New tank. Clown fish maybe sick?

[Jarhead-CO]

Nice tank! You may be right about the residue in the dropper. Did you retest yet?

Yeah I retested it's at 0 ppm

 

[Jarhead-CO]

I'm no expert but from the picture it looks very similar to a brooklynella. When my clowns had it I wasn't able to find any reef safe treatments. I tried to transfer them to a bucket and treated them each day for an hr or so w an air stone keeping the water moving. Unfortunately for me it didn't work I may have stressed out the fish too much trying to move them each day or every other day. It also took me a while to ID the problem. Again no expert here but it looks similar.

How long did your clowns have it before they died. It's starting to clear up on mine so I'm not sure what it is.

 

[Humblefish]

Not sure that's brook, but read this just in case: https://www.reef2reef.com/threads/brooklynella.247938/

How long have you had those clownfish? And that chromis?

 

[Jarhead-CO]

Not sure that's brook, but read this just in case: https://www.reef2reef.com/threads/brooklynella.247938/

How long have you had those clownfish? And that chromis?

After reading that I'm almost positive what my clown has isn't brook considering he has no white mucus, eating a ton, no rapid breathing and it's getting better already well atleast it looks like it is to me. He was sleeping funny last night though he usually sleeps at the back bottom left corner last night he was in top front left corner with his head bumping the surface pretty much.

 

[greenhorn reefer]

After reading that I'm almost positive what my clown has isn't brook considering he has no white mucus, eating a ton, no rapid breathing and it's getting better already well atleast it looks like it is to me. He was sleeping funny last night though he usually sleeps at the back bottom left corner last night he was in top front left corner with his head bumping the surface pretty much.

Head bobbing... Sometimes this is concerning, especially because your fish is sick. However, it is a clown fish and in my experience (although limited and anecdotal) clowns are just silly fish. My male clown slept on his side, just like a dead fish, while in qt. He now swims up and down the back glass of the DT and sleeps under the return nozzle. What I am trying to say is, not every action is a sign. IMHO sometimes observing has a better result than trying to fix a situation immediately. A sick fish, newly acclimated, then re introduced into a qt, and medicated can cause copious amounts of stress. I had a fish get an infection but I let it run its course. I thought that chasing it all over the tank with a net wouldn't help his situation. I made sure I fed him a balanced diet and the infection went away. What ever you do, good luck.

 

[Jarhead-CO]

Y

Head bobbing... Sometimes this is concerning, especially because your fish is sick. However, it is a clown fish and in my experience (although limited and anecdotal) clowns are just silly fish. My male clown slept on his side, just like a dead fish, while in qt. He now swims up and down the back glass of the DT and sleeps under the return nozzle. What I am trying to say is, not every action is a sign. IMHO sometimes observing has a better result than trying to fix a situation immediately. A sick fish, newly acclimated, then re introduced into a qt, and medicated can cause copious amounts of stress. I had a fish get an infection but I let it run its course. I thought that chasing it all over the tank with a net wouldn't help his situation. I made sure I fed him a balanced diet and the infection went away. What ever you do, good luck.

Yeah he kinda moves around and sleeps all over but that's where he was most of the night. I didn't quarantine him he is still in DT because my QT tank hasn't cycled yet and is sitting at 4ppm ammonia right now. The melafix is an all natural treatment so I decided to treat in DT.

 

[Jguido1987]

How long did your clowns have it before they died. It's starting to clear up on mine so I'm not sure what it is.

My clowns had what appeared to be a small growth around its gills and on the lips. It started out small and like u said at one point appeared to be getting better, but unfortunately the growth began growing. It looked almost like a tumor or a piece of sponge on the gills and lip and eventually on the center of the body. I tried melafix as well to no evail and even the medication I did get that had formalin in it did not work. It took about a two weeks for me to ID (what I thought was brooklynella) and then it took a few days to get the correct medication. Again I'm not sure if it was brooklynella that did eventually kill them or the stress (regardless of my efforts minimize it) or a combination of both. A lot of those pics seem like the desease is in a very advanced stage. I read that article that was posted when I was going through this too and felt that maybe it wasn't brooklynella too, but if you look around and find other pictures and other symptoms of it from you first picture it looks very similar to what I experienced. Again I could be totally wrong I'm no expert but when I saw your first picture that was my initial reaction Bc it looked so similar to how mine started. If it's not hopefully someone can help you is ID the problem and you can treat accordingly. I think most important you should understand the life cycle of the desease just so you can prevent it from spreading to any other animals. Hope it works out for you and hopefully you can properly ID what that is Bc if it's not brook maybe it has to be treated differently and maybe that would have saved my clowns. Good luck

 

[Jarhead-CO]

My clowns had what appeared to be a small growth around its gills and on the lips. It started out small and like u said at one point appeared to be getting better, but unfortunately the growth began growing. It looked almost like a tumor or a piece of sponge on the gills and lip and eventually on the center of the body. I tried melafix as well to no evail and even the medication I did get that had formalin in it did not work. It took about a two weeks for me to ID (what I thought was brooklynella) and then it took a few days to get the correct medication. Again I'm not sure if it was brooklynella that did eventually kill them or the stress (regardless of my efforts minimize it) or a combination of both. A lot of those pics seem like the desease is in a very advanced stage. I read that article that was posted when I was going through this too and felt that maybe it wasn't brooklynella too, but if you look around and find other pictures and other symptoms of it from you first picture it looks very similar to what I experienced. Again I could be totally wrong I'm no expert but when I saw your first picture that was my initial reaction Bc it looked so similar to how mine started. If it's not hopefully someone can help you is ID the problem and you can treat accordingly. I think most important you should understand the life cycle of the desease just so you can prevent it from spreading to any other animals. Hope it works out for you and hopefully you can properly ID what that is Bc if it's not brook maybe it has to be treated differently and maybe that would have saved my clowns. Good luck

I will keep a close eye on the progress but as of right now I will just supplement vitamins and melafix as to try to keep the fish as stress free as possible.

 

[Jguido1987]

Good luck man. I really hope it works out for the little guy. Whatever it is you seem to have caught it in the early stages.

 

[Jarhead-CO]

Good luck man. I really hope it works out for the little guy. Whatever it is you seem to have caught it in the early stages.

Thanks and me to I'd hate to see him die. I may try a fresh water dip if it gets even the slightest bit worse.

 

[greenhorn reefer]

Y

Yeah he kinda moves around and sleeps all over but that's where he was most of the night. I didn't quarantine him he is still in DT because my QT tank hasn't cycled yet and is sitting at 4ppm ammonia right now. The melafix is an all natural treatment so I decided to treat in DT.

Why the head bobbing? Usually an oxygen deprivation issue or swim bladder. That being said, you would see rapid breathing, gasping, or other noticeable symptoms of a dying fish but you seem safe for now. I have read a lot on this post and my input is, for now, take it slow. Your fish is eating, his symptoms seem to be regressing, you are getting your parameters under control, things seem to be balancing. Relax. Don't take my word your fish could still die tomorrow BUT at least he didn't get fw dipped, fish netted, qt'd, medicated, poked and prodded. They're delicate, yet resilient. Give it a little time, if he gets better but you're still concerned, grab him while he's healthy and your qt is ready, not rushed. Again, good luck and keep us posted. Marine?

 

[greenhorn reefer]

quarantine is always necessary especially with the first fish to go in the tank. In this case though, it looks like a bacterial infection possibly setting in there. Clowns are pretty tuff and he might be able to get over it on his own with just the addition of vitamins to his food. He looks healthy otherwise. Can you tell me if you have seen any white stringy poop from him at all?

I tagged you because I don't want you to forget about this post. You were one of the main contributors to my tank's success and this new reefer can use that same help. Don't forget him.

 

[Jarhead-CO]

Why the head bobbing? Usually an oxygen deprivation issue or swim bladder. That being said, you would see rapid breathing, gasping, or other noticeable symptoms of a dying fish but you seem safe for now. I have read a lot on this post and my input is, for now, take it slow. Your fish is eating, his symptoms seem to be regressing, you are getting your parameters under control, things seem to be balancing. Relax. Don't take my word your fish could still die tomorrow BUT at least he didn't get fw dipped, fish netted, qt'd, medicated, poked and prodded. They're delicate, yet resilient. Give it a little time, if he gets better but you're still concerned, grab him while he's healthy and your qt is ready, not rushed. Again, good luck and keep us posted. Marine?

I got out in 2012 but yes Marine. I am now a state correctional officer though. I highly doubt it's oxygen deprivation I have a 425gph powerhead aimed at the surface and a fluval 106 canister filter @ 425gph at the surface with a slight surface break for minimal bubbles. Temp sits at 79f. Ill post his condition when i get home at 11ish as well as water parameters.

 

[Jarhead-CO]

So I did appx a 3 gallon water change nitrates are at 20 ppm, ammonia 0 ppm, nitrites 0 ppm. Fish is sleeping now in his normal spot. I brought the salinity down to 1.024 (down from 1.025) to help take some stress off the fish his fin is looking even better. I also did a 1 gallon water change on my 10g QT tank since it was at 5 ppm ammonia it was the last of my ro water.

 

[Jguido1987]

Glad to hear it's doing better hopefully it keeps getting better.

 

[simo]

Closer

Nice coraline did u do a smoothy?

 

[Jarhead-CO]

Nice coraline did u do a smoothy?

Not sure what a smoothy is but it's real reef rock fully cured and cultured at the LFS. Thatfishplace.com is where I went it was $7 a pound. I went to the actual store not ordered online. The top bluer piece is CaribSea Life Rock dry shipped from amazon.

 

[greenhorn reefer]

I got out in 2012 but yes Marine. I am now a state correctional officer though. I highly doubt it's oxygen deprivation I have a 425gph powerhead aimed at the surface and a fluval 106 canister filter @ 425gph at the surface with a slight surface break for minimal bubbles. Temp sits at 79f. Ill post his condition when i get home at 11ish as well as water parameters.

Cool, I'm AF. Sorry I wasn't clear, I don't think there is an oxygen issue either. I was just pointing out how something like that can seem like a sign of sickness but is really just typical behavior for that fish.

 

[melypr1985]

I tagged you because I don't want you to forget about this post. You were one of the main contributors to my tank's success and this new reefer can use that same help. Don't forget him.

I haven't! I've been super busy lately (3 jobs and a kiddo). I'm still following along as best I can :)

 

[Jarhead-CO]

Updated picture sorry it's a touch grainy I gotta find a charging cord for my camera. He is still eating well water parameters are the same as last night. It looks like scales are growing back over his gil where the spots were.