Need Help/Advice on Clown Fish

[Seeweed]

One of my clown fish is breathing hard or fast shall I say. I'm not sure what's going on? All my other fishes are doing fine. I have a Blue Hippo Tang, Six Line Wrasse, 3 Clowns, Coral Beauty Angel, Madarin Goby, Scooter Blenny, and a couple more. I have a 80gallon Bowfront with 4stage sump/refugium/Dual 250MH VHO combo/.... etc. Flow, water, temp, all seems to be good, but I don't know what going on with my Clown. I remember in my friends tank that I had did the same and Nemo didn't make it. I'm hoping he/she doesn't end up in the toilet.

 

[ronj]

i would start by checking every water parameter first, even though the other fish appear to be ok......does the clown look normal other than rapid breathing?? anything out of the ordinary on the fish??

 

[Herefishyfishy]

I would check PH first and if too low, do a water change. Be sure there is good air flow around the top of the tank and that the room has a good supply of fresh air too. Do you have a sump? How much live rock? Sand bed? How often do you clean your filters? Water changes

After PH, check and report temp, ammonia, nitrites.

 

[joshinjosh]

Have the other 2 clownfish paired up? perhasp the other clowns or other fish are acting aggresive toward it.

josh

 

[Seeweed]

Hey Thanks alot people... I will do a water change tonight and yes I do have a sump. I have a center over and everything has good movement on top and middle. I'll check it all tonight. It's been about three weeks so yeah I guess a water change is a must. I have a 80gallon Bow front so how much or how often should I do the change. My clown has paired with the one of the others and the smaller one isn't aggressive toward he/she at all. I did notice late last night that my cleaners where jumping on both of them trying to clean them, but they weren't really liking it. I think the smaller one has one white spot on him. The bigger one which I guess is female is doing better, but I'm still worried.

 

[Seeweed]

Also I was just wondering when a fish is breathing fast, that's obvisously not a good sign right? Is this normal and does it happen often like ick/ich.

 

[aquarookie]

Well, I do believe that ich affects the fish's gills, so it is possible, although the "ichy" fish I have had in the past never seemed to breathe abnormally...

 

[Seeweed]

Thanks guys and shall I say lady . I did some testing and I think I know what's wrong. My Nitrate was kind of high. In the middle of the chart which should be as low as possible, so I assume my water change needs to be done more frequently. Should I put the Mommy clown that's having trouble in my sick tank which I tested and everything is all good or should I just keep her there and just do my water change?

 

[burning2nd]

i know my nemo breaths a little hard after runing around like a mad fish (man)

 

[Seeweed]

Ok I did a little brainstorming and I have drawen to the conclusion that these are the 3 most important things I need done. #1 thing is water change. #2 is get a bigger protein skimmer (shooting for an Octopus Skimmer) #3 is getting Cheato & Nitrate Sponge in my sump. I hope Momma Clown makes it through all this. I'm still wondering if it's a good idea I keep her in the tank or acclimate her in my nano sick tank? And I appreciate everyone's advice..... thanks ladies and gentlemen!

 

[Herefishyfishy]

Clowns are pretty tough, with frequent water changes (make sure it is done per the rules) and your care, she should do fine.

 

[krisfal]

When you say nitrates are kinda high what exactly do you mean? Fish can tolerate higher nitrates than inverts. That is why FO or FOWLR set ups are often different than a reef, you are not as concerned with nitrates. While trying to reduce your nitrates is great I am not convinced that is the fishes problem.

If this was my fish I would post my concern on the marine fish forum and solicit Lee's help (an email to Lee alerting him about your post can speed up the response time). If you choose to do that provide as much of the info asked for in this post as you can.
http://www.reeffrontiers.com/forums/showthread.php?t=29578
Also I know Lee would recommend you isolate the fish into a QT so that you can treat it if necessary. Good Luck.