Is My Guy Okay?

[kay-dee]

He's been in here for 4 days now.
Day 1: Ate 2 soft pellets
Day 2: Ate Nothing
Day 3: Ate Frozen Spirulina Mysis
Day 4 (today): Ate 2-3 Soft Pellets

The thing is, he's been only eating once a day. I try feeding him breakfast & dinner but sometimes he's just not interested.

I end up overfeeding THE TANK since he's the only one in there right now. How do i clean the bits out before they decay & without doing water changes daily & scaring him?

Does he look ok? Is he just hosting the heater or dying??

Thanks.

 

[Mr. Mojo Rising]

IMO its ok but seems a little stressed. Is the tank properly cycled? What size is the tank?

Be careful about adding too much food to a brand new tank. Get some hermit crabs and nassarius snails to eat up the uneaten food.

 

[kay-dee]

IMO its ok but seems a little stressed. Is the tank properly cycled? What size is the tank?

Be careful about adding too much food to a brand new tank. Get some hermit crabs and nassarius snails to eat up the uneaten food.

It's a 20G cycled tank. I did a 10% water change since i knew i put too much food in. I'm hoping to get a crab this weekend if parameters are ok. I think there might be an ammonia spike of .15 - .25ppm which is why i also did that water change. Nitrates were also at 25ppm.

I was also told to dose Red Sea KH to bring up my alkalinity & ph which are at 6.8 & 7.7 respectively.

I'm worried a 50% water change would stress him out even more.

 

[W31Olds]

No not hosting. Fish looks a little thin and not behaving like a clownfish should. Try feeding frozen Brine Shrimp and you don't need to add many to see if he's eating. They don't pollute the water as much as pellets and your clownfish should gobble them up right away or there is something off. What are your Tank parameters? That's important info and see if you can get a close uo video.

 

[MoeStachio]

He's been in here for 4 days now.
Day 1: Ate 2 soft pellets
Day 2: Ate Nothing
Day 3: Ate Frozen Spirulina Mysis
Day 4 (today): Ate 2-3 Soft Pellets

The thing is, he's been only eating once a day. I try feeding him breakfast & dinner but sometimes he's just not interested.

I end up overfeeding THE TANK since he's the only one in there right now. How do i clean the bits out before they decay & without doing water changes daily & scaring him?

Does he look ok? Is he just hosting the heater or dying??

Thanks.

Photo won't load for me, and I'm barely qualified to keep marine fish let alone rate them lol

I suspect the fish is just stressed, it'll pass and it'll start eating everything. Keep trying

For clean up- get a Clean Up Crew.

I have 12snails, 3 hermit crabs, and a micro brittle/banded sea star

My tank is 15ga

For major debris and unsightly chunks- get a massive turkey baster and use that to pick up what you can. Works great for feeding and blowing off rocks and corals too.

 

[B&CinB.C.]

We got some long thin basters off of Amazon we use to clean out our QT tank if there's extra stuff floating around

 

[W31Olds]

What is the salinity? Your alkalinity & ph which are at 6.8 & 7.7 are not the problem.

 

[W31Olds]

Oh, and not likely a clownfish is stressed after after 4 days. If your salinity and ammonia are reasonable, he's most likely sick. Repost in "Fish Disease Treatment and Diagnosis" and Tag J. Hemdal.

 

[kay-dee]

What is the salinity? Your alkalinity & ph which are at 6.8 & 7.7 are not the problem.

1.025

 

[kay-dee]

No not hosting. Fish looks a little thin and not behaving like a clownfish should. Try feeding frozen Brine Shrimp and you don't need to add many to see if he's eating. They don't pollute the water as much as pellets and your clownfish should gobble them up right away or there is something off. What are your Tank parameters? That's important info and see if you can get a close uo video.

I have more videos it just won't upload cuz file too big!

Ph: 7.7
Alkalinity: 6.8
Salinity: 1.025
Ammonia: Possible spike 0.15 to 0.25ppm
Nitrite: 0.25ppm
Nitrate: 25ppm
Temp: 77.4

That's all that I test for.

My guy gobbled up the mysis but I'll try brine shrimp. He does swim around the tank happily throughout the day.

Maybe my wave maker is too strong as well.

 

[W31Olds]

My experience with clownfish is they are gluttons and rarely refuse food. Parameters look ok. post a short video for the fish medics.

 

[kay-dee]

No not hosting. Fish looks a little thin and not behaving like a clownfish should. Try feeding frozen Brine Shrimp and you don't need to add many to see if he's eating. They don't pollute the water as much as pellets and your clownfish should gobble them up right away or there is something off. What are your Tank parameters? That's important info and see if you can get a close uo video.

Here's a better video hopefully

 

[Dom]

It's a 20G cycled tank. I did a 10% water change since i knew i put too much food in. I'm hoping to get a crab this weekend if parameters are ok. I think there might be an ammonia spike of .15 - .25ppm which is why i also did that water change. Nitrates were also at 25ppm.

I was also told to dose Red Sea KH to bring up my alkalinity & ph which are at 6.8 & 7.7 respectively.

I'm worried a 50% water change would stress him out even more.

This is a new, 20 gallon tank. My experience has been that a 20% weekly water change (4 gallons) will provide enough nutrient export for a happy, healthy tank. It will also provide replenishment of nutrients consumed by the tank.

If you have ammonia in your tank, it is not cycled, and may be because you are moving too fast. And I don't see how you can have both ammonia and nitrate.

I don't see anything unusual in the behavior.

 

[kay-dee]

It's a 20G cycled tank. I did a 10% water change since i knew i put too much food in. I'm hoping to get a crab this weekend if parameters are ok. I think there might be an ammonia spike of .15 - .25ppm which is why i also did that water change. Nitrates were also at 25ppm.

I was also told to dose Red Sea KH to bring up my alkalinity & ph which are at 6.8 & 7.7 respectively.

I'm worried a 50% water change would stress him out even more.

This is a new, 20 gallon tank. My experience has been that a 20% weekly water change (4 gallons) will provide enough nutrient export for a happy, healthy tank. It will also provide replenishment of nutrients consumed by the tank.

If you have ammonia in your tank, it is not cycled, and may be because you are moving too fast. And I don't see how you can have both ammonia and nitrate.

I don't see anything unusual in the behavior.

This is what ammonia looks like now - i know API sucks which is why i use salifert which reads 0 - 0.25ppm. I compared the w tests. Only reason why i added a fish was bc the guy at the lfs said its ready & to just add more live bac if you see ammonia spike. I've been getting my hands in there to clean up extra food, not sure if that makes the fish more nervous but i don't need ammonia climbing.

 

[Dom]

This is what ammonia looks like now - i know API sucks which is why i use salifert which reads 0 - 0.25ppm. I compared the w tests. Only reason why i added a fish was bc the guy at the lfs said its ready & to just add more live bac if you see ammonia spike. I've been getting my hands in there to clean up extra food, not sure if that makes the fish more nervous but i don't need ammonia climbing.

My suggestion is that you double check here, what the LFS is telling you to do before doing it. Local pet stores are struggling to keep up with their on line counterparts. Their advice is largely revenue driven.

 

[W31Olds]

Is your new clown eating better? His swimming behavior looks normal so that's a good sign. I don't see any obvious sign of disease. A 10 percent water change is not going to do much. In a small QT tank I do as much as 50-80 percent all at once. The key is having your replacement water temp/ salinity matched and ready to go. Don't worry about stressing him out, clownfish are tough little buggars. Also, I fear your tank may not have been fully cycled. Keep checking your ammonia. It should always be zero with prudent feeding. @ jay Hemdal

 

[kay-dee]

Is your new clown eating better? His swimming behavior looks normal so that's a good sign. I don't see any obvious sign of disease. A 10 percent water change is not going to do much. In a small QT tank I do as much as 50-80 percent all at once. The key is having your replacement water temp/ salinity matched and ready to go. Don't worry about stressing him out, clownfish are tough little buggars. Also, I fear your tank may not have been fully cycled. Keep checking your ammonia. It should always be zero with prudent feeding. @ jay Hemdal

He ate good yesterday 2x ... this morning he didn't eat any of it. Am i feeding too soon after the lights come on? I'll try again later. Is Prime ok to use to detoxify the ammonia? I know it doesn't get rid of it. I guess it wasn't full cycled

 

[W31Olds]

Don't quote me, but I don't think prime is a good solution. There are some products that may be able to accelerate your cycle, but I'm not familiar with them. The ultimate solution would be to go back to your lfs and get a couple of pieces of live Rock.

 

[kay-dee]

Don't quote me, but I don't think prime is a good solution. There are some products that may be able to accelerate your cycle, but I'm not familiar with them. The ultimate solution would be to go back to your lfs and get a couple of pieces of live Rock.

Thanks so much for your help. And everyone else too..

I'm a little iffy about the LFS that sells the live rock. He showed it to me & I saw a bunch of creepy crawlers which I'm not sure if it'll harm my tank so i held off on that until i can find a more reputable place to get it. He also mentioned it came from many people's different tanks.