Clown acting odd??

[Kpatel28]

Hello all, 

 

I'm new to the saltwater hobby and I've set up a 13.5 Evo tank. It's been up and running for a little over a week now. Today I introduced two clowns, a peppermint shrimp, and two hermit crabs. I've checked water parameters and everything seems alright. Everyone is settling in well except for one clown. I am slightly concerned about how it is swimming. It has been swimming vertically most of the time...almost like it is trying to reach the top of the tank. Not sure what is going on, so reaching out to the forum for some help. I've attached some pics and some videos I took (the last two I captured from my night vision camera). Hope someone can help! 

 

 

https://youtu.be/zjH4Ew3Wpv4

https://youtu.be/GKoeIKaZDVE

https://youtu.be/jkWu4EdI3yI

[M. Tournesol]

Never owned a clown but I can see that yours has some strange gill. It could be an infection or a defect?

Hope somebody with more experience will help you 😉.  

[W1ll]

4 hours ago, Kpatel28 said:

Hello all, 

 

I'm new to the saltwater hobby and I've set up a 13.5 Evo tank. It's been up and running for a little over a week now. Today I introduced two clowns, a peppermint shrimp, and two hermit crabs. I've checked water parameters and everything seems alright. Everyone is settling in well except for one clown. I am slightly concerned about how it is swimming. It has been swimming vertically most of the time...almost like it is trying to reach the top of the tank. Not sure what is going on, so reaching out to the forum for some help. I've attached some pics and some videos I took (the last two I captured from my night vision camera). Hope someone can help! 

 

 

https://youtu.be/zjH4Ew3Wpv4

https://youtu.be/GKoeIKaZDVE

https://youtu.be/jkWu4EdI3yI

Its gills do look unusually flared up, it could be breathing heavily. Personally I do not have much knowledge with fish ailments, maybe @Humblefish could chime in? 

[W1ll]

4 hours ago, Kpatel28 said:

Hello all, 

 

I'm new to the saltwater hobby and I've set up a 13.5 Evo tank. It's been up and running for a little over a week now. Today I introduced two clowns, a peppermint shrimp, and two hermit crabs. I've checked water parameters and everything seems alright. Everyone is settling in well except for one clown. I am slightly concerned about how it is swimming. It has been swimming vertically most of the time...almost like it is trying to reach the top of the tank. Not sure what is going on, so reaching out to the forum for some help. I've attached some pics and some videos I took (the last two I captured from my night vision camera). Hope someone can help! 

 

 

https://youtu.be/zjH4Ew3Wpv4

https://youtu.be/GKoeIKaZDVE

https://youtu.be/jkWu4EdI3yI

I probably should have asked this before, but what are your water parameters? specifically ammonia. 

[LazyFish]

It looks sick to me. It looks like its gasping also looks thin is it eating? What's its Skin look like is it cloudy looking or like. Mucousy ir look like theres salt grains on it? Can you get a pic that's more infocus? A weeks not very long for a tank to fully cycle. This is a fish you got today was it acting weird at the store? I suspect this fast would have been alredy sick or your ammonia or something is high.

[Kpatel28]

Unfortunately, I woke up to him being dead. The other clown that I got is thriving though and swimming around the tank just fine...same with inverts.

4 hours ago, W1ll said:

I probably should have asked this before, but what are your water parameters? specifically ammonia. 

I tested my water and I had the LFS test my water as well and ammonia level came out to be zero. Gills are certainly not flared up like this on my other clown. 

 

1 hour ago, LazyFish said:

It looks sick to me. It looks like its gasping also looks thin is it eating? What's its Skin look like is it cloudy looking or like. Mucousy ir look like theres salt grains on it? Can you get a pic that's more infocus? A weeks not very long for a tank to fully cycle. This is a fish you got today was it acting weird at the store? I suspect this fast would have been alredy sick or your ammonia or something is high.

It did not eat anything when I attempted to feed it food, but the LFS said that they had just fed it yesterday morning and may take some time to adjust, does seem a little thin? Skin wise--it didn't look cloudy, but it did look flush, the other clown is definitely brighter in color. I feel like it was acting similarly, but I also did not observe it for too long. I know a week is not very long to fully cycle, just the advice I was given. I used live rock, live sand, and Dr. Tims to get things going. Looking back at it, I probably shouldn't have stocked it so soon. 

 

Attaching some more pictures...just a learning experience at this point 😕 

[mcarroll]

On 11/14/2021 at 12:54 AM, Kpatel28 said:

I'm new to the saltwater hobby and I've set up a 13.5 Evo tank. It's been up and running for a little over a week now. Today I introduced two clowns

Too much!  Too soon!  😬

 

On 11/14/2021 at 9:51 AM, Kpatel28 said:

I used live rock, live sand, and Dr. Tims to get things going.

Thankfully for this....still too much bio-load at once for my taste, although the Dr Tim's "should be" proof against this.  

 

You risk creating an ammonia spike by taking the tank from zero-feedings ever all the way up to daily feedings for two fish "in one fell swoop".

 

It's hard to say that. ammonia is what the problem was with the fish you lost though.  Especially if you trust the fish store's testing...no evidence of ammonia.  (Seems like the Dr Tims worked!)

 

I suspect the fish was already on its way out and the stress of being bagged and transported was somehow too much for him.  It's even possible that he was fine before but was actually damaged at some point during bagging and handling as he got to your tank.

 

[A.m.P]

Gill flukes maybe?

[1st reef]

You said tank has been running for a little over a week. What type of water did you use? 

[Kpatel28]

12 hours ago, A.m.P said:

Gill flukes maybe?

I was thinking this with the way that it's gills were looking.

12 hours ago, 1st reef said:

You said tank has been running for a little over a week. What type of water did you use? 

I used RODI salt water that I purchased at the same LFS. Salinity was at 35ppm

[Kpatel28]

18 hours ago, mcarroll said:

Too much!  Too soon!  😬

 

Thankfully for this....still too much bio-load at once for my taste, although the Dr Tim's "should be" proof against this.  

 

You risk creating an ammonia spike by taking the tank from zero-feedings ever all the way up to daily feedings for two fish "in one fell swoop".

 

It's hard to say that. ammonia is what the problem was with the fish you lost though.  Especially if you trust the fish store's testing...no evidence of ammonia.  (Seems like the Dr Tims worked!)

 

I suspect the fish was already on its way out and the stress of being bagged and transported was somehow too much for him.  It's even possible that he was fine before but was actually damaged at some point during bagging and handling as he got to your tank.

 

It's definitely possible. It was almost right away that the fish was swimming in that vertical motion as soon as I put him in the tank. So definitely could have been injured at any point during the bagging/handling process. 

[Kpatel28]

Just to give an update on the tank now, everything seems to be doing well. Inverts are very active, as well as the other clown that is in the tank. It's swimming everywhere and eating very well too. Planning on doing a water change tomorrow. Suggestions on when to add another clown so that this one doesn't become territorial? 

[1st reef]

Is the tank fully cycled? 

[Kpatel28]

21 hours ago, 1st reef said:

Is the tank fully cycled? 

I believe so

[less than bread]

I would wait a bit to add another. Best practice is to increase the bio load very slowly. I had 2 small clowns in my Evo 13.5 until the smaller died in an unfortunate siphoning accident... I let the remaining clown live by herself for a couple months and everything was fine. Then I added a new, slightly smaller clown, and she took to him right away. They paired within a few days and now are inseparable.

 

The main thing I would suggest is when you do add another, make sure it is slightly smaller than the one that is currently in there to avoid extra aggression. The one that is currently in there will not want to give up their spot as top dog so adding a smaller one won't mess with that.