New !

[Reef Grams]

I have a new 90 gal tank im cycled and i just put in my first 2 clown fish (thats all thats in the tank) about a week and a half ago , a day or so ago one of my little guys was in the corner.. thought it was odd but since they were new i let him be plus there clown fish sooo we know how that goes lol. The following day i noticed his tail was not normal and it a piece of it was torn off (not alot ) but also not a little its been about 3 days and i feel like he is eating less now i have him in a little qt high up on my tank with not alot of flow going toward him so he is not as stressed , i tested and also took my water to LFS and all my numbers are fine how do i proceed ? could this be a LFS issue with a sick fish ? i want to save him either way

 

[Besieged]

It’s definitely good that you’ve got the little guy in a separate in-tank QT for now... that gives you some control over the situation while you figure out what’s going on, but you might want to go ahead and prep a proper QT tank if things take a turn for the worse.

If the injury was just from a run-in with rough rockwork, clean water and time should help - clownfish are pretty tough. If the other fish has been chasing it, that’s something to watch closely. Nine days in, new aggression is a bit unusual, but not impossible... sometimes it takes a little while for pecking order to establish, or one to realize it doesn’t like the other.

Personally, I think I'd keep them separate for now while you perhaps give the injured one Selcon - or something similar - with its food until it's looking healed and behaving a little more normally. Some people also recommend Vitamin C (use sodium ascorbate, not ascorbic acid) with food or directly to the tank - I'm not a reef chemist, so whether that's the right thing to do is over my paygrade - speaking for myself I'd probably try it, based on what I know. YMMV.

It’s certainly possible it could be something else, but nothing I can think of (for what that's worth) seems like a likely candidate based on your description. AFAIK most illnesses that cause fin damage wouldn’t take nine to ten full days to show up in a noticeable way. Bacterial infections can lead to fin rot, but that usually presents as fraying or slow deterioration, not a chunk suddenly missing overnight. Hitchhikers big enough this early on to take a chunk from a fish seem unlikely unless you used live rock that wasn't QT'd. The same goes for parasites - brooklynella and uronema are common concerns with clownfish, but they usually come with more obvious signs like rapid breathing, excess mucus, or a general lack of energy before any physical damage appears. If you start seeing anything like that, though, it’d be a reason to move to a full QT setup and potentially medicate. A photo under white light (not full blues, unless you’ve got a filter) could be really helpful to get a clearer look.

Since it sounds like the fish is already a little stressed, keeping the lights low for a few days should help while you keep them separate and do what you can to nurse it back to health. When you’re ready to reintroduce it back into the main tank, doing it when the lights are off can give it a chance to settle in without as much risk of the other fish getting territorial. Let the lights stay off for a full day at least, then bring them back up gradually over the course of a week.

For now, just keep a close eye on the injured guy, and assuming he recovers, the both of them when you re-introduce... if the aggression doesn’t stop, you might need to intervene again and possibly re-home one of them. And if anything starts looking worse, or you notice other symptoms popping up, be ready to stand up a proper QT tank with a quickness, just in case.

 

[TX_REEF]

Welcome! if there's nothing else in the tank besides the 2 clowns, the most likely cause of physical damage is fighting between the clowns. Are they both the same type? pics might help. keep an eye on them and see if you can observe fighting.

 

[BryanM]

And are they the same size?

You want one of them to be smaller

 

[Reef Grams]

And are they the same size?

You want one of them to be small

Welcome! if there's nothing else in the tank besides he 2 clowns, the most likely cause of physical damage is fighting between the clowns. Are they both the same type? pics might help. keep an eye on them and see if you can observe fighting.

start off by saying that i woke up at 6 am and my little guy was dead :( but yeah they were the same size and i got them out of the same tank they were in at the LFS with like 10 others that were in that tank. So i didnt think fighting would happen. i guess new environment it could of happened ? anywho they are the most basic clowns ocellaris im pretty sure (sorry im new lol) i reallly think this was a LFS problem that i was left with and ill explain why. TOTAL RED FLAG now that i think of it. the 2 clowns i originally wanted were in a different tank on the other side i said hey i want these 2 the lady began to walk to a different area and i said hey there in this tank over here, she stopped me and said eh that tank isnt doing so well... i probably should of just said okay forget it now that i think about it cause it was on the same wall and what i think was all the same water filtration. in other news ill contuine to watch the other one that seems to be doing great ! one last question. how long do i have before i should get anthoer clown so this one does not feel lonely

 

[Reef Grams]

It’s definitely good that you’ve got the little guy in a separate in-tank QT for now... that gives you some control over the situation while you figure out what’s going on, but you might want to go ahead and prep a proper QT tank if things take a turn for the worse.

If the injury was just from a run-in with rough rockwork, clean water and time should help - clownfish are pretty tough. If the other fish has been chasing it, that’s something to watch closely. Nine days in, new aggression is a bit unusual, but not impossible... sometimes it takes a little while for pecking order to establish, or one to realize it doesn’t like the other.

Personally, I think I'd keep them separate for now while you perhaps give the injured one Selcon - or something similar - with its food until it's looking healed and behaving a little more normally. Some people also recommend Vitamin C (use sodium ascorbate, not ascorbic acid) with food or directly to the tank - I'm not a reef chemist, so whether that's the right thing to do is over my paygrade - speaking for myself I'd probably try it, based on what I know. YMMV.

It’s certainly possible it could be something else, but nothing I can think of (for what that's worth) seems like a likely candidate based on your description. AFAIK most illnesses that cause fin damage wouldn’t take nine to ten full days to show up in a noticeable way. Bacterial infections can lead to fin rot, but that usually presents as fraying or slow deterioration, not a chunk suddenly missing overnight. Hitchhikers big enough this early on to take a chunk from a fish seem unlikely unless you used live rock that wasn't QT'd. The same goes for parasites - brooklynella and uronema are common concerns with clownfish, but they usually come with more obvious signs like rapid breathing, excess mucus, or a general lack of energy before any physical damage appears. If you start seeing anything like that, though, it’d be a reason to move to a full QT setup and potentially medicate. A photo under white light (not full blues, unless you’ve got a filter) could be really helpful to get a clearer look.

Since it sounds like the fish is already a little stressed, keeping the lights low for a few days should help while you keep them separate and do what you can to nurse it back to health. When you’re ready to reintroduce it back into the main tank, doing it when the lights are off can give it a chance to settle in without as much risk of the other fish getting territorial. Let the lights stay off for a full day at least, then bring them back up gradually over the course of a week.

For now, just keep a close eye on the injured guy, and assuming he recovers, the both of them when you re-introduce... if the aggression doesn’t stop, you might need to intervene again and possibly re-home one of them. And if anything starts looking worse, or you notice other symptoms popping up, be ready to stand up a proper QT tank with a quickness, just in case.

Wow this was my first time posting in here and this was super helpful i appreciate the time for the knowledge as a kinda new reefer.

It’s definitely good that you’ve got the little guy in a separate in-tank QT for now... that gives you some control over the situation while you figure out what’s going on, but you might want to go ahead and prep a proper QT tank if things take a turn for the worse.

If the injury was just from a run-in with rough rockwork, clean water and time should help - clownfish are pretty tough. If the other fish has been chasing it, that’s something to watch closely. Nine days in, new aggression is a bit unusual, but not impossible... sometimes it takes a little while for pecking order to establish, or one to realize it doesn’t like the other.

Personally, I think I'd keep them separate for now while you perhaps give the injured one Selcon - or something similar - with its food until it's looking healed and behaving a little more normally. Some people also recommend Vitamin C (use sodium ascorbate, not ascorbic acid) with food or directly to the tank - I'm not a reef chemist, so whether that's the right thing to do is over my paygrade - speaking for myself I'd probably try it, based on what I know. YMMV.

It’s certainly possible it could be something else, but nothing I can think of (for what that's worth) seems like a likely candidate based on your description. AFAIK most illnesses that cause fin damage wouldn’t take nine to ten full days to show up in a noticeable way. Bacterial infections can lead to fin rot, but that usually presents as fraying or slow deterioration, not a chunk suddenly missing overnight. Hitchhikers big enough this early on to take a chunk from a fish seem unlikely unless you used live rock that wasn't QT'd. The same goes for parasites - brooklynella and uronema are common concerns with clownfish, but they usually come with more obvious signs like rapid breathing, excess mucus, or a general lack of energy before any physical damage appears. If you start seeing anything like that, though, it’d be a reason to move to a full QT setup and potentially medicate. A photo under white light (not full blues, unless you’ve got a filter) could be really helpful to get a clearer look.

Since it sounds like the fish is already a little stressed, keeping the lights low for a few days should help while you keep them separate and do what you can to nurse it back to health. When you’re ready to reintroduce it back into the main tank, doing it when the lights are off can give it a chance to settle in without as much risk of the other fish getting territorial. Let the lights stay off for a full day at least, then bring them back up gradually over the course of a week.

For now, just keep a close eye on the injured guy, and assuming he recovers, the both of them when you re-introduce... if the aggression doesn’t stop, you might need to intervene again and possibly re-home one of them. And if anything starts looking worse, or you notice other symptoms popping up, be ready to stand up a proper QT tank with a quickness, just in case.

as of this moring my little guy has now passed, the other clown is fine ! so i really think

It’s definitely good that you’ve got the little guy in a separate in-tank QT for now... that gives you some control over the situation while you figure out what’s going on, but you might want to go ahead and prep a proper QT tank if things take a turn for the worse.

If the injury was just from a run-in with rough rockwork, clean water and time should help - clownfish are pretty tough. If the other fish has been chasing it, that’s something to watch closely. Nine days in, new aggression is a bit unusual, but not impossible... sometimes it takes a little while for pecking order to establish, or one to realize it doesn’t like the other.

Personally, I think I'd keep them separate for now while you perhaps give the injured one Selcon - or something similar - with its food until it's looking healed and behaving a little more normally. Some people also recommend Vitamin C (use sodium ascorbate, not ascorbic acid) with food or directly to the tank - I'm not a reef chemist, so whether that's the right thing to do is over my paygrade - speaking for myself I'd probably try it, based on what I know. YMMV.

It’s certainly possible it could be something else, but nothing I can think of (for what that's worth) seems like a likely candidate based on your description. AFAIK most illnesses that cause fin damage wouldn’t take nine to ten full days to show up in a noticeable way. Bacterial infections can lead to fin rot, but that usually presents as fraying or slow deterioration, not a chunk suddenly missing overnight. Hitchhikers big enough this early on to take a chunk from a fish seem unlikely unless you used live rock that wasn't QT'd. The same goes for parasites - brooklynella and uronema are common concerns with clownfish, but they usually come with more obvious signs like rapid breathing, excess mucus, or a general lack of energy before any physical damage appears. If you start seeing anything like that, though, it’d be a reason to move to a full QT setup and potentially medicate. A photo under white light (not full blues, unless you’ve got a filter) could be really helpful to get a clearer look.

Since it sounds like the fish is already a little stressed, keeping the lights low for a few days should help while you keep them separate and do what you can to nurse it back to health. When you’re ready to reintroduce it back into the main tank, doing it when the lights are off can give it a chance to settle in without as much risk of the other fish getting territorial. Let the lights stay off for a full day at least, then bring them back up gradually over the course of a week.

For now, just keep a close eye on the injured guy, and assuming he recovers, the both of them when you re-introduce... if the aggression doesn’t stop, you might need to intervene again and possibly re-home one of them. And if anything starts looking worse, or you notice other symptoms popping up, be ready to stand up a proper QT tank with a quickness, just in case.

start off by saying that i woke up at 6 am and my little guy was dead :( i reallly think this was a LFS problem that i was left with and ill explain why. TOTAL RED FLAG now that i think of it. the 2 clowns i originally wanted were in a different tank on the other side i said hey i want these 2 the lady began to walk to a different area and i said hey there in this tank over here, she stopped me and said eh that tank isnt doing so well... i probably should of just said okay forget it now that i think about it cause it was on the same wall and what i think was all the same water filtration. in other news ill contuine to watch the other one that seems to be doing great ! one last question. how long do i have before i should get anthoer clown so this one does not feel lonely

 

[BryanM]

Awe, sorry to hear that.

 

[Besieged]

OOoof, that's not great at all, I'm super sorry to hear it. Sorry none of the advice turned out to be useful.

 

[Reef Grams]

OOoof, that's not great at all, I'm super sorry to hear it. Sorry none of the advice turned out to be useful.

Its fine. Not the result we want always but back to thw drawing board