New clown seems to be struggling

mjw88

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I have a mated pair of Picasso Clowns, I added them to the tank 2 days ago, they explored and adjusted fine, found a few spots they like, they’ve been eating well and excitedly wiggle around when someone approaches. Early this am I came down and the little male was laying on the sand and looked to be breathing faster than the female, also seemed to be swimming “harder” and couldn’t come to the top. I had to be to work at 6am so I didn’t have much time to watch or address an issues, I did a quick test and I have no Ammonia or Nitrates, ph 8, salinity 1.025, temp 80.7, after I got ready to leave I checked on him again and he seemed back to normal. Just wondering if I caught him sleeping or if something else is afoot. I’ve researched this stuff pretty extensively, just wondering if I’m being paranoid or something I need to watch out for.

photos are from last nights feeding, frozen brine shrimp

60F100D5-A8DC-4A2B-9EA7-90F2F532F165.png 63F9D94C-F6A0-4A95-8704-891F56F48DC1.png
 
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Jay Hemdal

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It wasn’t clear to me - are the clowns new to you, or did you have them before and just moved them to a new tank?
If they are a new purchase, what can you tell us of their history?
This could be nothing, but it could also be a case of ADR - Ain’t Doin Right. Sometimes, a seemingly minor symptom cascades into a major problem.
Jay
 
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mjw88

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It wasn’t clear to me - are the clowns new to you, or did you have them before and just moved them to a new tank?
If they are a new purchase, what can you tell us of their history?
This could be nothing, but it could also be a case of ADR - Ain’t Doin Right. Sometimes, a seemingly minor symptom cascades into a major problem.
Jay
Yes they are new, been at the LFS for a few months and paired up. Have had my tank empty for a month with just Marcorock, then added live rock, Chaeto and CuC for 2 weeks, have done 2 40% water changes, water quality is good. Maybe just paranoid
 
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mjw88

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No nitrites as well, looking at more videos and pictures I think I just woke him up, he was sleeping in and the female and fire goby were already up and moving
 

sksouthpaw

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Certainly possible, ive never had that specific pair, but my snowflake pair and ocellaris in my old tank never slept on the sand like that. I would keep an eye on them. Ive seen a blue star laying on the sand bed before as well as a lyretail and both ended up succumbing to disease. Blue star I think was killed by flukes and the lyretail still not sure. Luckily my QT tank is up and running so shouldnt have that issue again
 

Jay Hemdal

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Is the tank still cycling? You had mentioned no ammonia and no nitrates. But right in the middle of both of those is nitrites. Pretty stressful on fish.
Nitrite is actually non-toxic to marine fish at any concentration that would seen in a cycling tank. Nitrite is deadly to freshwater fish, but salt ions render it non-toxic. Ammonia is the real killer at high pH marine systems.
Jay
 
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mjw88

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I’m not too worried about having built up many Nitrates/phosphate etc, I’ve had clean water with multiple good test, and my protein skimmer has been running full time for 2 weeks and has hardly changed, liquid is starting to get a light apple juice type look to it. Fish have only had 3 feedings, shouldn’t be very much for bio waste, CUC is large 5 mex turbos, 12 bluelegged hermits, 2 sump chambers with a small coarse foam pre cleaning pad with Chaeto and a second with Marco and dragons breath, both have Copepods in them.
 
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sksouthpaw

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Nitrite is actually non-toxic to marine fish at any concentration that would seen in a cycling tank. Nitrite is deadly to freshwater fish, but salt ions render it non-toxic. Ammonia is the real killer at high pH marine systems.
Jay
Not true, you are correct that for the most part it will be non toxic to marine fish at the levels we would see in our systems.. BUT significant, severe elevations can still throw off homeostasis even in marine fish.
 

Jay Hemdal

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In the video, both clowns seem to be struggling and the smaller one seems worse than the one on the left. The one on the left *seems* to be breathing really hard, but it is tough to see. Can you try for a better video taken under whiter light?

I don't think this is "waking up from sleeping" I think there is something cooking here....

Jay
 

sksouthpaw

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Not true, you are correct that for the most part it will be non toxic to marine fish at the levels we would see in our systems.. BUT significant, severe elevations can still throw off homeostasis even in marine fish.
Ahh nevermind, I re-read your post, “levels we would see during a cycle.” You are correct sir, I retract my statement hahaha
 

sksouthpaw

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In the video, both clowns seem to be struggling and the smaller one seems worse than the one on the left. The one on the left *seems* to be breathing really hard, but it is tough to see. Can you try for a better video taken under whiter light?

I don't think this is "waking up from sleeping" I think there is something cooking here....

Jay
Jay, how are you viewing the video, it wont show up for me? (Im also viewing on my phone so don't know if that makes a difference)
 
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mjw88

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In the video, both clowns seem to be struggling and the smaller one seems worse than the one on the left. The one on the left *seems* to be breathing really hard, but it is tough to see. Can you try for a better video taken under whiter light?

I don't think this is "waking up from sleeping" I think there is something cooking here....

Jay
Ok, I did call the LFS where I got them, sent him the video and asked his opinion, he just said to give them a little time, he also tested my water Friday when I picked them up and said everything was perfect, told me clowns can be quirky and don’t panick just yet, he also said he’s had many clowns before that he was sure were going down hill and we’re going to die and still has them years later. He thought they could still be adjusting to the new tank/water. He said no matter how close you think you have it, the salinity is slightly different, the temp is different etc. Not sure how I feel about his answers but seems like I need to just wait and see.
 

Jay Hemdal

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Jay, how are you viewing the video, it wont show up for me? (Im also viewing on my phone so don't know if that makes a difference)
For some reason, I can only view YouTube linked videos on my phone. For this video, I was on my desktop and I downloaded the file and viewed it that way.

Jay
 
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mjw88

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In the video, both clowns seem to be struggling and the smaller one seems worse than the one on the left. The one on the left *seems* to be breathing really hard, but it is tough to see. Can you try for a better video taken under whiter light?

I don't think this is "waking up from sleeping" I think there is something cooking here....

Jay
I’m at work for the day but when I get home I will re-evaluate and take a new video under white light
 
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mjw88

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In the video, both clowns seem to be struggling and the smaller one seems worse than the one on the left. The one on the left *seems* to be breathing really hard, but it is tough to see. Can you try for a better video taken under whiter light?

I don't think this is "waking up from sleeping" I think there is something cooking here....

Jay
Also, I didn’t know if you could see but in the video the little guy is swimming right into the water return and the bigger clown is also swimming against the current, the filtration entry is the top left corner behind the female.
 

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Nitrite is actually non-toxic to marine fish at any concentration that would seen in a cycling tank. Nitrite is deadly to freshwater fish, but salt ions render it non-toxic. Ammonia is the real killer at high pH marine systems.
Jay
Thx Jay H. I never new that.
 

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