Help! Second clown fish breathing hard

[mac1284]

Thanks for the replies last post. Unfortunately the clown didn't survive the night : (


Now my other clown is starting to behave like the one that died this morning. I have plenty of surface agitation I now have even thrown in a airstone. He's been hiding under a ledge slightly twitching and breathing heavy since. It seems if I turn off the return pump he will swim around pacing the glass more and his breathing will slow down. I added a airstone for good measure.


This is incredibly heart breaking as these are (were) my first two fish.


Equipment: Water box 90.3 Two heaters kept at 78.6F Tunze ATO


Sicce return pump Nero 3 Water box Reef Salt BRS 7 Stage RODI


Today I even took my water to my LFS and had them test it and it returned actually better then when I ran it myself. (Which wasn't terrible to begin with)

 

[Mr. Mojo Rising]

How old is the tank? How often do you do water changes? How did you acclimate the fish? Were the fish QT'd?

Can we see a full tank picture please? Lets see how the tank is built.

 

[threebuoys]

Did you test the salinity of the water in the bag when you received the fish? Often, the salinity in shipped fish bag is much lower than where your tank is at. If that was the case, the rapid increase in salinity (e.g. from 1.019 to 1.025 in one day) can be harmful.

More details and photos, videos will be helpful.

 

[mac1284]

How old is the tank? How often do you do water changes? How did you acclimate the fish? Were the fish QT'd?

Can we see a full tank picture please? Lets see how the tank is built.

Tank was cycled completely in January. I do water changes weekly.

 

[mac1284]

Did you test the salinity of the water in the bag when you received the fish? Often, the salinity in shipped fish bag is much lower than where your tank is at. If that was the case, the rapid increase in salinity (e.g. from 1.019 to 1.025 in one day) can be harmful.

More details and photos, videos will be helpful.

I got them from Dr Reef, the salinity was 1.023 on arrival I matched it with a bucket of fresh saltwater at 1.023. The water they came in didn’t seem off at all.

 

[Mr. Mojo Rising]

Would suggest to add a powerhead into the tank, there is no flow. Biological filtration occurs with the rocks and flow, the water has to flow through the rocks for biofiltration to work. Its like having a biowheel that doesn't turn, if it doesn't turn then its not effective. Same here, if there is no flow going through the rocks, then the rocks are not effective.

Would also suggest to take 5 minutes and google the "the berlin filtration method", it explains more about how biofiltration works with rocks and flow.

 

[mac1284]

Would suggest to add a powerhead into the tank, there is no flow. Biological filtration occurs with the rocks and flow, the water has to flow through the rocks for biofiltration to work. Its like having a biowheel that doesn't turn, if it doesn't turn then its not effective.

Would also suggest to take 5 minutes and google the "the berlin filtration method", it explains more about how biofiltration works with rocks and flow.

There actually is a Nero 3 that’s on in the corner blowing across the live rock. The return pump is decently strong. If you drop a piece of food in it definitely moved by the different currents. My apologies I should’ve posted a better picture, the forum is finicky about photo size when I try to attach.

 

[threebuoys]

I got them from Dr Reef, the salinity was 1.023 on arrival I matched it with a bucket of fresh saltwater at 1.023. The water they came in didn’t seem off at all.

The fish appears to be breathing very rapidly, and perhaps the fins are clamped?

Try to count the number of breaths is 10 or 15 seconds and extrapolate that to a minute. I fear the clown may have velvet, although I would not have expected that since you received the fish from Dr. Reef. Heavy breathing, 100 to 200 breaths per minute, can be a symptom. Do you notice any mucus on the fish?

Nothing stands out in your description that would cause me to expect rapid death. Patogens in the water, or a fast action deadly disease seem most likely.

 

[mac1284]

The fish appears to be breathing very rapidly, and perhaps the fins are clamped?

Try to count the number of breaths is 10 or 15 seconds and extrapolate that to a minute. I fear the clown may have velvet, although I would not have expected that since you received the fish from Dr. Reef. Heavy breathing, 100 to 200 breaths per minute, can be a symptom. Do you notice any mucus on the fish?

Nothing stands out in your description that would cause me to expect rapid death. Patogens in the water, or a fast action deadly disease seem most likely.

Hello,

So since last night I started running (rinsed) carbon to try to eliminate any possible contaminates. The fish has appeared to dig a little hole from what I read is normal so that gives me hope. I still haven’t seen him eat. I took a video of him just now. No spots or slime that I can tell however I am pretty new to recognising fish ailments.