worried about my perc

[Cali-girl]

i'm worried about my percula clownfish.

He started acting strange and hiding in the back. right now he's on the sand and leaning against a rock. all the levels are where they are supposed to be - 0, although the ph might be a little low - between 7.4 and 7.8

water temp is at 78.

 

he got stuck on the koralia water circulator this morning and i had to get him off. it was like he was being sucked to the plastic around the propeller.

 

not sure what to do. i saw him swimming around this morning and he was pooping, so he's been eating

 

edit* on a side note, i also have had a big cyano outbreak at the same time. if that makes any difference...

[Phixion]

The cyano could make a differance... Sounds like maybe he's weak though thus why got sucked to the Koralia. Keep an eye on hgim though and see if he'll respond to you trying to feed him or if you can physically see him eating. Good luck!

[Six]

Cyano is a sign of something out of wack with the water quality. I doubt your nitrates are 0 if you've got a cyanobacteria outbreak. Your test kits may be old. If it's still reading 0, check phosphates. If you're using tap water, there's the cyano issue. Otherwise elevated PO4 can be caused by flake food or frozen food "juice"/excess.

 

As for the fish, the water may be hampering the immune system of the fish and thus the reason why its listless. usually just a phosphate problem wont cause this, but if the fish was a recent purchase, isnt eating well, or getting bullied, that may also contribute. more than one of these factors will really affect the fish's behavior and health. Honestly, I'd QT it and give it a break from the tank it's in. A little TLC goes a long way. Just ensure that whatever is wrong with the tank she's in now get fixed before adding the fish back or this will reoccur.

 

GL!

[Urchinhead]

Cyano is a sign of something out of wack with the water quality. I doubt your nitrates are 0 if you've got a cyanobacteria outbreak. Your test kits may be old. If it's still reading 0, check phosphates. If you're using tap water, there's the cyano issue. Otherwise elevated PO4 can be caused by flake food or frozen food "juice"/excess.

 

Quick thought... I don't think it is a case of old/bad test kits. The tests could read zero because the Cyano is sucking up all the nitrates and phosphates.

 

But spot on that there is something out of whack in the tank. I found the source of allot of my PO4 problems was coming from the frozen food I was feeding. Even though I took the time to "wash" it. Now its pellets only for the fish and I am very careful about what I add for the filter feeders.

 

As for the fish, the water may be hampering the immune system of the fish and thus the reason why its listless. usually just a phosphate problem wont cause this, but if the fish was a recent purchase, isnt eating well, or getting bullied, that may also contribute. more than one of these factors will really affect the fish's behavior and health. Honestly, I'd QT it and give it a break from the tank it's in. A little TLC goes a long way. Just ensure that whatever is wrong with the tank she's in now get fixed before adding the fish back or this will reoccur.

 

If it is a wild caught perc odds are very high that it came to you with some kind of parasite or other disease. Either way Six is spot on for the need to put it in a hospital tank away from other fish where it can recover and you can monitor it.

 

Good luck.

 

UH

[Bianca]

i'm worried about my percula clownfish.

He started acting strange and hiding in the back. right now he's on the sand and leaning against a rock. all the levels are where they are supposed to be - 0, although the ph might be a little low - between 7.4 and 7.8

water temp is at 78.

 

he got stuck on the koralia water circulator this morning and i had to get him off. it was like he was being sucked to the plastic around the propeller.

 

not sure what to do. i saw him swimming around this morning and he was pooping, so he's been eating

 

edit* on a side note, i also have had a big cyano outbreak at the same time. if that makes any difference...

 

I dont know as much as everyone else here infact know alittle only but I had horrible Cyno yrs ago as my tapwater was FULL of Cyno it was phosphate paradise and who knows what else was in it.

Than I bought 2 of those $25 tapwater purifiers and put them side by side (piggyback think its called) my cyno than completely left and the fish did way better never looked back again never used reg tapwater again.

I mention this as some places the water quality changes and since phosphate isnt considered bad for humans you dont get a city notice which I imagine in CA you get. (in Miami you dont get a notice regardless of what is in the water )