Sick Clown :(

[fishcrazee]

Not sure what's happening, but my maroon clown has suddenly taken ill He seems to have a hard time swimming horizontally, instead, he swims head up, tail down. He was having a hard time against the currents in the main tank, so I moved him to my 2g refugium. I thought for sure he'd be dead when I came home from work today, but he's hanging in there. He does seem a little perkier in the fuge, but his swimming seems like a struggle. He seems interested in food and has come to the surface to nibble a bit. The other fish seem alright. The pH was high recently, and I have lowered it some with a water change, but there was no sudden drop. Not sure what's the matter.

Salinity 1.025, no ammonia, no nitrites, 10ppm nitrates (which I struggle to keep down), alkalinity seems good, but calcium has been high 500ppm, although it should be lower since I haven't kalked in a while and have done a water change. I do a 20% water change each week. pH is 8.3, down from 8.5 a few days ago. I will be sad if I lose him, as he has come a long way to die now

 

[steve-s]

Can you describe the physical appearance of the fish and has it sustain any trauma recently. Especially note the size of the belly and the last time you saw the fish defecate.

Could be an internal blockage, swim bladder damage or an internal bacterial/parasite problem. The more physical symptoms/history you can provide the easier it will be to narrow down. Also include the types of foods you feed normally. You mention "coming to the surface" to nibble which may indicate a good part of the problem. If flake foods, it could have swallowed air or the flake has gone bad causing an internal infection? Food storage is also a concern.

Cheers
Steve

 

[fishcrazee]

I feed them marine flakes and seaweed every other day and frozen omnivore cubes on the days I don't feed the dried stuff. I will sometimes give them some dried plankton. The only thing I can think of that was different, was that I cut up part of a red grape the other day and gave them a few pieces....... not sure if that could be it?

The clown looks ok, color seems ok, but I did notice on one of his bands, it seems like it is "molting" just a tiny piece seems to be coming off. This is the only thing, besides the swimming wierd and struggling to stay swimming.

 

[steve-s]

Sounds like either a bacterial infection or possible a problem just from surface feeding/dried foods. Clowns should really be fed a good variety of fresh/fresh frozen meaty foods and veggie matter. They especially have problems with dried foods and meat only diets. Hard to tell either way at this point. Do you have a cycled QT tank?

More than likely you will end up having to QT and treat soon if this does not abate quickly. If the clown is still eating, thaw some small sized mysis (I prefer Hikari for this), strain and mash in some softened shelled green peas. Either cooked or frozen but not fresh, too hard to digest. Peas are extremeley oily and will help "grease" the wheels so to speak. If a blockage, it will help aleviate it. I would also suggest you follow through and QT the fish while it recovers. Lower the salinity to hypo levels (14 ppt) and administer a good antibiotic like Maracyn II at double the dose (2 mg/gal added daily after a 25% water change) for seven full days of treatment. It will help if you can predissolve the med and take a few tablespoons to soak the foods in. Anti's work much better if injested. If a persistant infection you may need something stronger like Gentamycin (@20 mg/gal) or Kanamycin (@ 0.05 mg/lt) for a two week period.

Cheers
Steve

 

[dobly_1999]

I have two clowns doing the same thing. The smaller one is laying on the bottom. They seem to have a hard time breathing. Help. Last sunday I noticed white spots on the head and eyes. Water quality test are good.

Large

 

[coralseas]

steve-s, i agree,

most wc fish are infested. they say 60% of all wild fish have them, but can live fine in the healthy wild, and lots mostliky turn it to fish food too.

tankbreed fish are health most of the time, best to get from some one , other than fish in a sysem with wild fish .

dolby-- looks like it may be too late. but what steve said would work for your fish , but it dose look a bit late.

sorry guys