What’s wrong with my fish?

[Floundering_Around]

To start off, I don’t really have anywhere to quarantine. The only thing I could use is the bucket that I mix saltwater in but then I wouldn’t be able to make saltwater. 

 

Recently, my clown has been struggling. His fins are looking really ragged, missing patches of color in his fins, stiff, and has a grey/colorless patch on his face. The edges of his fins look like they have slime algae on them? (Could have brushed up against the LR. Currently having an algae issue in the tank). Luckily he’s still eating. Both clowns are from reefapalooza and we’re quarantined for nearly two months. 

 

Recent params (tested by my lfs):

nh3: 0

no2: 0

no3: 0 (debatable since I’m having an algae issue)

kh: 9

ph: 7.9

po4: 0.25

sg: 1.026

 

any clue what’s going on?

[paneubert]

Are they your only fish?  Was the quarantine done by the seller?  I assume so since you say you cant QT.  How long have the symptoms been present, and is it only on the one clown?  The other one looks great?

[Floundering_Around]

56 minutes ago, paneubert said:

Are they your only fish?  Was the quarantine done by the seller?  I assume so since you say you cant QT.  How long have the symptoms been present, and is it only on the one clown?  The other one looks great?

sorry, having issues uploading photos to nano reef. It is only the one clown, the two clowns are the only salties i have, I QT them myself (I'm currently in college so I don't have the space or supplies like I did over summer break). The symptoms have been present for maybe two weeks? At first, I thought it was just aggression from the bigger clown but now I'm not sure. The larger clown looks fine but has a single colorless spot in its tail. My friend, that has a saltwater tank, thinks it might be an ammonia issue? I put some ammo lock to combat any possible ammonia that the test didn't pick up

[Clown79]

Could be bacterial infection possibly a parasite.

 

At first I thought of brook but that kills quickly and you say it's been 2 weeks.

 

It's hard to say without pics.

 

The fish may need treatment once the issue is identified. Unfortunately that has to be done in a separate container. You'd need a bucket and hob filter.

 

You wouldn't want to contaminate the bucket you mix salt water in with meds

[Floundering_Around]

His is what my clown looked like when I came home this afternoon. He often does this; just lies down with labored breathing

 

as I’m typing this he was swimming around until my other clown back him into that book created by he shells and the tank side

[Floundering_Around]

 This is from today ...

 

this was from yesterday

 

[A Little Blue]

Looks like a serious beat down to me. 

Isolate victim immediately. Small diy box out of eggcrate and zip ties would suffice. You can try dipping in iodine to prevent infection. But it might be too late. Hope it helps. 

[Floundering_Around]

The tank is 13 gallons so there's not really room to make a small crate. I don't have another tank to put him in either 😞 the only thing I could think of is decreasing my lighting schedule even more. They calm down when the lights are off.

 

Could I isolate him in the bucket with some rubble from the tank and a powerhead?

 

[A Little Blue]

27 minutes ago, Floundering_Around said:

The tank is 13 gallons so there's not really room to make a small crate. I don't have another tank to put him in either 😞 the only thing I could think of is decreasing my lighting schedule even more. They calm down when the lights are off.

 

Could I isolate him in the bucket with some rubble from the tank and a powerhead?

 

You would need some sort of filtration. Even sponge filter could do the job. It might take several weeks to bring him back to health. 

[Floundering_Around]

The rubble from my tank has been in there for multiple months so it should be enough to filter the bucket? I'll see if my LFS has a breeder box or anything similar to put him in so I can keep him in the tank.

I turned the lights off in the tank and they swam together a little bit before going right back into the corner 

[Lognor]

In a pinch, I took a Tupperware, drilled a bunch of holes in it and secured it in the ope corner of the tank.  I had a similar issue and ended up bringing it back to the LFS. He worked with me to replace with another.

[A Little Blue]

1g finex HOB breeder box might also work. You can run it with air pump or get one with small return pump. 

[Floundering_Around]

What I'm currently doing that seems to be working (now don't get your panties in a twist over this) but I'm 1) running melafix through the tank, 2) increased feeding, like a lot, and 3) reduced my lighting schedule. I know you're not supposed to run meds through your tank but melafix is supposedly reef safe and I haven't had any adverse effects. It is also helping my torch that had some bacterial infections going on, as well as my zoas and mushrooms that I scraped up doing a big algae removal with H2O2 and a toothbrush. I increased feeding to reduce the aggression and make sure my little clown has enough energy to heal. Basically, 2-3 times a day I stuff them full of pellets so they'll behave.

The reason I didn't take my small clown out is not only the lack of space for a QT but also taking him out would reset the "bonding" process. Basically, he would heal, get put back in, and then immediately get harassed cause my big clown needs to "assert her dominance" and wouldn't have seen the little one in a while.  I speak from experience with my first pair of clowns that I separated due to aggression issues and ich/velvet. They both ended up dying from the stress of the fighting and the disease.

Reducing the lighting schedule gives them more "night" which also helps relieve some aggression. Plus with the added feeding, it should hopefully help with my algae problem 😞

As I type this, the clowns are swimming together rather than the larger pinning the smaller to the ground because he can't even hold himself upright. They got their dinner and are no longer hangry, until the morning anyway. I'll have to increase my water changes to remove whatever food my nems and crabs don't eat and maintain water quality. Other than that, so far so good!

[Floundering_Around]

The little one still lies down like he doesn't have the energy in him to swim around