Sick mocha storm clownfish

[fbird]

Hey Everyone, this is my first post. I have been reading through a lot of the disease/treatment posts but not sure what to do at this point.

I recently picked up a mocha storm clownfish from a LFS for a steal but knew he may not be in the best of health. It's only about 1" long, skinny and gills are a swelled. I was told it was eating which he is but barely. I have attempted to feed him everything I can think of including live brine and the only thing I can get him to eat are small pellets and he mostly chases them and spits them out.

He shows no visual signs of ich or velvet currently.

He has been in my quarantine tank for a week with no change. At the moment I have given him a freshwater dip and have chloroquine phosphate added to the tank.

I didn't see any evidence of flukes with the dip.

At this point I'm not sure if I should continue with the CP or move on to something like Prazipro.

Any experts have any suggestions?

Thanks for any help!!

Shawn

 

[Sashaka]

If the gills are harboring parasites, that could be the cause of the problem; however, it could also be infection due to ammonia burn. If its gills are not damaged too bad and you can get the fish to eat, it should recover. Keep the water very clean, use an ammonia badge to monitor levels of ammonia in your tank, and treat the fish in a QT tank with a broad spectrum quality gram positive-negative antibiotic or antibacterial medication.

I believe many breeders wean their clown fish fry onto pellets. Make sure you are feeding the right size for the size fish you have. If your pellets are too large, it will not eat them. You can try crushing them a little if you can't get to the store to buy a smaller size. It could also be a different brand of pellet, different taste, so the fish does not recognize your pellets as food yet. See what the LFS was feeding and try that brand. Most fish will take frozen mysis. If you haven't tried that yet, it might be accepted.

 

[fbird]

If the gills are harboring parasites, that could be the cause of the problem; however, it could also be infection due to ammonia burn. If it's gills are not damaged too bad and you can get the fish to eat, it should recover. Keep the water very clean, use an ammonia badge to monitor levels of ammonia in your tank, and treat the fish in a QT tank with a broad spectrum quality gram positive-negative antibiotic or antibacterial medication.

I believe many breeders wean their clown fish fry onto pellets. Make sure you are feeding the right size for the size fish you have. If your pellets are too large, it will not eat them. You can try crushing them a little if you can't get to the store to buy a smaller size. It could also be a different brand of pellet, different taste, so the fish does not recognize your pellets as food yet. See what the LFS was feeding and try that brand. Most fish will take frozen mysis. If you haven't tried that yet, it might be accepted.

I hadn't thought of the ammonia possibility. The LFS bought them from a trade show and picked up everything the vendor had left. There is probably a good possibility they were in an uncycled tank at the show and brought to the store in dirty water. The store itself isn't known for clean tanks. I usually just go there for food. I just couldn't pass up the storm for $23.

Should I get something like Seachem Neoplex? not sure what antibiotic would be the best bet. Also should I take the fish out of the CP and add fresh saltwater? It's currently in a QT tank with a seachem badge.

I have some very small pellets .5mm and 1mm. He just picks and chooses if and when he wants to grab one. Doesn't go for pe mysis, live or frozen brine, flakes or LRS.

 

[fbird]

Just saw the clown poop for the first time. Long and stringy. Thinking intestinal worms may be another issue. I have PraziPro on hand. Can I use the PraziPro and antibiotics at the same time?

 

[Sashaka]

Ops! Sorry. I missed that you had already started CP treatment.

Here's what I would do. First, I would continue the CP treatment. I would not want to stop treatment and then have to start it again later...possibly over medicating the fish or causing whatever bugs the fish is fighting to build an immunity to the drug. I would also keep the CP dose at the lower end of the medicinal scale since the fish seems to be struggling. All medications are stressful, IMO, but CP seems to be handled well by most species.

Next, I would do a Methylene Blue bath treatment instead of adding more meds to the tank. Too many different treatments going in the tank at the same time can cause issues. While some treatment combinations deplete oxygen, others can cause bacterial blooms. Some are safe together and some are deadly. The more treatments you have going at the same time, the more stressful it is on a fish. I'm not an expert on combining the different drugs, so maybe another member here can respond to that question. #Reefsquad ?

Finally, if you think the internal parasites are the most concerning problem right now, you can treat the fish food using the trifecta antibiotics combination with some Focus (after you've gotten the fish to start eating. If the fish is not eating, adding meds to the food will make things worse). You will find the specific meds listed in the links below. Then, if still needed after the CP treatment is over you can do a Prazipro treatment.

Links are from @Humblefish, one of our fish diseases experts here at R2R. I use these links often myself. :) Good luck! Let us know how the fish is doing.

https://www.reef2reef.com/threads/methylene-blue.257467/
https://www.reef2reef.com/threads/treatment-options-index.247573/

 

[vetteguy53081]

Fish is favoring gills which is flukes, Low salinity or other parasite. Clowns respond well to PraziPro but before going to a treatment,,,,, what is tank age, temperature and salinity and how are you testing them?
How long was tank running before you added fish ?

 

[fbird]

Ops! Sorry. I missed that you had already started CP treatment.

Here's what I would do. First, I would continue the CP treatment. I would not want to stop treatment and then have to start it again later...possibly over medicating the fish or causing whatever bugs the fish is fighting to build an immunity to the drug. I would also keep the CP dose at the lower end of the medicinal scale since the fish seems to be struggling. All medications are stressful, IMO, but CP seems to be handled well by most species.

Next, I would do a Methylene Blue bath treatment instead of adding more meds to the tank. Too many different treatments going in the tank at the same time can cause issues. While some treatment combinations deplete oxygen, others can cause bacterial blooms. Some are safe together and some are deadly. The more treatments you have going at the same time, the more stressful it is on a fish. I'm not an expert on combining the different drugs, so maybe another member here can respond to that question. #Reefsquad ?

Finally, if you think the internal parasites are the most concerning problem right now, you can treat the fish food using the trifecta antibiotics combination with some Focus (after you've gotten the fish to start eating. If the fish is not eating, adding meds to the food will make things worse). You will find the specific meds listed in the links below. Then, if still needed after the CP treatment is over you can do a Prazipro treatment.

Links are from @Humblefish, one of our fish diseases experts here at R2R. I use these links often myself. :) Good luck! Let us know how the fish is doing.

https://www.reef2reef.com/threads/methylene-blue.257467/
https://www.reef2reef.com/threads/treatment-options-index.247573/

Thank you! I just ordered some methylene blue for the bath. I was worried about combining meds as well.

I'll update with how it's going.

Thanks again for the advice

 

[fbird]

Fish is favoring gills which is flukes, Low salinity or other parasite. Clowns respond well to PraziPro but before going to a treatment,,,,, what is tank age, temperature and salinity and how are you testing them?
How long was tank running before you added fish ?

I put the clown right into a QT tank right from the fish store as I was suspect he was sick and was correct. My daughter really wanted him so I bought him. It was set up about a month ago and had some healthy fish in the tank prior to this. It was seeded with a sponge filter from one of my display tanks. Its at 78 degrees. salinity is a 35. Using a Seachem ammonia alert for the ammonia as I read somewhere the CP will throw off test kits.

 

[vetteguy53081]

I put the clown right into a QT tank right from the fish store as I was suspect he was sick and was correct. My daughter really wanted him so I bought him. It was set up about a month ago and had some healthy fish in the tank prior to this. It was seeded with a sponge filter from one of my display tanks. Its at 78 degrees. salinity is a 35. Using a Seachem ammonia alert for the ammonia as I read somewhere the CP will throw off test kits.

Youre not off?? Perhaps a water sample to a trusted LFS to compare with your readings to assure accuracy. Yes, CP will have a slight impact

 

[Reef man 89]

hope that little guy pulls threw!! He is one beautiful looks fish. Good luck

 

[Sashaka]

I put the clown right into a QT tank right from the fish store as I was suspect he was sick and was correct. My daughter really wanted him so I bought him. It was set up about a month ago and had some healthy fish in the tank prior to this. It was seeded with a sponge filter from one of my display tanks. Its at 78 degrees. salinity is a 35. Using a Seachem ammonia alert for the ammonia as I read somewhere the CP will throw off test kits.

Sounds like you're doing everything right! Nice job. :) You could lower the salinity (I keep my hospital tanks at 30ppt to help with oxygen levels, especially if a fish has issues with breathing. According to Advanced Aquarist, "Employing a low salinity environment slows the loss of fluids due to osmosis through the damaged water barrier, conserving energy that would otherwise be expended for osmoregulation." My LFS keeps their tanks at 20ppt. It's important to note that neither of these levels will kill ich.

After hearing about the fish's holding and transportation issues before getting to you, I think ammonia damage caused an infection even more now. Sever ammonia damage will fray the fins, and your fish's fins look good, so I think if you can get the fish to eat, you have a good chance of saving it. Just my humble opinion.

Flukes, ich, velvet, etc., are all still possible parasites that could have infected the gills, but the fish is not showing other outward signs on the body of ich or velvet that I can see. Flukes, of course, cannot be noticed easily, but they can be confirmed with a freshwater dip. Until the fish is eating, I would not do the dip at this time. If the fish won't eat, no treatment applied will save it, so to me, letting it acclimate and get used to its new surroundings for a few days is important to encourage eating.

 

[fbird]

Sounds like you're doing everything right! Nice job. :) You could lower the salinity (I keep my hospital tanks at 30ppt to help with oxygen levels, especially if a fish has issues with breathing. According to Advanced Aquarist, "Employing a low salinity environment slows the loss of fluids due to osmosis through the damaged water barrier, conserving energy that would otherwise be expended for osmoregulation." My LFS keeps their tanks at 20ppt. It's important to note that neither of these levels will kill ich.

After hearing about the fish's holding and transportation issues before getting to you, I think ammonia damage caused an infection even more now. Sever ammonia damage will fray the fins, and your fish's fins look good, so I think if you can get the fish to eat, you have a good chance of saving it. Just my humble opinion.

Flukes, ich, velvet, etc., are all still possible parasites that could have infected the gills, but the fish is not showing other outward signs on the body of ich or velvet that I can see. Flukes, of course, cannot be noticed easily, but they can be confirmed with a freshwater dip. Until the fish is eating, I would not do the dip at this time. If the fish won't eat, no treatment applied will save it, so to me, letting it acclimate and get used to its new surroundings for a few days is important to encourage eating.

Glad to hear I'm on the right track. I didn't see any signs of flukes when I did the freshwater dip but I think that is still part of it. I'll keep trying to get him to eat and will get the salinity lowered to see if that will help.

I appreciate the help! Thank you

 

[fbird]

hope that little guy pulls threw!! He is one beautiful looks fish. Good luck

Thanks!! Its the first storm clown I have seen in person. My daughter has been wanting one for a while. He will most likely end up in a small reef tank for her once he is doing better. Just need to figure out how to convince my wife we need another fish tank in the house lol.

 

[fbird]

Just an update. Really no change in the clown so I moved from the CP treatment. Today I did a 30 minute dip in methylene blue. Did a water change to rid of the CP and started with Prazipro. He didn't seem to like the dip and has been breathing heavier so I added another airstone. Currently the little guy is still breathing heavy and eating very little but still kicking. Hopefully the Prazipro will help him out if there are any intestinal worms as his poop has been stringy. Not sure if worms will mess with his appetite or not.