, the smaller clownfish is dead. It looked like it had been completely eaten with just a thin layer of skin left. I, at the moment, blamed myself for it because I hadn't cleaned the tank for the past 3 weeks (I've had a lot of exams and I do take ownership for this). I do feel horrible that my small clownfish died because of it. But before that, it was perfectly fine. Both were active and eating Friday night, Saturday didn't check, sunday basically a thin sheet of skin.
Anyway, the past 2 days my other own, the roughly 1 inch one, it has been doing ok. still active, but its not eating, or not swallowing per se. The past 2-ish days, I've been feeding him he shows interest in the food and even puts it in his mouth, but doesn't swallow it. normally i feed pellets, but today i decided to try mysis shrimp incase maybe he didn't like the pellets for some reason. same thing, he tried eating it but just spat it back out. he's completely active, follows my finger even at times, gets excited when i come close to the tank like he normally does when i feed, but he just doesn't eat in front of me. I'm not sure if he actually eats the food when I'm gone, but he's just not eating it. also, he is having some white stringy poo.
i cleaned the tank sunday immediately when i found out that the smaller clown died. salinity is around 35ppt. he's not swimming weirdly or anything. tank has a heater and up until the other clown died, it had a air pump. has a hob filter as well. also i put photos down below the torn fins he and the other clown have both had for a while i think its just from their old tank there were like 20 clowns in one tank when i got them and they were on the smaller side.
i looked it up the day i noticed him not eating and i think i saw someone say to another person who went through their clown dying and the other one not eating as them "just missing their friend". didn't know what to make of it so i thought id give it another day. hes a mocha clown btw they both were. I'm not really sure what is going on hes never resisted food before and hes acting just fine. although i will note (i may just be paranoid so pls don't pay too much attention to this part) but i think i saw some white stringy poo a few weeks ago and he was still eating. my mind might just be playing tricks on me with this fact but maybe it could be useful.
if anyone could help it would be greatly appreciated!

Really small clownfish are more delicate than larger ones. 1” is pretty tiny. Have you tried chopping the mysids into tiny pieces to see if it will swallow them that way?
Jay

 

[LifeOfAquatics]

I couldn’t tell from the pics, were there any white spots or fuzzy patches on the clown? Many diseases suppress appetite.
Or perhaps an intestinal parasite?
How big are the pellets? A problem there could be that they are too big for the clowns to eat. I had that problem and by crushing the pellets they were able to eat again.

no white spots, i think on one side the white color on his stripes is a bit brighter but that's about it. the pellets are decently sized, they cant take them down w one bite but normally over time they soften up and they get them. i did crush some pellets a while back and mixed them in the container, I feel like he may be eating at night or when the pellets soften up because I feed right before I go to sleep, in the morning I never really checked for leftover food but then again I never saw it but it may be because of my conch and cleaner shrimp.

 

[LifeOfAquatics]

So looking at the pictures it may appear missing some tail fin and small pieces on dorsal. (Very small). Could be from nipping from other clowns or could have been from bacterial infection. However rest of fish looks ok to me. Either way just keep up on water changes to ensure no aminos build up. White stringy poo is could be sign of internal parasite but I am not sure that would cause him to stop eating.
calling @Jay Hemdal aince he is expert and usually in fish disease section

99% sure the missing fins are just from the other clowns I'm not too worried about that.
I'm planning another water change this Friday, just curious, should I try a freshwater dip?
i do have pimafix but idk if that could or even should be used

 

[LifeOfAquatics]

I couldn’t tell from the pics, were there any white spots or fuzzy patches on the clown? Many diseases suppress appetite.
Or perhaps an intestinal parasite?
How big are the pellets? A problem there could be that they are too big for the clowns to eat. I had that problem and by crushing the pellets they were able to eat again.

should i try a freshwater dip? i don't have any saltwater fish meds, I do have pimafix but idk if that would/could work.

 

[LifeOfAquatics]

Really small clownfish are more delicate than larger ones. 1” is pretty tiny. Have you tried chopping the mysids into tiny pieces to see if it will swallow them that way?
Jay

the mysis were already rather small, small enough for him to swallow except he didn't swallow them.
i have pimafix but idk if i should use it, freshwater dip idk if i should do as well.

 

[Jay Hemdal]

the mysis were already rather small, small enough for him to swallow except he didn't swallow them.
i have pimafix but idk if i should use it, freshwater dip idk if i should do as well.

I doubt a FW dip will help. I don’t suppose you have access to live baby brine shrimp?
Jay

 

[LifeOfAquatics]

I doubt a FW dip will help. I don’t suppose you have access to live baby brine shrimp?
Jay

Yea, unfortunately, no brine shrimp, someone earlier suggested I just wait for a while and just keep cleaning the tank and eventually he may eat, should I try that?

 

[Sharkbait19]

For Intestinal parasites, not eating and white stringy poo is a telltale sign. Levamisole hcl is the best treatment. I’d personally try that route first, as fish deteriorate fast with that.

 

[LifeOfAquatics]

Hey everyone, just thought people should know that my other clownfish did pass. I just checked the tank this morning before leaving and he was on the ground dead. But i do appreciate everyone who tried to help.

 

[Sharkbait19]

Sorry to hear