tank spike- possible overfed or shrimp dead? Plz help

[klr0808]

Last night, I decided to test my water because it looked a little hazy and sure enough I had a nitrite/ammonia spike. I’m using Red Sea tests so I know there are some limitations. The Red Sea is reading 0.2 ammonia, but my seachem badge in the tank is reading less than 0.02. The nitrite had been zero the entire cycle and has increased to 0.05 almost looks like 0.1.
Previously, there was absolutely no color to the nitrate so I know that this is a difference. Nitrate is steady at 5.

The reason why I tested also was because I noticed that one clown fish, which has been a little concerning and stressed looking, was spitting out some of the food. So I noticed there was definitely too much food floating around unfortunately and I didn’t think to remove it. Tank is going on about 10 days cycled. But it was a very rapid cycle as in everything was stable within 24 hours of putting in the live rock and the fritz 900.

Also, I got a very small pistol shrimp that went into hiding under a rock and I have not seen it since Monday. I have been checking the last location I saw, and it looked like that there was sand in front of where he originally was, and there was this thing sticking out. I took a turkey baster to blow some air around the area, just gently and this eventually came up. I have no clue what this is cause honestly, it looks like a small branch, but I’m also concerned it could be dead somewhere. Also, all of the fish have come to the side of the tank where he last was too, which I don’t entirely know if that’s a coincidence.

Regardless, I didn’t feed the fish this morning and I’m wondering if I should hold on feeding them tonight?

I tell you what, this has been a lot more stressful than I was expecting, but I’m trying to stick with it.

Everything that could go wrong has been going wrong :/ and if the pistol shrimp is dead somewhere spiking my tank, I don’t know what to do because I can’t move the rocks around.

 

[klr0808]

CORRECTION- what I meant to say is previously there had never been a NITRITE spike so the water had basically been clear up into this point so there was a definite change.

 

[klr0808]

Also- does anybody recommend I use a dose of prime just to be safe to detoxify the ammonia?

I know the clown fish will likely be OK and the Gobi should be too, but I have snails and shrimps

 

[ThisIsTheWay]

What size tank do you have?
How many fish have you got?
What kind of live rock did you use?
Do you have any full tank pictures?

I’ll let others chime in on the nitrite levels, but my initial reaction is that it sounds really low and it’s probably just fine.

What about your clownfish is concerning? What stress signs is it showing?
Spitting out food could be an indication of something or it could just be your clownfish being picky about its food.

As for the pistol shrimp, you probably won’t see it for a while. I have one and don’t see it often, but I know he’s around because I’ll see sand was moved overnight or I’ll here it click/snap occasionally.

That picture just looks like a small twig, probably something the shrimp found and decided to use to help build its burrow. I don’t think I’d be concerned about it.

 

[klr0808]

What size tank do you have?
How many fish have you got?
What kind of live rock did you use?
Do you have any full tank pictures?

I’ll let others chime in on the nitrite levels, but my initial reaction is that it sounds really low and it’s probably just fine.

What about your clownfish is concerning? What stress signs is it showing?
Spitting out food could be an indication of something or it could just be your clownfish being picky about its food.

As for the pistol shrimp, you probably won’t see it for a while. I have one and don’t see it often, but I know he’s around because I’ll see sand was moved overnight or I’ll here it click/snap occasionally.

That picture just looks like a small twig, probably something the shrimp found and decided to use to help build its burrow. I don’t think I’d be concerned about it.

20 gallon
2 clowns 1 watchmen goby
Live rock from lfs plus some dry
Clown fish is pale-ish. A black spot on each fin. He also had been hovering in one spot and acting like it was really hard for him to swim to the top, but I also don’t know if this has something to do with the dominance transfer or if he was being bullied by the other Clownfish.
I don’t think this looks anything like a pistol shrimp either so hopefully we are fine there! I definitely have not heard click since the first day though.

So given there’s been a little spike, would you feed the fish a little bit of my sis? The poor babies look starving.

 

[klr0808]

Updated pictures you can see the black spot on the fin.

 

[klr0808]

@MnFish1
@vetteguy53081
@Jay Hemdal

Any advice on these clowns would be greatly appreciated. Been cycled about a week. Picked up the clown fish on Sunday. Started noticing on Tuesday the paleness assuming it was from stress. I don’t have an overhead light currently. However, the fish look iridescent and one clown fish has a black spot on each fin. I don’t notice that they’re breathing fast but at times they seem pretty lethargic and don’t swim up to the top often. The same fish that has the black spots also was spitting out food yesterday, but I also haven’t noticed anything else other than them acting super hungry.

 

[ThisIsTheWay]

Feeding them once a day should be fine, that’s what I do with my fish.

The fact that your clownfish are hanging out together seems like a good sign that there shouldn’t be much/any aggression between them.

I believe the paleness could be an indication of stress. I don’t know if clownfish do it, but I know my wrasses are more pale at night and from what I remember that’s normal.

The hovering in one spot and acting like it’s hard to swim to the top sounds a little concerning but I don’t know enough to help with that.
If you’re concerned about it you could make a thread in the fish disease forum section.

 

[vetteguy53081]

@MnFish1
@vetteguy53081
@Jay Hemdal

Any advice on these clowns would be greatly appreciated. Been cycled about a week. Picked up the clown fish on Sunday. Started noticing on Tuesday the paleness assuming it was from stress. I don’t have an overhead light currently. However, the fish look iridescent and one clown fish has a black spot on each fin. I don’t notice that they’re breathing fast but at times they seem pretty lethargic and don’t swim up to the top often. The same fish that has the black spots also was spitting out food yesterday, but I also haven’t noticed anything else other than them acting super hungry.

i see a watchman goby in tank also. I would suggest to Not add anymore fish for at least three weeks and the clown mainly should have been quarantined or at minimum given a ruby rally pro bath. A video under brighter light will be more helpful in spotting what you are describing. Tank not quite ready for a shrimp at one week of running and no anemones for at least 4 months of age

 

[klr0808]

i see a watchman goby in tank also. I would suggest to Not add anymore fish for at least three weeks and the clown mainly should have been quarantined or at minimum given a ruby rally pro bath. A video under brighter light will be more helpful in spotting what you are describing. Tank not quite ready for a shrimp at one week of running and no anemones for at least 4 months of age

Yes, watchman Gobi was added at the same time with the two clown fish. Local fish store pre-treats with copper.
I was told that very low by a load and honestly things were going great until I either have a dead pistol, shrimp or overfed

Thank you for your help in stating things that shouldn’t have been done and what shouldn’t be doing in the future, but is there any advice or support you can provide to help me now?

 

[Jay Hemdal Verified Community Expert]

Can you post a video of the clowns tomorrow? Hosting on Youtube works well.

 

[klr0808]

@MnFish1
@vetteguy53081
@Jay Hemdal

Any advice on these clowns would be greatly appreciated. Been cycled about a week. Picked up the clown fish on Sunday. Started noticing on Tuesday the paleness assuming it was from stress. I don’t have an overhead light currently. However, the fish look iridescent and one clown fish has a black spot on each fin. I don’t notice that they’re breathing fast but at times they seem pretty lethargic and don’t swim up to the top often. The same fish that has the black spots also was spitting out food yesterday, but I also haven’t noticed anything else other than them acting super hungry.

Was cycled for a week before picking up the fish*

 

[klr0808]

Can you post a video of the clowns tomorrow? Hosting on Youtube works well.

I don’t have a YouTube account to post videos.

I’ve posted one below if it happens to work

 

[klr0808]

Feeding them once a day should be fine, that’s what I do with my fish.

The fact that your clownfish are hanging out together seems like a good sign that there shouldn’t be much/any aggression between them.

I believe the paleness could be an indication of stress. I don’t know if clownfish do it, but I know my wrasses are more pale at night and from what I remember that’s normal.

The hovering in one spot and acting like it’s hard to swim to the top sounds a little concerning but I don’t know enough to help with that.
If you’re concerned about it you could make a thread in the fish disease forum section.

Should I still feed with the spike and should I dose with prime to help detoxify?

 

[Jay Hemdal Verified Community Expert]

I don’t have a YouTube account to post videos.

I’ve posted one below if it happens to work

The one clown is definitely having some difficulty. It is swimming head up and sort of struggling. Trouble is, clowns that swim that way are showing a generalized stress issue and this doesn't point to any specific issue. I wasn't able to see its breathing rate in the video.

If you are getting an ammonia reading again today (0.20 or higher), I would add Amquel instead of Prime. The latter product has had some criticism. Search Prime + Ammonia here.

Then, I would call the LFS and ask if they know if these clownfish were captive raised or wild caught. Wild caught ocellaris clowns can carry a host of disease issues.

 

[klr0808]

The one clown is definitely having some difficulty. It is swimming head up and sort of struggling. Trouble is, clowns that swim that way are showing a generalized stress issue and this doesn't point to any specific issue. I wasn't able to see its breathing rate in the video.

If you are getting an ammonia reading again today (0.20 or higher), I would add Amquel instead of Prime. The latter product has had some criticism. Search Prime + Ammonia here.

Then, I would call the LFS and ask if they know if these clownfish were captive raised or wild caught. Wild caught ocellaris clowns can carry a host of disease issues.

Thank you so so much.

 

[Mr. Mojo Rising]

Have you done any water changes yet? With too much food in the water and fish showing stress, water change should be an immediate action. Your clownfish can only eat 5-6 pieces of food each per serving, so don't add more food than that, but feed a couple of times per day.

 

[vetteguy53081]

Was cycled for a week before picking up the fish*

How did you determine tank cycled?
When ammonia rises then falls and holds a steady reading of Zero for at least 5 days and also nitrate rises and falls and holds at 20 or below- you are cycled.
Did you add ammonia chloride or something to increase ammonia initially ?
How are you testing your levels?
You want to stock very slowly to allow denitrifying bacteria to keep up with new bioload as tank matures.
Adding 1.5ml per ten gallons daily for next 2 weeks will assure bacteria is sufficient and supported.

 

[klr0808]

Have you done any water changes yet? With too much food in the water and fish showing stress, water change should be an immediate action. Your clownfish can only eat 5-6 pieces of food each per serving, so don't add more food than that, but feed a couple of times per day.

Well, here’s the thing, I’m not entirely sure I overfed it’s just that one of the fish was spitting out the food and the pistol shrimp that was the size of my pinky now hasn’t been seen since Monday and I have suspicion that it may be dead.

I have not heard any clicking. I have not seen any sand move in the spot that he was last and for whatever reason they gave me such a small shrimp and I think it got stuck under a rock. So what a water change even help at this point if I’m gonna have decaying Tissue somewhere and the tank is only two weeks cycled

 

[Mr. Mojo Rising]

Well, here’s the thing, I’m not entirely sure I overfed it’s just that one of the fish was spitting out the food and the pistol shrimp that was the size of my pinky now hasn’t been seen since Monday and I have suspicion that it may be dead.

I have not heard any clicking. I have not seen any sand move in the spot that he was last and for whatever reason they gave me such a small shrimp and I think it got stuck under a rock. So what a water change even help at this point if I’m gonna have decaying Tissue somewhere and the tank is only two weeks cycled

In your original post you mentioned you noticed too much food floating around....

Water changes will remove some of the polluted water and introduce new water which always helps the livestock. You mention that your fishes color had changed, this is a sign of stress, water change will always help reduce fish stress.