Clownfish spitting out food

[Eric1493]

I just got 2 clowns, abt one week ago. They ate Hikari marine s pellets on the first day after a 1.5 hour acclimation. 2 days ago I did a water change to raise the salinity 0.001 sg. Yesterday the smaller one seemed a bit lethargic, ate less, but otherwise fine. Today he ate a bunch but the larger one is now spitting out her food and flashed once on the rocks. Should I treat preemptively or am I overreacting? I have a bottle of prazipro, but no other meds. A hospital tank isn’t really realistic for me. Ammonia and nitrite are 0, nitrate 20ppm, pH 7.8.

Thank you in advance!

 

[JaykS]

I just got 2 clowns, abt one week ago. They ate Hikari marine s pellets on the first day after a 1.5 hour acclimation. 2 days ago I did a water change to raise the salinity 0.001 sg. Yesterday the smaller one seemed a bit lethargic, ate less, but otherwise fine. Today he ate a bunch but the larger one is now spitting out her food and flashed once on the rocks. Should I treat preemptively or am I overreacting? I have a bottle of prazipro, but no other meds. A hospital tank isn’t really realistic for me. Ammonia and nitrite are 0, nitrate 20ppm, pH 7.8.

Thank you in advance!

I wouldn’t treat medications with live rock if your planning to have corals, rock can absorb then release, killing coral

 

[Eric1493]

I wouldn’t treat medications with live rock if your planning to have corals, rock can absorb then release, killing coral

Thank you for your reply! I thought prazipro was reef safe, and only harmful to tube anemones etc. not corals? In any case, is this something I should treat, or does the fish require treatment?

 

[smm52487]

Have you tried multiple types of food? I have had some fish not eat pellets but will eat flakes, etc.

 

[Eric1493]

Have you tried multiple types of food? I have had some fish not eat pellets but will eat flakes, etc.

I have not. I guess I could, but I don’t think that the food is the problem. They both have been eating lots over the past week and seem to like it a lot. Do you have any recommendations for flake food?

 

[JaykS]

Thank you for your reply! I thought prazipro was reef safe, and only harmful to tube anemones etc. not corals? In any case, is this something I should treat, or does the fish require treatment?

I don’t have experience with prazi so I’m not sure if it does or not, I prefer to play safe and I personally don’t medicate with rocks involved. As for the fish needing treatment, I think I’d prefer someone else’s opinion as I’m relatively new to the hobby as well, but from my experience it could be ich involved from scratching. You could try garlic soaked food and go from there. I personally would do all the tricks I know to get her to eat before jumping into medication. Unless there are more obvious signs that would cause it to suppress its eating.

 

[JaykS]

Have you tried multiple types of food? I have had some fish not eat pellets but will eat flakes, etc.

Agreed, try other foods, garlic soaked first

 

[Eric1493]

I don’t have experience with prazi so I’m not sure if it does or not, I prefer to play safe and I personally don’t medicate with rocks involved. As for the fish needing treatment, I think I’d prefer someone else’s opinion as I’m relatively new to the hobby as well, but from my experience it could be ich involved from scratching. You could try garlic soaked food and go from there. I personally would do all the tricks I know to get her to eat before jumping into medication. Unless there are more obvious signs that would cause it to suppress its eating.

I don’t see any spots or other symptoms of ich, so I suspected flukes. No other obvious symptoms. I will try the garlic. Would I cut up a clove and soak the food in the juice?

 

[JaykS]

I don’t see any spots or other symptoms of ich, so I suspected flukes. No other obvious symptoms. I will try the garlic. Would I cut up a clove and soak the food in the juice?

I tried that once, not sure if it worked or not, I would assume it would, I ultimately bought Brightwells garlic

 

[Eric1493]

I tried that once, not sure if it worked or not, I would assume it would, I ultimately bought Brightwells garlic

Ok, I found seachem garlicguard on Amazon. Would that work?

 

[JaykS]

Ok, I found seachem garlicguard on Amazon. Would that work?

Yes, lots of people use it

 

[JaykS]

Ok, I found seachem garlicguard on Amazon. Would that work?

According to humble fish prazi is reef safe as well as gentle on fish. If all else fails I’d monitor the fish closely, potentially treating

Flukes

Flukes (Monogeneans) – General Guidelines ** Updated 1/11/23 ** Many thanks to “Newsmyrna80” for writing this. Reposted with her permission. Some facts: Flukes are not true flukes. They are actually parasitic flatworms belonging to the class of Monogeans. There are 13 families of flukes...

humble.fish

 

[JaykS]

I would just pay attention to the aeration of the tank if you did dose. I’d probably run a sponge air filter during treatment to be on the safe side

 

[Eric1493]

I would just pay attention to the aeration of the tank if you did dose. I’d probably run a sponge air filter during treatment to be on the safe side

Thank you for the resource! Unfortunately I don’t have a sponge filter or air stone. Would a 565 gph powerhead aimed at the water surface be enough to provide enough air? Or would I have to buy a sponge filter?

 

[JaykS]

Thank you for the resource! Unfortunately I don’t have a sponge filter or air stone. Would a 565 gph powerhead aimed at the water surface be enough to provide enough air? Or would I have to buy a sponge filter?

Yes that should work, I would keep it up close to the top of the tank, not so it’s sucking in air but to get a good movement and ripple on the top. It’s also recommended to stop your skimmer or remove the cup

 

[JaykS]

Also idk if you use prime at all, Seachem a prime, but don’t mix the two, some people have negative effects when mixing, some don’t but it’s better to not roll the dice

 

[JaykS]

This is a good recent thread regarding flukes with peoples different scenarios

HELP - Flukes help!

Hi All, I have discovered my tank has flukes in it. I managed to catch one fish and FW dip but had to return to display as I have no QT and am not allowed to buy tanks from stores as a result of the COVID-19 lockdown.... I also tried catching a few fish but it seems near impossible even with a...

humble.fish

 

[Eric1493]

This is a good recent thread regarding flukes with peoples different scenarios

HELP - Flukes help!

Hi All, I have discovered my tank has flukes in it. I managed to catch one fish and FW dip but had to return to display as I have no QT and am not allowed to buy tanks from stores as a result of the COVID-19 lockdown.... I also tried catching a few fish but it seems near impossible even with a...

humble.fish

Thank you again! I will be sure to not use prime for a couple days If I dose. If they still won’t eat with the garlic, I’ll dose prazipro and update the thread. Thanks to everyone for their help!

 

[JaykS]

Thank you again! I will be sure to not use prime for a couple days If I dose. If they still won’t eat with the garlic, I’ll dose prazipro and update the thread. Thanks to everyone for their help!

No worries, good luck!

 

[Biglew11]

fish need multiple types of food any way. my clowns love algae enriched brine shrimp and hikari seaweed extreme