Clownfish Problems

[10galtank]

I’m quite new to this saltwater game. This is my first tank, previously used for years with freshwater. I preformed an ultra-supervised fish-in cycle. I used the clownfish and damsel, then once finished, added a cleaner shrimp and green Duncan coral frag.

My clownfish has yet to eat and it’s been plus or minus two weeks. Sometimes he will look at the food, but turn away. I’ve tried to feed him frozen mysis, frozen brine, live brine, flakes, pellets, and have even used garlic extract. I can confirm the damsel is not bothering him since he doesn’t mind him— and all the damsel does is hide as well but he hides in the LR structure. All my clownfish does it sit in the bottom corner. He keeps opening and closing his mouth and rubbing his side on the substrate. He stays very far away from everything in the tank, including structure. When he does decide to swim, it’s very odd— almost like he’s blindly swimming— sometimes he’ll stare at the surface.

Everywhere I go, I see clownfish freely swimming as happy as could be so it’s very frustrating to see mine live an almost sad life.

Tank Setup:
10 gallon
Fluval cp1 powerhead (pointed at surface)

5w heater (78 F)
Canister filter with Biomedia + Charcoal
5lb live rock
5lb live sand
Small amount of gravel

Cycle Info:
Dosing of beneficial bacteria daily
Dosing of Seachem prime daily

General Maintenance:
Seachem stability daily
Seachem prime daily
Salinity check and adjustments if needed

Important:
-Ammonia is 0.05ppm but the Seachem prime detoxifies it for the fish.
-I also use distilled water, no tap water.
-I have paid copious amounts of time to supervising this clownfish, no signs of disease whatsoever. He pooped clear since he is not eating.
-The most he has ever done is chew on a flake or two, but spit them out.
-Water parameters are very acceptable, excluding the 0.05ppm ammonia from him not eating— I have tried my best after every “feed” to clean out the food he does not eat but let’s be realistic, I cannot catch every speck. Partly why I picked up the cleaner shrimp.

 

[fishguy242]

Hi ,welcome to the reef,
can you post a short video of clowns breathing /swimming behavior , will help experts

 

[UkiahTheTurtle]

Really a cut little clown hope he gets better

 

[10galtank]

Hi ,welcome to the reef,
can you post a short video of clowns breathing /swimming behavior , will help experts

I am not sure how to post video, only see photo options

 

[Antyama]

What do you mean with ultra-supervised fish in cycle? I would expect the liverock and livesand to leech dead biomass at first which would result in an initial big spike of ammonia with its subsequent products. Normally beneficial since it adds the initial ammonia for the cycle, this could have maybe burned the gills of your fish. This might explain the scratching of its sides. On the other hand, the liverock should be able to process the ammonia. Scratching could also indicate gill-flukes, a freshwater dip might help then.
How was the fish before you put it into the tank?

 

[Antyama]

I am not sure how to post video, only see photo options

There should be an insert video option in the textbox settings bar

 

[Nano_Man]

You will have to get a photo in white light and a close up photo of your clown fish and post it . Then members can advise you on the correct treatment if any .
#fishmedic

 

[I never finish anythi]

List all tank parameters including tank salinity. And what you used to test with .

 

[Mr. Mojo Rising]

Cycling with fish-in is cruel, a bottle of bacteria costs only a few dollars to insta-cycle the tank, no need for fish to suffer.

There is very little rock, only one piece that I see. More rock will provide more hiding spots and help the fish feel more comfortable. Rock also provides the surface area for nitifying bacteria, so more rock means a stronger biofilter.

Very important to ensure the water is properly oxiginated, we accomplish this with a protein skimmer or by pointing a powerhead at the water surface to create agitation.

Is there any kind of flow at all in the tank, the water looks stagnant? HOB filter is not flow, it is a trickle of water onto the water surface, flow means pushing water back and forth across the tank, this is done with powerheads.

Saltwater hobby is nothing at all like freshwater, research and tank maintenance are much more important that freshwater tanks. If you want your fish to be happy and swim around, its important to create the correct environment, Your tank is set up like a freshwater tank, its not adequate for saltwater fish

 

[Jay Hemdal]

I’m quite new to this saltwater game. This is my first tank, previously used for years with freshwater. I preformed an ultra-supervised fish-in cycle. I used the clownfish and damsel, then once finished, added a cleaner shrimp and green Duncan coral frag.

My clownfish has yet to eat and it’s been plus or minus two weeks. Sometimes he will look at the food, but turn away. I’ve tried to feed him frozen mysis, frozen brine, live brine, flakes, pellets, and have even used garlic extract. I can confirm the damsel is not bothering him since he doesn’t mind him— and all the damsel does is hide as well but he hides in the LR structure. All my clownfish does it sit in the bottom corner. He keeps opening and closing his mouth and rubbing his side on the substrate. He stays very far away from everything in the tank, including structure. When he does decide to swim, it’s very odd— almost like he’s blindly swimming— sometimes he’ll stare at the surface.

Everywhere I go, I see clownfish freely swimming as happy as could be so it’s very frustrating to see mine live an almost sad life.

Tank Setup:
10 gallon
Fluval cp1 powerhead (pointed at surface)

5w heater (78 F)
Canister filter with Biomedia + Charcoal
5lb live rock
5lb live sand
Small amount of gravel

Cycle Info:
Dosing of beneficial bacteria daily
Dosing of Seachem prime daily

General Maintenance:
Seachem stability daily
Seachem prime daily
Salinity check and adjustments if needed

Important:
-Ammonia is 0.05ppm but the Seachem prime detoxifies it for the fish.
-I also use distilled water, no tap water.
-I have paid copious amounts of time to supervising this clownfish, no signs of disease whatsoever. He pooped clear since he is not eating.
-The most he has ever done is chew on a flake or two, but spit them out.
-Water parameters are very acceptable, excluding the 0.05ppm ammonia from him not eating— I have tried my best after every “feed” to clean out the food he does not eat but let’s be realistic, I cannot catch every speck. Partly why I picked up the cleaner shrimp.

Welcome to Reef2Reef!

I agree, a good video is going to help us a lot here. If the clownfish has never fed for you, it may have had a problem since before you got it.
The color change I see on your ammonia alert is darker than I’d expect at this point, do you have another way to test for ammonia?

Jay

 

[10galtank]

What do you mean with ultra-supervised fish in cycle? I would expect the liverock and livesand to leech dead biomass at first which would result in an initial big spike of ammonia with its subsequent products. Normally beneficial since it adds the initial ammonia for the cycle, this could have maybe burned the gills of your fish. This might explain the scratching of its sides. On the other hand, the liverock should be able to process the ammonia. Scratching could also indicate gill-flukes, a freshwater dip might help then.
How was the fish before you put it into the tank?

Normally, people wait to put in the fish. However, I used a method called the fish-in cycle to cycle my tank. The fish creates the ammonia, and I used the nitrifying bacteria to convert the nitrites to nitrates. I was very attentive and observant during this process to make sure fish were okay— and used the proper products to detoxify the ammonia during the cycle for my fish. Has me wondering, why would the damsel be fine when he’s been in the tank just as long? In the store, the clownfish was a little shy, but nothing far from a normal clown. He did in fact have a tank mate, but I read everywhere they can do fine by themselves.

 

[Cell]

Let's rewind.

Tell me about your live rock. If it was wet from an existing tank, then 5 lbs is plenty in a 10G tank to provide a skip cycle.

If you did not QT your fish, the clown may be sick. You need to get it eating soon though. Any other symptoms other than not eating and maybe some odd swimming, which is not atypical of clownfish?

 

[10galtank]

Cycling with fish-in is cruel, a bottle of bacteria costs only a few dollars to insta-cycle the tank, no need for fish to suffer.

There is very little rock, only one piece that I see. More rock will provide more hiding spots and help the fish feel more comfortable. Rock also provides the surface area for nitifying bacteria, so more rock means a stronger biofilter.

Very important to ensure the water is properly oxiginated, we accomplish this with a protein skimmer or by pointing a powerhead at the water surface to create agitation.

Is there any kind of flow at all in the tank, the water looks stagnant? HOB filter is not flow, it is a trickle of water onto the water surface, flow means pushing water back and forth across the tank, this is done with powerheads.

Saltwater hobby is nothing at all like freshwater, research and tank maintenance are much more important that freshwater tanks. If you want your fish to be happy and swim around, its important to create the correct environment, Your tank is set up like a freshwater tank, its not adequate for saltwater fish

I would beg to differ however I value your opinion. There is plenty flow in my tank, a picture cannot show you. In my thread post, I listed I used a fluval cp1 powerhead pointed at the surface. I also listed that I used Seachem prime to detoxify the ammonia for the fish to make the safest atmosphere for them. I am a commercial fisherman by trade and kill fish for a living here in FL (rod and reel) the action of me coming here to ask for help for this clownfish should show you my moral standing.

 

[Cell]

Prime does not work like Seachem claims.

Does Prime actually "Detoxify" free ammonia, NH3?

I’m just reporting what happened over the past few days Nitrate was the same color as it has been - barely above zero - and I’ve been tracking this for weeks because I’m having a low nutrient issue My ammonia had a sudden spike which was confirmed over 3 test kits, I dosed prime aggressively...

www.reef2reef.com

 

[10galtank]

Let's rewind.

Tell me about your live rock. If it was wet from an existing tank, then 5 lbs is plenty in a 10G tank to provide a skip cycle.

If you did not QT your fish, the clown may be sick. You need to get it eating soon though. Any other symptoms other than not eating and maybe some odd swimming, which is not atypical of clownfish?

Unfortunately, it was not wet. I bought it as live rock, not just some piece of dry rock. I accompanied it with wet live sand to be extra safe. I also have poured plenty of beneficial bacteria into the tank since start-up.

 

[10galtank]

I am not sure how to post video, only see photo options

 

[10galtank]

 

[Cell]

Then you did not buy live rock and it should not have been called such. If it's dry, it is not live, it does not matter if it's new or was previously live. It is now dead. Some rock company muddled things when they released a product called "life rock" which supposedly has dormant bacteria. But it's also not true live rock.

Bottled cycling bacteria works well amd given how cheap it is, should always be used if you want to stock fish immediately. No reason to fish-in cycle without it anymore.

 

[10galtank]

Welcome to Reef2Reef!

I agree, a good video is going to help us a lot here. If the clownfish has never fed for you, it may have had a problem since before you got it.
The color change I see on your ammonia alert is darker than I’d expect at this point, do you have another way to test for ammonia?

Jay

 

[Cell]

Stability does not work well as a cycling bacteria.

Not all Cycling Bacteria are created equal. Who's who, and what do they need?

(post 3 updated with procedure) Procedure Part 1 - Ammonia only: This - Part 1 - is meant to be pretty restrictive to clearly distinguish those sources with and without classic chemoautotrophic nitrifiers. Bacteria products that don't process ammonia under these conditions will have their...

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