What is affecting my Clownfish?

[Mick126]

Hi all, new to the forum.
I am a returning reefer after a 15 or so year break, I am trying to do things differently this time around as I have the time. I will be quarantining ALL fish and Coral prior to going into my DT. The QT is a 60lt that has been setup for around 2 months or so, HOB with foam, and Fluval BioMax Media, was also running some carbon until recently, tank cycled.
As we live in a semi rural area I have to order fish online, recently purchased my first 2 fish, a pair of Snowflake Clownfish, they were in transit for under 24 hours and looked fine from the get go, did not treat with anything straight away as I wanted them to settle in (maybe a mistake). However they seemed to be breathing quite rapidy from the start so after a few days I removed them for a fresh water bath for around 5min thinking maybe flukes (didnt see anything in the bottom of the container), didnt really change their breathing, by this time they had been with me for a week so started a copper treatment with Fritz Coppersafe, I dosed the amount suggested on the bottle which turned out to give a reading of around 2.5ppm on my Hanna Checker, so removed some water and reduced to 2.15ppm. A few days later my Male started to become quite finicky with food, only eating frozen Brine, but as he was eating I let it go. Did another water change and got the copper down to 1.95ppm, so 2 days ago he stopped eating altogether, so Im thinking maybe he wasnt liking the Copper so I decided to do a big water change and got the Copper down to .95ppm. Still no change so yesterday I dosed the tank with PraziPro, as he wasnt doing well, just floating around but still breathing, thinking maybe they did have flukes as there were no other visible signs, meanwhile the female was eating anything and everything she could. Today whislt he looked a little better for a while he still isnt eating, I removed the LED's for the video and put a couple of White T5's on the tank and noticed what looks like Velvet? Any suggestiions would be appreciated as these 2 cost me a small fortune. Im thinking they both might not make it but I want to try.

 

[Jay Hemdal]

Hi all, new to the forum.
I am a returning reefer after a 15 or so year break, I am trying to do things differently this time around as I have the time. I will be quarantining ALL fish and Coral prior to going into my DT. The QT is a 60lt that has been setup for around 2 months or so, HOB with foam, and Fluval BioMax Media, was also running some carbon until recently, tank cycled.
As we live in a semi rural area I have to order fish online, recently purchased my first 2 fish, a pair of Snowflake Clownfish, they were in transit for under 24 hours and looked fine from the get go, did not treat with anything straight away as I wanted them to settle in (maybe a mistake). However they seemed to be breathing quite rapidy from the start so after a few days I removed them for a fresh water bath for around 5min thinking maybe flukes (didnt see anything in the bottom of the container), didnt really change their breathing, by this time they had been with me for a week so started a copper treatment with Fritz Coppersafe, I dosed the amount suggested on the bottle which turned out to give a reading of around 2.5ppm on my Hanna Checker, so removed some water and reduced to 2.15ppm. A few days later my Male started to become quite finicky with food, only eating frozen Brine, but as he was eating I let it go. Did another water change and got the copper down to 1.95ppm, so 2 days ago he stopped eating altogether, so Im thinking maybe he wasnt liking the Copper so I decided to do a big water change and got the Copper down to .95ppm. Still no change so yesterday I dosed the tank with PraziPro, as he wasnt doing well, just floating around but still breathing, thinking maybe they did have flukes as there were no other visible signs, meanwhile the female was eating anything and everything she could. Today whislt he looked a little better for a while he still isnt eating, I removed the LED's for the video and put a couple of White T5's on the tank and noticed what looks like Velvet? Any suggestiions would be appreciated as these 2 cost me a small fortune. Im thinking they both might not make it but I want to try.

Welcome to Reef2Reef!

Clownfish are not adversely affected by Coppersafe even up to 2.5 ppm, so that wasn’t the issue. Removing copper, as you suspected, can leave the fish open to protozoan infections.

However, I see stringy white feces in both fish. That can have multiple causes, but copper won’t treat any of those causes. In some cases, this is caused by an untreatable coccidea infection. In other cases, it is caused by an internal flagellate. You can treat that with metronidazole in the food at 1% by weight (you need a gram scale for that, and the fish need to be eating well.) You can also try metroplex in the water (don’t do that at full copper though).

 

[vetteguy53081]

Hi all, new to the forum.
I am a returning reefer after a 15 or so year break, I am trying to do things differently this time around as I have the time. I will be quarantining ALL fish and Coral prior to going into my DT. The QT is a 60lt that has been setup for around 2 months or so, HOB with foam, and Fluval BioMax Media, was also running some carbon until recently, tank cycled.
As we live in a semi rural area I have to order fish online, recently purchased my first 2 fish, a pair of Snowflake Clownfish, they were in transit for under 24 hours and looked fine from the get go, did not treat with anything straight away as I wanted them to settle in (maybe a mistake). However they seemed to be breathing quite rapidy from the start so after a few days I removed them for a fresh water bath for around 5min thinking maybe flukes (didnt see anything in the bottom of the container), didnt really change their breathing, by this time they had been with me for a week so started a copper treatment with Fritz Coppersafe, I dosed the amount suggested on the bottle which turned out to give a reading of around 2.5ppm on my Hanna Checker, so removed some water and reduced to 2.15ppm. A few days later my Male started to become quite finicky with food, only eating frozen Brine, but as he was eating I let it go. Did another water change and got the copper down to 1.95ppm, so 2 days ago he stopped eating altogether, so Im thinking maybe he wasnt liking the Copper so I decided to do a big water change and got the Copper down to .95ppm. Still no change so yesterday I dosed the tank with PraziPro, as he wasnt doing well, just floating around but still breathing, thinking maybe they did have flukes as there were no other visible signs, meanwhile the female was eating anything and everything she could. Today whislt he looked a little better for a while he still isnt eating, I removed the LED's for the video and put a couple of White T5's on the tank and noticed what looks like Velvet? Any suggestiions would be appreciated as these 2 cost me a small fortune. Im thinking they both might not make it but I want to try.

What foods are you feeding these fish?
Im seeing upon expanding video, very heavy mucus and discoloration of the fish leading me to believe this is classic Brooklynella in which some signs would be color loss, weird swim pattern, elevated breathing, loss of appetite, hiding and lethargic behavior.
Give the fish a freshwater dip for 5 minutes in tap water , the same temperature as your display tank which offers temporary relief and see if the behaviors change.

 

[Mick126]

Welcome to Reef2Reef!

Clownfish are not adversely affected by Coppersafe even up to 2.5 ppm, so that wasn’t the issue. Removing copper, as you suspected, can leave the fish open to protozoan infections.

However, I see stringy white feces in both fish. That can have multiple causes, but copper won’t treat any of those causes. In some cases, this is caused by an untreatable coccidea infection. In other cases, it is caused by an internal flagellate. You can treat that with metronidazole in the food at 1% by weight (you need a gram scale for that, and the fish need to be eating well.) You can also try metroplex in the water (don’t do that at full copper though).

Thanks Jay, Have got Metroplex coming in the post, definitely stringy feces in the Male, havent really seen the same from the female that I can recall. Velvet not a possibility? as the males pectoral fins (mainly the back) are looking a little like white powder on them, dont recall seeing that before. Also behind the pectoral fins on the male are pink raised areas. Tanks for the advice, wil try these when I can get the products.

 

[Mick126]

What foods are you feeding these fish?
Im seeing upon expanding video, very heavy mucus and discoloration of the fish leading me to believe this is classic Brooklynella in which some signs would be color loss, weird swim pattern, elevated breathing, loss of appetite, hiding and lethargic behavior.
Give the fish a freshwater dip for 5 minutes in tap water , the same temperature as your display tank which offers temporary relief and see if the behaviors change.

Hi Vetteguy, So I started them off on Aquaforest Liquid Mysis and Aquaforest Marine Mix M which they were both eating, along with frozen Brine. As time went by the male stopped eating the Marine Mix pellets then stopped eating the Mysis, I tried some flake as well which was a bit hit and miss with both so I have kept up the brine shrimp as both were eating it no problem. Have only been feeding the brine shrimo the past couple of days so as to tempt the male to eat, without luck. Weird swim pattern fior the male definitely, definitely colour loss especially in the mornings of late on the male, loss of appetite for the male and elevated breathing for quite some time now, but both have had elevated breathing since I got them.
Will try a freshwater dip again, Im guessing you mean RODI and not straight tap water? or tap water with Prime?

 

[vetteguy53081]

Hi Vetteguy, So I started them off on Aquaforest Liquid Mysis and Aquaforest Marine Mix M which they were both eating, along with frozen Brine. As time went by the male stopped eating the Marine Mix pellets then stopped eating the Mysis, I tried some flake as well which was a bit hit and miss with both so I have kept up the brine shrimp as both were eating it no problem. Have only been feeding the brine shrimo the past couple of days so as to tempt the male to eat, without luck. Weird swim pattern fior the male definitely, definitely colour loss especially in the mornings of late on the male, loss of appetite for the male and elevated breathing for quite some time now, but both have had elevated breathing since I got them.
Will try a freshwater dip again, Im guessing you mean RODI and not straight tap water? or tap water with Prime?

Straight tap and No Prime. Tap water best for ph and acceptable for dip

 

[Mick126]

Straight tap and No Prime. Tap water best for ph and acceptable for dip

I know its only a 5min bath, but our tap water has Chlorine (definitely) & Chloramine in it?

 

[vetteguy53081]

I know its only a 5min bath, but our tap water has Chlorine (definitely) & Chloramine in it?

Moat do. Its safe for the short period. You can add conditioner if desired but not a deal breaker

 

[MnFish1]

Straight tap and No Prime. Tap water best for ph and acceptable for dip

I never do dips - however - I would wonder if a dechlorinated tap would be better.

 

[Jay Hemdal]

Thanks Jay, Have got Metroplex coming in the post, definitely stringy feces in the Male, havent really seen the same from the female that I can recall. Velvet not a possibility? as the males pectoral fins (mainly the back) are looking a little like white powder on them, dont recall seeing that before. Also behind the pectoral fins on the male are pink raised areas. Tanks for the advice, wil try these when I can get the products.

With velvet, the first and sometimes only symptom you'll see is rapid breathing. The "dust" signs may not show up and if it does, it would be right at the end of the infection. You'll read about the "dust" being a major symptom, but that is based on confusion with freshwater velvet, a different species.

 

[Jay Hemdal]

I never do dips - however - I would wonder if a dechlorinated tap would be better.

Dechlorination is optional, but if people do it, they need to dose it for the proper water volume. I've heard people say that they just "squirt in a bunch into the bucket" but that can have unintended consequences.

I like using tap water because I can adjust the temperature of the dip right at the tap.