New fish

[Jivatma]

TlDR; Got 2 picasso clowns from store. Looked healthy at store. Store employee fed them, they ate very well. Brought them home.

Acclimated them to QT. Salinity was within .1 ppt on hannah digital checker. Temp acclimated for 1 hr while balancing salinity.

Used fish net to move them over. And then i started noticing stuff

Neither of them want to swim in top half of the tank. The bigger one is always pointing up while swimming, though never seeming to gain altitude. Smaller one seems fine swimming. Tried dropping some of the pellets the LFS used/recommended (cobalt aquatics Ultra Pellet Marine) neither one will swim to surface to eat. When pellets finally waterlogged down to botton, little one ate a few.

Its been approx 6hrs in qt and once i turned lights off they are both hovering/laying on the tank bottom. The bigger one is tilting a bit more sideways than i am comfortable with.

How worried should i be? If there is something wrong, can i do anything?

 

[PokeFish]

TlDR; Got 2 picasso clowns from store. Looked healthy at store. Store employee fed them, they ate very well. Brought them home.

Acclimated them to QT. Salinity was within .1 ppt on hannah digital checker. Temp acclimated for 1 hr while balancing salinity.

Used fish net to move them over. And then i started noticing stuff

Neither of them want to swim in top half of the tank. The bigger one is always pointing up while swimming, though never seeming to gain altitude. Smaller one seems fine swimming. Tried dropping some of the pellets the LFS used/recommended (cobalt aquatics Ultra Pellet Marine) neither one will swim to surface to eat. When pellets finally waterlogged down to botton, little one ate a few.

Its been approx 6hrs in qt and once i turned lights off they are both hovering/laying on the tank bottom. The bigger one is tilting a bit more sideways than i am comfortable with.

How worried should i be? If there is something wrong, can i do anything?

pics? Im not too sure but they may just be a little scared

 

[Jivatma]

This was best i could get. Everytime i do get close they kind of pop up of his side.

I dunno. do fish sleep on their sides?

 

[Jivatma]

Here is one on his side. He keeps getting up after a bit though. Idk.

 

[isacr]

Here is one on his side. He keeps getting up after a bit though. Idk.

My clownfish all sleep in different ways. I have one that lays on the sand completely still, lifeless. Lights come on and the fish is swimming around as usual.

I would recommend you let them sleep and check on them in the AM.

 

[threebuoys]

My guess is the fish are just stressed from the process of netting, transporting, acclimating, re-netting and entering a new tank. Use low lighting or no lighting and give them a day to get comfortable. Make sure they have places to hide from you and distractions outside of the QT. More often than not for me, new fish take 12 t0 24 hours to get comfortable, some even longer.

 

[Jivatma]

Woke up and bigger guy is still on his side. Breathing heavily but still flapping hisnlittle fins away. Won't right himself though. ;Sorry

 

[threebuoys]

I assume you haven't started any quarantine treatment medications yet? Do you know what his breathing rate is? Count for 15 seconds x 4?
Still could be stress, especially if the other one seems to be doing ok.

 

[Jivatma]

I assume you haven't started any quarantine treatment medications yet? Do you know what his breathing rate is? Count for 15 seconds x 4?
Still could be stress, especially if the other one seems to be doing ok.

No medicine yet. Theyve been in QT for just over 18hrs now. At my count, he is approx 34 gasps/15s. I attached a video. You can see he does right himself and move but then he just lies back down.

They are both still hugging the bottom and wont swim throughout tank though.

10g
AquaClear HoB with only filter floss
20g air filter
35.0ppt salinity
<.02 nh3 (per ammonia alert badge)



In case video wont load

 

[Jay Hemdal]

Woke up and bigger guy is still on his side. Breathing heavily but still flapping hisnlittle fins away. Won't right himself though. ;Sorry

What was the salinity in the store’s tank compared to yours? Something acute is happening…

Jay

 

[Jivatma]

What was the salinity in the store’s tank compared to yours? Something acute is happening…

Jay

Store salinity was 34.9ppt.

Little bugger is still holding on but breathing hard and still lying on his side.

 

[Tamberav]

An hour in a bag is a really long time for salinity to be within .1 (34.9 to 35.0 I assume).

That's a lot of excess stress and little flow for basically no reward.

The bonus of a QT is just to match it or close enough and release after 10 min floating in a closed bag.

 

[Jivatma]

Could it be swim bladder related? He seems to sink pretty fast. I moved a pvc pipe and he swims fine for a bit but then just sinks

An hour in a bag is a really long time for salinity to be within .1

That's a lot of excess stress and little flow.

The bonus of a QT is just to match it or close enough and release after 10 min floating in a closed bag.

Store recommended 45m float/acclimation. He was already in the bag for the 75min car ride home. 1 more hr isnt going to hurt? Furthermore, the 2nd clown that came with him seems to be doing fine.

 

[Tamberav]

Could it be swim bladder related? He seems to sink pretty fast. I moved a pvc pipe and he swims fine for a bit but then just sinks


Store recommended 45m float/acclimation. He was already in the bag for the 75min car ride home. 1 more hr isnt going to hurt? Furthermore, the 2nd clown that came with him seems to be doing fine.

It could hurt. I get all my fish out ASAP. No reason to acclimate if salinity is within a point and temp matches. When you open the bag and start to drip acclimate a shipped fish... the ammonia that was not toxic in the bag becomes much more toxic as the pH rises. Now this fish isn't shipped but it spent an extended amount of time in a bag.

If it was swimming normal at the LFS and now a hot mess entering the QT tank. Something happened from the time it was bagged to the time you put it in the tank IMO.

 

[Jivatma]

For those following:

Big guy(or gal i guess?) pulled through. She's no longer lying on the tank bottom. She still struggles to swim upwards it seems, which is worrisome.

Neither will venture to top half of tank, so I'm worried they're not eating. But there is a small pile of pellets at bottom of tank so IDK.

 

[blaxsun]

You may want to try some fresh food like brine or mysis (just add a tiny piece at a time with tweezers).

 

[Jay Hemdal]

For those following:

Big guy(or gal i guess?) pulled through. She's no longer lying on the tank bottom. She still struggles to swim upwards it seems, which is worrisome.

Neither will venture to top half of tank, so I'm worried they're not eating. But there is a small pile of pellets at bottom of tank so IDK.

Both are breathing rapidly and are negatively buoyant. They are also swimming in the “mopey” fashion of a clownfish with issues. I asked about the salinity because that can cause this, but not n your case.
Be sure to remove all neaten food promptly.
Does the tank have good aeration (not just circulation). Are bubbles breaking the water’s surface?
Is the ammonia badge new one?
Jay

 

[Jivatma]

Both are breathing rapidly and are negatively buoyant. They are also swimming in the “mopey” fashion of a clownfish with issues. I asked about the salinity because that can cause this, but not n your case.
Be sure to remove all neaten food promptly.
Does the tank have good aeration (not just circulation). Are bubbles breaking the water’s surface?
Is the ammonia badge new one?
Jay

Tank has a HoB filter with floss and an air filter rated up to a 20g. Bubbles are breaking surface and there is gentle-moderate surface turbulence.

Ammonia badge is brand new

Hannah checker shows 34.9ppt salinity