Maroon Clown Upside Down and Not Eating :(

[miNiChher]

Hi everyone, three days ago I moved my Maroon Clown into a quarantine tank. That tank had freshly mixed salt water with all the normal water parameters. Only things present in the QT are a heater and a thermometer. The maroon clown floats upside down at the top of the water. I think his underside is swollen and right under his dorsal fin there is a small amount of Yellow "stuff" like maybe a pin-sized yellow substance. Any medications anyone can recommend? It saddens me to see him, I'm not sure if he's in pain, but it really does hurt to see him upside down.

He came out of a tank that I believe is cycling. I set it up late November of 2006. It is a 110 Gallon tank. The water parameters of that tank are as follows:

Temp: 78 deg F
SG: 1.026
PH: 8.2
Ammonia: 0
Nitrite: 0
Nitrate: 5
Calcium: 400


The inhabitants are as follows
1 BTA
1 Long Tentacle Anemone
1 Clarkiii Clown
1 Purple Tilefish
1 Goby
1 Green Wrasse
3 Brain Corals
1 Acropora
1 Flower Pot
1 Bubble Coral

 

[LakeEd]

Sorry to hear about your clown! I'm sure once Steve gets here, he will have some helpful information for you about this. In the mean time, I'm posting so I can tag along with the recommendations you receive.

 

[steve-s]

Are those the numbers from the main system or the newly set up QT? If not the QT, please post those numbers. It helps get a clearer picture of what's happening.

Was the fish added directly to your main from the "uncycled tank" you acquired it from or to the current QT?
Is the fish eating, if so what/how often?
How was the fish acclimated to the Qt (or each system)?

The two main concerns here would be either internal parasite or bacterial infection. Given this is an anemonefish, both would/could be likely. If the fish is still eating, treatment would be a lot easier.

Begin by lowering the salinity of the Qt towards 21 ppt (1.016ish SG). This will reduce the amount of energy the fish is using for osmoregulation and more towards healing the problem at hand. be sure the FW you use is buffered to the same pH and heated to the same temp as the QT.

Next get to the LFS and see if they have a good gram negative antibiotic. Maracyn II for SW (Minocycline/Tetracycline @2mg/gal first day and 1mg/gal afterwards for 10 days), Gentamicin (20mg/gal daily for 7 days) or Kanamycin (190 mg/gal added every 3rd day for 3 treatments) and purchase an appropriate amount for your QT size. Neomycin is also an option.

For the potential parasite problem, Gel Tek Ultra Cure PX. It contains both Praziquantel and Metronidazole. The Prazi treats worms and the Metronidazole the parasite. All fish should be dewormed anyway. If that's not available, see if they have a product that contains Metronidazole.

Please post back with as much info as you can. For now, I'm just thinking out loud so to speak.

 

[miNiChher]

The numbers previously posted were in reference to my main system. The QT has:

Temp: 80 deg F
SG: 1.025
PH: 8.2
Ammonia: 0
Nitrite: 0
Nitrate: 0

The maroon clown is not eating

He was added directly (acclimated for about an hour) into my main tank in November of 2006 and then recently he began to look sickly, one of his eyes had a very slight slight case of popeye, and then the next day he wasn't swimming well and within the next two days he just went belly up... but is still alive.

 

[steve-s]

An internal parasite or bacterial infection would be the most likely culprits. I would lean mainly towards bacterial. I would still treat for both as I suggested earlier.

Can you acquired the medications I recommended and have you reduced the salinity? Both need to be done very very quickly!!

Are any of the fish in your display tank showing any similar signs?
What do you normally feed the fish/how often?
How do you store the foods?

 

[miNiChher]

oh man I have class tonight from 6:30 to 9:30pm Nemo's been visibly sick since last Thurs I believe... i'm not sure if i will administer the medication before class or after... (will 4 hours make a difference at this point) oh the inhumanity of this

I went to two LFS stores today and they only had the following (which I bought):

Tetracycline 250 mg (12 Capsules AquatiCure)
PraziPro (4 fluid oz)
Metronidazole (.18 oz Seachem)
Kanaplex (.18 oz Seachem)

None of the other fish in my display tank are showing any of these symptoms.
I feed the other fish one teaspoon of Arcti Pods nightly.
These Arcti Pods are stored in a bottom shelf in my refrigerator.

In my QT I don't have the filter going because it just whirls Nemo around. Should I turn it on? I noticed the dash of epsom salt that i put in is sitting at the bottom.

I also decreased the salinity from 1.025 to 1.020 and will be decreasing it more tonight....

 

[steve-s]

The Kanaplex will work fine for the infection. Add the recommended 1 scoop for each 5 gallons of water volume. Please note, not tank capacity. Kanamycin is fairly stable in SW (upto 48 hrs) so you will need to re-dose on the third and six days. Be sure to do a good sized water change before each new dose on those days. Also, if/when water changes are needed between re-dose times, you will need to dose the change water prior to using. Best suggestion is use a 5 gal bucket and dose that. Then use that bucket until empty to perform the necessary water changes.

The Metronidazole will be needed but unfortunately will be of no use until the clown is accepting foods. Once the infection abates some, that should change. Make sure the QT has some liquid vitamin added daily. The B12 it contains will aid in stimulating appetite response. Once the fish is eating, we can treat with the Metronidazole. It needs to be added to the food.

Keep the Tetracycline for now but do not open it. Hopefully you can return it later. Once the infection is sorted out we can worry about the potential worm problem using the Prazi Pro.

As for foods, you only feed