New clownfish not eating

[Sploot]

Hello reef2reef,

Wanted to see if the fish experts on here could help me with an issue I'm having. I have had a new clownfish in my tank for 6 days now and he's still not eating and seems completely disinterested in food. I have not noticed any aggression and the tank is not new either. I now have the fish in a breeder box for spot feeding and have noticed what seems to be rapid breathing. Foods I've tried include mysis, brine shrimp, cyclops, spirulina shrimp, and pellets. I've tried soaking the foods in either garlic guard or seachem entice in every combination already as well. Thanks in advance for any help/input

 

[Sharkbait19]

Could you post a video?
Being new it’s not uncommon not to eat, there also could be aggression that you aren’t seeing.

 

[Jekyl]

White light photos and a short video will help as mentioned above. If aggression, you may notice nipped fins. Bets way is to set a phone to record and walk away from the tank. They will behave while people are watching.

The white light video is most important right now. Need to rule out disease, which could impact your other fish also.

Do you have a quarantine process?

 

[temphermitcrab]

I would check with the shop you bought them at and see what they are used to eating. My new Clownfish would not touch Mysis shrimp or Pellets and I was concerned too. I checked and they had been fed blood worms at the QT shop. They immediately ate the Blood worms and transitioned to the Mysis and Pellets quickly once they began to recognize them as food. I was told by someone who knows a lot more about fish than me that Blood worms are not very nutritious for long term.

 

[Sploot]

Took a video under white lights. I do not have a quarantine process, unfortunately. I contacted the breeder and have tried feeding the foods they feed, but have not had success.

 

[Sharkbait19]

The fish is breathing really fast - I can’t rule out velvet.

 

[Jekyl]

@vetteguy53081 @Jay Hemdal

 

[vetteguy53081]

Took a video under white lights. I do not have a quarantine process, unfortunately. I contacted the breeder and have tried feeding the foods they feed, but have not had success.

How was fish acclimated and for how long?
Have you tried live food such as brine shrimp or black worm?
Its often hard to see imperfections on a white body and through acclimation box.

 

[Sploot]

The fish was float acclimated for about 45 minutes and I have not tried feeding live foods yet. The fish is currently in a qt tank with prazipro as of about an hour ago. No further symptoms have developed, but current symptoms do not seem to have gotten better yet either and he has not eaten yet either

 

[Jay Hemdal]

Looking at the reflection at the bottom, it looks like there is good surface agitation, but if not, you should add an air stone.
Did I miss it, have you posted the water quality values?
You might consider starting a coppersafe treatment in case this is velvet.
Jay

 

[Sploot]

Looking at the reflection at the bottom, it looks like there is good surface agitation, but if not, you should add an air stone.
Did I miss it, have you posted the water quality values?
You might consider starting a coppersafe treatment in case this is velvet.
Jay

There's currently an air stone and HOB filter for surface agitation! I have not posted water quality values yet. These are the parameters of the original tank
Ammonia - 0
Nitrates - roughly 10
Alk - 8.5
Cal - 430
Mag - 1200
Phos - 0.1
I see, coppersafe might be my next course of action then.

Also, not sure how relevant this information will be, but the clownfish is the only recent addition and it came from the sustainable aquatics owned fish store. I know that captive-bred doesn't exclude the possibility of diseases, but was thinking maybe this info could help narrow down the diagnosis

 

[Jay Hemdal]

There's currently an air stone and HOB filter for surface agitation! I have not posted water quality values yet. These are the parameters of the original tank
Ammonia - 0
Nitrates - roughly 10
Alk - 8.5
Cal - 430
Mag - 1200
Phos - 0.1
I see, coppersafe might be my next course of action then.

Also, not sure how relevant this information will be, but the clownfish is the only recent addition and it came from the sustainable aquatics owned fish store. I know that captive-bred doesn't exclude the possibility of diseases, but was thinking maybe this info could help narrow down the diagnosis

While captive raised fish are much less likely to carry parasites/disease, many dealers tank them with wild caught fish, so then, all bets are off.

Jay

 

[Sploot]

It's coming up on 24 hrs in prazipro and the fish is still breathing rapidly. No change in symptoms - both for good and for worse. Considering a coppersafe and metroplex treatment now to target the possibility of velvet or brook. Only concern is so much medication for the fish in a short span. However, seems it might my best bet to treat both with no signs pointing to either one. Attached current video just in case I'm missing something. Thanks in advance for any help

 

[Jay Hemdal]

It's coming up on 24 hrs in prazipro and the fish is still breathing rapidly. No change in symptoms - both for good and for worse. Considering a coppersafe and metroplex treatment now to target the possibility of velvet or brook. Only concern is so much medication for the fish in a short span. However, seems it might my best bet to treat both with no signs pointing to either one. Attached current video just in case I'm missing something. Thanks in advance for any help

The clown is very close to respiratory collapse, basically, it cannot breath much faster than it is already. That means that any treatment may not work fast enough to save it.

At this point - the most likely cause is velvet, and coppersafe at a full dose ASAP would be the best option....

Jay