Lost a clown, now maybe another, help please.

[aircrane1]

I purchased two small ORA Oscellaris clowns online over a month ago. Both ate right away but one quit within a couple of days. Within 12 days I lost him. Don't know why, he started breathing heavy and toward the end was swimming irregularly (on his side, nose down and jerky). He had a little bit of fin splitting? (not sure how to describe it). The other clown has been doing very well. Eats great, no unusual activity and moves around the tank quite a bit.

Fast forward to February 1. Added a new clown to replace the one we lost. Bonded pretty quick with each other. Also added a Royal Gramma, tiny Randalls Goby and a Coral beauty. Everybody is doing fantstic, eating and moving around a lot. All of a sudden two days ago the new clown started acting exactly like the one that passed away. Get home this evening and now the old clown, the one that has been just fine all along is freaking out. Acting just like the one we lost and the newest addition.

Sorry for the long winded diatribe but this is really bothering me. Everybody else in the tank is doing great and I cannot figure out what is happening with the clowns. Very depressing.

Here are my particulars;
Tank is healthy, even have copepods all over the glass lately.
55 gallon w / 11 gal sump
Ammonia = 0, Salifert
Nitrate = 5-10, Salifert
Nitrite = 0, Salifert
pH = 8.3 (Salifert, 8.38 APEX)
Phosphate = 0.2 Hanna
Salinity has been steady at 1.024

I would really appreciate any help I could get. I can't even begin to undestand what is wrong. It isn't a tank wide issue from what I can see. No visible issues like Ich, gill discoloration or anything like that. Only initial sign are rapid breathing.

Thanks in advance for your help!

 

[ndrwater]

Do you have a picture of video? It would be very helpful

 

[CamG]

I had the same thing happen to me.... they are trying to figure out who will be the male and who will be the female... its hard to watch at times as they will really fight. I now have only one clown because of this. Some have good results with pairing clowns, unfortunately not me.

 

[Raege]

Any other symptoms on the clowns beside the rapid breathing and swimming positions? Any mucous coating in excess fuzz or rashes?
#reefsquad

 

[aircrane1]

Do you have a picture of video? It would be very helpful

Ihae a couple but they are not very god but i'll post anyway.

Post loss right after pulling from the tank;

this one shows the fin issue I mentioned (not very well). It's the only thing about their physical appearance I saw that was out of the ordinary.

I wish there were more I could tell you, I know it's nearly impossible to diagnose something with this little info.

 

[aircrane1]

Any other symptoms on the clowns beside the rapid breathing and swimming positions? Any mucous coating in excess fuzz or rashes?
#reefsquad

Not that I could see. Nothing physically wrong, just actions (breathing and iregular swimming). the original clown that has been with us the longest has been eating like a pig but did not eat this afternoon when I got home. This was the first time I saw her acting like this, so darn quick (overnight). The newest (as well as the one in the pic) never really ate so they were thin and coloration was not outstanding but I really haven't noticed gill issues, mucus or anything like that.

 

[Raege]

Losing fish stinks hopefully something will point in right direction from those more well versed in this stuff. Could be with the fins them fighting for dominance and not truly be bonded or was asking about the mucous and fuzz if it could have been brook. Best of luck hopefully someone can nail it down for ya

 

[4FordFamily]

Is it an accurate observation that the anus of the deceased clown is red and appears infected?

 

[ndrwater]

Swimming irregularities sounds like a swim bladder issue. Often bacterial.. but... Clowns swim weird normally...
Rapid breathing sounds like ammonia, flukes or some other distressor causing difficulty breathing. The fish never headed into a powerhead looking for additional flow?? Or did it?
My knee jerk reaction is a bacterial infection... But there are definitely smarter people than me out there... Like @Humblefish and @HotRocks just to name a couple...

 

[ngoodermuth]

Heavy breathing and sudden refusing to eat can be caused by a few things, the first thing that comes to mind to me based on your description is internal parasites. Have you seen any white, stringy poop from either of them?

 

[aircrane1]

I actually just got a video of the irregular swimming I mentioned.



Not sure if it works, never really uploaded to you tube before.

 

[aircrane1]

Heavy breathing and sudden refusing to eat can be caused by a few things, the first thing that comes to mind to me based on your description is internal parasites. Have you seen any white, stringy poop from either of them?

No, I honestly haven't even seen them poop yet. I'm not home a ton lately, just a couple hours in the evenings. Still have one left so I'll try to observe better.

 

[ndrwater]

He looks like he is arguing with himself... The fish can see his reflection in the bottom of the tank...

 

[WWIII]

I actually just got a video of the irregular swimming I mentioned.



Not sure if it works, never really uploaded to you tube before.

It works. That swimming behavior looks pretty normal to me though. Looks aggressive towards it's reflection, which can be typical with new clowns sometimes. Sorry for your loss! Hope more insight from guys/girls here to come!

 

[aircrane1]

Is it an accurate observation that the anus of the deceased clown is red and appears infected?

Could be, just a little?!?

 

[Frtdrmrose7]

Is it an accurate observation that the anus of the deceased clown is red and appears infected?

I seem to think I see mucous on the forward area of the gill and above his fin. Thoughts?

 

[aircrane1]

He looks like he is arguing with himself... The fish can see his reflection in the bottom of the tank...

I truly wish that were the case but he is in the QT tank in that video and the same sort of activiy was going on in the DT with gravel bottom.

 

[aircrane1]

I seem to think I see mucous on the forward area of the gill and above his fin. Thoughts?

I think you may be right, looks a bit red / irritated along the gill as well.

 

[ngoodermuth]

It looks like he’s fighting his reflection. Is that the new one? He might just still be stressed/settling in? Or if it’s the old one maybe he’s a little stressed over the new one?

 

[aircrane1]

It looks like he’s fighting his reflection. Is that the new one? He might just still be stressed/settling in? Or if it’s the old one maybe he’s a little stressed over the new one?

The new and the old seemed to have a pretty good relationship from the start (after a short pecking order discussion). Funny thing is that She (the older one) seemed to be pretty happy to have a new mate from the start. As he started to show signs of an issue, he would move a short distance from her and she would give him his space but check up on him regularly. She semed to keep an eye on him and come closer from time to time and they spent the night next to each other always in the same spot in the tank.

I feel like I am describing people here but we do get attached to the little guys.