Reef nutrition

Sick Oc. Clownfish

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Adam M

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Please Help!

My ~3-4 month old oc clownfish is sick and getting worse. A week ago I first noticed it, he started acting lethargic, staying near the bottom and barely/not reacting to food or tankmates, and gasping like he couldn’t breathe. I immediately did a 50% water change (20 Gal Long) and added an air pump, which seemed to really help. He still hung out next to the bubbler (lowest flow area) and didn't eat much, but for a few days he was very responsive and seemed much happier. Unfortunately the last couple days he’s been going downhill, now he stays entirely in the corner laying on a mushroom coral, barely moving and gasping. Today my mini Q nano skimmer came and it has been running for a few hours, but I doubt it is helping him much. I also have changed out the Hydor Koralia for a Gyre style Hygger wavemaker in the past few days.

I first got him as a little guy in a pair with what I presume was a sibling, who has since passed. The sibling passed after experiencing the same symptoms*, and being stressed by a green brittle star who has since been rehomed. He lives with a slightly larger Black Oc. Clownish (and others listed in my tank journal), who all seem very healthy. All the creatures seem to get along well; occasionally I see the black clown nip at the smaller one, but it seems affectionate and is usually to free a string of poo. I have never seen them chase each other, nor have I seen any physical marks on either fish. The smaller sick clown does look skinny and is about the size he was when I got him. I would’ve expected him to grow as I believe the other has.

The only other thing I can think to try is to remove the unidentified rock that some pointed out in my first journal. I have been planning to replace this with reef rock but have been busy. As I am typing this, I am realizing that the first anemone I added to the tank is the only other tankmate that is also looking subpar. These are two of the oldest additions to the tank; if the issue was long term exposure to something toxic, that would check out with the symptoms. I will definitely remove the rock asap and do another water change. In the meantime if anyone can think of any other things to try, I’m all ears.

Also if anyone knows how to post videos on iphone please lmk. First photo is a week ago second is right now.

*(I shared this in my first tank journal post, where several also expressed concerns about gas exchange. This is why I immediately added the bubbler which definitely helped, so thank you guys!)
 

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Hey, welcome to the club!

Just finished up reading your tank journal. I feel like you rushed things a bit too fast possibly, you cycled the tank, which is good, and used live rock and live sand, which is really good, but you said after adding inhabitants, that you were reading nitrite on your test kit. That’s not good, but I feel like by now, it should be completely cycled. Just to be sure though, I would check ammonia, nitrite, and nitrate. Ammonia and nitrite should be 0, and you should have some nitrate, which is good and expected
 
And a tip for the future, you can use your existing sand/rock to start another tank now, but if you wanted to start completely from scratch, I like to get the API regular saltwater kit, since it can test for ammonia/nitrite/nitrate, and dose pure ammonia without any additives to an inhabit-less tank. Feel free to add bottled bacteria as well, it will speed everything up. Dose ammonia until your ammonia test kit reads 2ppm. Start testing ammonia and nitrite daily until you start reading nitrite, and then you can start testing nitrate. When you are able to clear 2ppm ammonia within 24 hours and read 0 ammonia 0 nitrite, the cycle is complete and the bacterial population will be very strong
 
Fish Boss said:
And a tip for the future, you can use your existing sand/rock to start another tank now, but if you wanted to start completely from scratch, I like to get the API regular saltwater kit, since it can test for ammonia/nitrite/nitrate, and dose pure ammonia without any additives to an inhabit-less tank. Feel free to add bottled bacteria as well, it will speed everything up. Dose ammonia until your ammonia test kit reads 2ppm. Start testing ammonia and nitrite daily until you start reading nitrite, and then you can start testing nitrate. When you are able to clear 2ppm ammonia within 24 hours and read 0 ammonia 0 nitrite, the cycle is complete and the bacterial population will be very strong
Click to expand...

He said there are other healthy fish/inverts living in this tank that are just fine, is that right @Adam M ?. I don't think this is an issue of ammonia and I wouldn't go restarting my tank or trying to cycle it or dump more bacteria in or whatever.

I think you just got a sick pair of clownfish, which is pretty common when not QTing - assuming they were not QTed?
 
I agree with Derek. Clownfish are damsels. People use to cycle aquariums with them back in the day. A healthy pair would make it thru ammonia. Do you have enough air to water exchange ? Before the mini skimmer. Was the water surface rippling ?
 
derek_SR said:
He said there are other healthy fish/inverts living in this tank that are just fine, is that right @Adam M ?. I don't think this is an issue of ammonia and I wouldn't go restarting my tank or trying to cycle it or dump more bacteria in or whatever.

I think you just got a sick pair of clownfish, which is pretty common when not QTing - assuming they were not QTed?
Click to expand...
Was just a suggestion for the future
 
Unfortunately he passed. Last night he laid down on a rock to seemingly rest in peace, so I mostly covered him with a shell so the handsy cleaner shrimp would leave him alone. This morning he was gone, and he is now forever resting in my backyard.

@Fish Boss thanks for the advice and tips for the future. About Nitrite; I was previously using test strips for nitrite and was not very confident in my readings. The color difference between 0-20-40ppm is very slight and I’ve heard of issues around their accuracy. I switched to an API drip test a couple months ago but I haven’t updated my journal yet to show that. Ever since I switched the test has been showing a clear 0 ppm, so I am no longer worried about that.

@derek_SR Correct they were not QTed. I didn’t have the setup for it and didn’t really have anything else in the tank when I got them. I do have a little 3 gal tank that I’m now considering turning into a QT. Now that I have a skimmer, I don’t think I need to keep running my Fluval 30 HOB, so maybe I’ll use that. (If anyone knows if a skimmer and Fluval 30 are too much or not for a 20 gal long please lmk). I’m really thinking I just got some sick clowns. I entirely forgot that when I got them another clown in the store tank did have some visible white spots (looked like ick) on him, although mine seemed very healthy for at least two months.

@Turkeysammich Gas exchange was also my first thought. My wavemaker has always been pointed at the surface creating a pronounced “wave” which I thought would be enough. Still, I added the bubbler (a top fin sponge filter without the sponge) when the symptoms started, before any skimmer. That definitely seemed to help the clown, but it didn’t solve it; which I think means I did not have enough gas exchange, but the fish was also sick from something else. Maybe the low gas exchange made him vulnerable, then he caught a bug. Hopefully the skimmer will address this for the future.

thank you all for the help. It’s sad but this is part of what I signed up for. Glad I learned a little something from it.
 
Adam M said:
Unfortunately he passed. Last night he laid down on a rock to seemingly rest in peace, so I mostly covered him with a shell so the handsy cleaner shrimp would leave him alone. This morning he was gone, and he is now forever resting in my backyard.

@Fish Boss thanks for the advice and tips for the future. About Nitrite; I was previously using test strips for nitrite and was not very confident in my readings. The color difference between 0-20-40ppm is very slight and I’ve heard of issues around their accuracy. I switched to an API drip test a couple months ago but I haven’t updated my journal yet to show that. Ever since I switched the test has been showing a clear 0 ppm, so I am no longer worried about that.

@derek_SR Correct they were not QTed. I didn’t have the setup for it and didn’t really have anything else in the tank when I got them. I do have a little 3 gal tank that I’m now considering turning into a QT. Now that I have a skimmer, I don’t think I need to keep running my Fluval 30 HOB, so maybe I’ll use that. (If anyone knows if a skimmer and Fluval 30 are too much or not for a 20 gal long please lmk). I’m really thinking I just got some sick clowns. I entirely forgot that when I got them another clown in the store tank did have some visible white spots (looked like ick) on him, although mine seemed very healthy for at least two months.

@Turkeysammich Gas exchange was also my first thought. My wavemaker has always been pointed at the surface creating a pronounced “wave” which I thought would be enough. Still, I added the bubbler (a top fin sponge filter without the sponge) when the symptoms started, before any skimmer. That definitely seemed to help the clown, but it didn’t solve it; which I think means I did not have enough gas exchange, but the fish was also sick from something else. Maybe the low gas exchange made him vulnerable, then he caught a bug. Hopefully the skimmer will address this for the future.

thank you all for the help. It’s sad but this is part of what I signed up for. Glad I learned a little something from it.
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QT is a lot of work (some people may disagree). I prefer to just buy QTed fish from high tide aquatics in Oakland. You will pay more....but your fish won't die and kill everything in your tank, which is a nice bonus! @under_water_ninja is the owner, his name is Kenny.
 
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