With all the info I have, please help my clownfish.

[DaltoniousMax]

I have a clownfish in bad shape. I'll give all the info I can think of to avoid multiple posts troubleshooting, but if I missed something please ask. I'll try to be as concise as possible. I'm buying a QT tank and filter first thing tomorrow so medication suggestions are welcome if a likely diagnosis is found. I recommend skipping to ** and referring back to timeline info if necessary . I don't want my clown to suffer for my poor judgment

Thank you for your help!

Tank timeline in a nutshell...

- 24 gal AIO nano cube tank started feb. 1,
- lighting is 2x ABI PAR 38, 24 watt.
- dry BRS pukani rock, prepped with acid/ bleach bath
- live Carib sea Caribbean oolite sand
- tank cycled for 3 mo., addded bio-spira and 'ghost feeder ' with constant testing
- worst problem was nitrate at 20ppm
- at 3 mo. added clean up crew...
- 2 Halloween hermits
- 1 red leg hermit
- 1 blue leg hermit (most aggressive of the 4)
- fire shrimp
- 4 cirth snails
- July 30 I added the clown in question (5 mo. after initial setup. Cycle was definitely measured and complete.)
- Clownfish did awesome, happy and ate like a pig, but not quarantined.
- constantly dealt with clouded (white) water, mainly during morning hours. Increased vacuuming/water changes.
- 1 mo. Later added 11 frags (softies and LPS) from a well known (brothers) tank. Clown still doing excellent. Also added a firefish from LFS. Firefish shy from get go.
- couldy water got worse and new corals weren't opening, firefish continued to hide. bought nano zapp inline uv sterilizer and water cleared up in 3 days. Apparently it was a bacterial issue. Firefish came out more often and corals are open and producing new polyps daily/weekly.

**
- Firefish got less shy with clearer water but disappeared about 2 weeks ago.

- after a week I figured I lost the firefish, and all hell broke lose when I went looking for the carcass. I removed a main base rock in my setup and the whole tank went grey/brown with detritus.
- Snowflake Ocellaris had to endure a few hours of horrendous conditions while the water cleared and I switched multiple filter pads. Water was clear within 3-4 hours, but my clownfish has been breathing hard and hasn't eaten since. Never found the firefish, must have been taken care of by the CUC.
- about 10 hours later did a 20% waterchange, 24 hrs after that did another 20% water change and decided to observe.
- it will be a week tomorrow since the clownfish has eaten, his breathing has slowed since the last water change but is still not normal.

Parameters since before and after removing rocks (minus the time during 'the incident'):

- API test kits are used across the board (and have always worked well for me in the past)
- salinity=35ppt or 1.026/1.027 (refractometer, calibrated with pinpoint)
- ammonia=0
- nitrite=0
- nitrate<5ppm
- calc, dkh, and phosphate are tested as well (available if needed)
- no protein skimmer, but I have air stones and I'm diligent with my water changes.

- I did a 5 min FW dip about 36 hours ago, I did not notice anything 'fall out.' Fish does not seem worse off from the dip.
- there haven't been any red marks or burn signs that I can see near the gills.

I'll stop here to hopefully not scare anyone else off from the long post, but I need help!
If there is anything I left out please ask, I want to save this fish! shes the only one I have and after the hours of observation I'm a bit attached!

 

[DaltoniousMax]

In summary:
My clownfish is breathing fast and hasn't eaten in a week.
His swimming strength seems to be weakening.
Fins look slightly tattered but seem to be related more to lack of nutrition than fin rot, but this is my first time dealing with this so... yeah.

 

[Amoo]

Any chance you can get some pictures or a clear video of the fish homie?

 

[Victoria M]

This really sounds like ich. fish Hiding - then came out -then disappeared and now the clown is struggling. ich is a cyclical illness. If you have a hospital tank I would pull the fish and start a cupramine treatment or QP, but it might be too late. It sure sounds like you did a really good job setting up a new tank, but a QT process is a good practice too. Please read up on ich and how to treat a DT for ich. You must leave it without fish for a long time.

 

[Humblefish]

Can you post a closeup pic/video of the fish? And also a full shot of the tank itself... Not under blues, white light is better for taking photos.

Also, do you have a lid on this tank or is it open top?

 

[DaltoniousMax]

Thank you for the replies everyone, this morning his fins look way worse, I take it back it might be fin rot. I'll take some pics right now

 

[DaltoniousMax]

Here the whole setup, I dug my old pc's out for better pic lighting, my par 38s don't dim. I get some more close ups.

 

[DaltoniousMax]

My tank does have a cnopy and a screen on it I'll see if I can get a video

 

[DaltoniousMax]

Videos not working, I'm headed to the store to get qt stuff.

 

[Humblefish]

The tail rot is an indicator of a bacterial infection: https://www.reef2reef.com/threads/bacterial-infections.191511/

The thing with bacterial infections is they are often "secondary" to a preexisting parasitic infestation.

You're gonna need at least one antibiotic: https://www.reef2reef.com/threads/antibiotics.283711/

And probably a bottle of copper before this is all over with: https://www.reef2reef.com/threads/copper-treatment.193343/

 

[Victoria M]

good luck and keep us posted.

 

[DaltoniousMax]

Ok so I have a 10 gal Qt going. I only have 2 fish stores in town including Petco, which had the best selection although still poor. I ended up with a bottle of Prime and petcos Imagitarium bacterial infection remedy because it was all they had. Hopefully that will slow the process until I can get a real antibiotic and some copper. Ill be reading up on both in the mean time. Thank you for all your help Humblefish and Victoria, Ill keep you posted on how its going.

 

[Amoo]

THanks @Humblefish I suspected disease or parasite and that's your department

 

[Humblefish]

Moved to fish disease forum for more views

 

[Victoria M]

sounds like you are on the right course. cupramin by seachem has been a good product for me. I used their copper test also. just keep reading.

 

[DaltoniousMax]

Update: Good news fish is still alive, bad news his caudal fin is gone and she hasn't eaten in almost 2 weeks. I'll post a pic of the tail. The other fins seem to be good.
Furan 2 showed up in the mail today and cupramine gets here tomorrow.
I was planning on starting furan 2 first thing tomorrow after a water change but I'm worried about running cupramine and furan 2 with it being so long since eating. Should I ease into one and then start the other or just get through it as quick as possible with both? Also,I'm two doses in on the petco brand bacteria remedy with the final recommended dose due tomorrow. Instead of that I was going to get right to the furan 2. Is this ok or should I finish the recommended 3 doses before switching. Or should I do both? Thanks for your help!

 

[Humblefish]

I would abandon the Petco bacteria remedy, and go with Cupramine + Furan-2 ASAP.

 

[DaltoniousMax]

K will do.

 

[gmcc14]

I have a clownfish in bad shape. I'll give all the info I can think of to avoid multiple posts troubleshooting, but if I missed something please ask. I'll try to be as concise as possible. I'm buying a QT tank and filter first thing tomorrow so medication suggestions are welcome if a likely diagnosis is found. I recommend skipping to ** and referring back to timeline info if necessary . I don't want my clown to suffer for my poor judgment

Thank you for your help!

Tank timeline in a nutshell...

- 24 gal AIO nano cube tank started feb. 1,
- lighting is 2x ABI PAR 38, 24 watt.
- dry BRS pukani rock, prepped with acid/ bleach bath
- live Carib sea Caribbean oolite sand
- tank cycled for 3 mo., addded bio-spira and 'ghost feeder ' with constant testing
- worst problem was nitrate at 20ppm
- at 3 mo. added clean up crew...
- 2 Halloween hermits
- 1 red leg hermit
- 1 blue leg hermit (most aggressive of the 4)
- fire shrimp
- 4 cirth snails
- July 30 I added the clown in question (5 mo. after initial setup. Cycle was definitely measured and complete.)
- Clownfish did awesome, happy and ate like a pig, but not quarantined.
- constantly dealt with clouded (white) water, mainly during morning hours. Increased vacuuming/water changes.
- 1 mo. Later added 11 frags (softies and LPS) from a well known (brothers) tank. Clown still doing excellent. Also added a firefish from LFS. Firefish shy from get go.
- couldy water got worse and new corals weren't opening, firefish continued to hide. bought nano zapp inline uv sterilizer and water cleared up in 3 days. Apparently it was a bacterial issue. Firefish came out more often and corals are open and producing new polyps daily/weekly.

**
- Firefish got less shy with clearer water but disappeared about 2 weeks ago.

- after a week I figured I lost the firefish, and all hell broke lose when I went looking for the carcass. I removed a main base rock in my setup and the whole tank went grey/brown with detritus.
- Snowflake Ocellaris had to endure a few hours of horrendous conditions while the water cleared and I switched multiple filter pads. Water was clear within 3-4 hours, but my clownfish has been breathing hard and hasn't eaten since. Never found the firefish, must have been taken care of by the CUC.
- about 10 hours later did a 20% waterchange, 24 hrs after that did another 20% water change and decided to observe.
- it will be a week tomorrow since the clownfish has eaten, his breathing has slowed since the last water change but is still not normal.

Parameters since before and after removing rocks (minus the time during 'the incident'):

- API test kits are used across the board (and have always worked well for me in the past)
- salinity=35ppt or 1.026/1.027 (refractometer, calibrated with pinpoint)
- ammonia=0
- nitrite=0
- nitrate<5ppm
- calc, dkh, and phosphate are tested as well (available if needed)
- no protein skimmer, but I have air stones and I'm diligent with my water changes.

- I did a 5 min FW dip about 36 hours ago, I did not notice anything 'fall out.' Fish does not seem worse off from the dip.
- there haven't been any red marks or burn signs that I can see near the gills.

I'll stop here to hopefully not scare anyone else off from the long post, but I need help!
If there is anything I left out please ask, I want to save this fish! shes the only one I have and after the hours of observation I'm a bit attached!

Sorry to hear that you are going through this, hope your clown is responding well to the treatment.

Just wanted to make sure you know that using prime with cupramine makes the cupramine toxic. You can however use Seachem Stability to help keep your QT ammonia and nitrites down while using Cupramine. Good luck!

 

[DaltoniousMax]

Thanks for the tip, I used it when I first set up the QT 3 days ago haven't dosed since, and will have done (by the time the cupramine gets here) 2 25% water changes. Do I need to make this next one more than 25% or should the prime be at a safe level?