Sick Da Vinci Clownfish

[Humble_Reefer]

Our new clownfish isnt looking so good (see youtube vid). We got her from a reputable breeder 3 days ago and she has been eating little, her breathing has become more labored, and she is less and less active. We were trying to do tank transfer and she is currently in a 2.5 gal with pvc pipe and airstone. Red sea ammonia kit says 0, API pH says 7.6, temp is 76, salinity 1.026.

We are trying to figure out what to do next. Options:

1) put her in the cycled 13.5 gal with the other clown that is about half her size. The hope is a more normal stable environment might help.

2) Start medications. We have chloroquine phosphate, copper, praziquentel, metroplex, and kanaplex on hand. Not sure what would be the best approach.

The breeder said she came from his personal collection and was very healthy. She seemed pretty healthy when we got her, but also very stressed out the first day, swimming all over all the time.

 

[Humble_Reefer]

Another vid and some pics:

 

[Seashelly]

Bump

 

[javisaman]

It looks very stressed. There don't seem to be any obvious signs of disease from the video. How is it looking today? I would leave alone for a bit. I had some new clownfish die before and I suspect it was just heavily stress-related. Like an idiot I placed my QT tank next to a TV. My parents like to watch the tv late at night and the light/noise probably prevented them from sleeping properly.

 

[Jay Hemdal]

Sorry, my guess is that the fish has passed by now. Typically, when a fish is moribund, unable to swim or remain upright, there isn’t any way to save it. I’m not sure what happened here, but assuming the breeder had raised this fish him/herself, it is too soon for a disease to have started up, so that pretty much leaves something wrong with the tank, some toxin or water quality issue....
Jay

 

[Seashelly]

Sorry, my guess is that the fish has passed by now. Typically, when a fish is moribund, unable to swim or remain upright, there isn’t any way to save it. I’m not sure what happened here, but assuming the breeder had raised this fish him/herself, it is too soon for a disease to have started up, so that pretty much leaves something wrong with the tank, some toxin or water quality issue....
Jay

She's still alive. We put her in chloroquine phosphate as a last ditch effort on Monday night because we couldn't find anything wrong with the water to explain her behavior. She started eating again by the end of that evening.

Now anytime I'm near the tank she is swimming around like a normal clownfish. She seems to be anticipating that I'm going to feed her... She's eating micro pellets regularly now (about 7 pieces 3 times / day for the last 2 days).

The concerning thing is that she still lays on her side when she doesn't know I'm watching, especially at night. Right now, when I peeked around the corner at the tank, I saw her laying on her side inside her pvc pipe. But as soon as she saw me, she perked up and swam over to the glass.

I'm wondering if maybe this is just a weird behavioural quirk? Is she just resting/sleeping? When she is up and swimming she seems totally normal.

Trying not to get my hopes up, but sometimes I think she is ok....

 

[Jay Hemdal]

Ah, that's good news. Laying on the bottom isn't a big issue with clowns, I presaume it doesn't have a host anemone, or isn't using it at night?

Jay

 

[Seashelly]

Ah, that's good news. Laying on the bottom isn't a big issue with clowns, I presaume it doesn't have a host anemone, or isn't using it at night?

Jay

No not yet... she's in quarantine still so all she has is a PVC elbow!

 

[Seashelly]

It looks very stressed. There don't seem to be any obvious signs of disease from the video. How is it looking today? I would leave alone for a bit. I had some new clownfish die before and I suspect it was just heavily stress-related. Like an idiot I placed my QT tank next to a TV. My parents like to watch the tv late at night and the light/noise probably prevented them from sleeping properly.

Thanks for the response. I'm hoping you're right. Looking better now so my fingers are crossed. Really sorry you hear about your clowns!

 

[Seashelly]

@Jay Hemdal

New development, and was really hoping for your input. Just saw long stringy white poop, suggesting internal parasites. I'm not sure how to proceed in terms of medicating, since she's currently in chloroquine phosphate. I'm thinking I need to start treatment for this new symptom ASAP. I'm pretty sure I'm not able to mix prazipro (water treatment) with CP safely, correct? Should I stop the CP prematurely so I can switch to prazipro?

 

[Jay Hemdal]

@Jay Hemdal

New development, and was really hoping for your input. Just saw long stringy white poop, suggesting internal parasites. I'm not sure how to proceed in terms of medicating, since she's currently in chloroquine phosphate. I'm thinking I need to start treatment for this new symptom ASAP. I'm pretty sure I'm not able to mix prazipro (water treatment) with CP safely, correct? Should I stop the CP prematurely so I can switch to prazipro?

I would not try to dose chloroquine and other drugs at the same time - too many chances for a bad reaction, and I don't have enough good data with multiple treatments to offer you any guidance. What about trying a partial water change(s) to remove the CP, and then dosing with General cure? That has prazi and metro in it and will cover multiple other issues.

Jay

 

[Seashelly]

I would not try to dose chloroquine and other drugs at the same time - too many chances for a bad reaction, and I don't have enough good data with multiple treatments to offer you any guidance. What about trying a partial water change(s) to remove the CP, and then dosing with General cure? That has prazi and metro in it and will cover multiple other issues.

Jay

Wish I could, but I don't have general cure unfortunately. In Canada, so I can't buy locally...

My only other option is metroplex+focus in food which I did try to mix in with her pellets already (I mentioned this in my latest thread). For better or worse, she didn't love the taste so only ate 2. Should I stop trying to feed metro due to possible interaction?

Alternatively, should I remove the CP, put her in prazi, AND feed metro? (I presume this would cover the bases like General cure?)

 

[Seashelly]

I would not try to dose chloroquine and other drugs at the same time - too many chances for a bad reaction, and I don't have enough good data with multiple treatments to offer you any guidance. What about trying a partial water change(s) to remove the CP, and then dosing with General cure? That has prazi and metro in it and will cover multiple other issues.

Jay

Really appreciate your help, Jay.