My Clown Acting Really Really Weird, Sick?

[Pinoy_Fish_Dude]

Hey guys and gals i need your help. Okay 1 week ago i found one of my clown fish was dead! He had no nips or any spores on his body. The female with him looked sad just barely swiming but eating. I checked the water params and they were okay. So i got here a new freind. After acclimation i put him into a Beta-scape so they could check each other out without killing each other. After a few hours i released him into the tank. They were swiming with each other. When i woke up this morning, i found her swiming upside down. What i mean by this is that she was totaly vertical her mouth was towards that sand. When i tapped the glass to see if she was okay and she looked at me and started to swim around. When i dropped food into the tank she started eating like a piranha on speed! She has three very faint and really small spots on her body, but other than that she has nothing odd on her body. Also i found her in one corner of that tank and it seems like she's been digging into to. Should i be worried or is this one of those clownfish attitudes that they have? The picture is of her being vertical. Any help would be greatly appreciated.

[Six]

Clownfish are weird-acting fish. Most of what you describe sounds normal for them, though the spots are not. what color and size spots? where on the body? i didnt see any in the pic.

 

Unfortunatly, movies and such do not show the odd clownfish movements or behaviors. Try Joyce Wilkerson's Clownfishes book for some good, valid information.

 

like i said, besides the death you had, the fish are acting pretty normal. for clownfish.

 

good luck

[Pinoy_Fish_Dude]

I found new spots on her. When the normal lights in the aquarium you can't see them but when i turned on the moonlight LED i found it all over her. Is it ick or something. Please help i don't want to loose another fish. I also noticed that my clown fish goby has bumps all over it too but some people said that this was normal.

[lgreen]

just a little suggestion for the future:

 

A) don't tap on the glass, it stresses the crap out of your fish.

B ) Right into the tank. No need for isolation in a beta viewer. Only stresses the fish out more.

C) make sure your not over acclimating. usually in my opinion 5-10 minutes is good.

 

Otherwise like six said, sounds like normal behavior

 

clownfish seem to predispositioned to getting clown fish disease, which can sometimes be mistaken for ich. Keep an eye on it, keep it eating, listen to everything Six says, and hope for the best.

[Six]

Geesh... thanks lgreen.

 

 

Yea, betta viewers and guppy chambers are some of the most misapplied products. Don't use them for anything besides their intened use, even then I wouldn't do that.

 

So, you've got spots on the fish when the lights go out? Hrm, could be crypt or oodinium. Fun stuff. (JK). I would probably do a FW dip procedure as it's the least long term stress for the fish and aquarium. If you can QT, do it as it's the best thing, but if not, FW dips are superb.

 

THE DIP

-Use FW (whatever type, tap or RO) and add buffer to ensure the pH is the same in the bucket (which you're going to use for the dip) and your tank. I fill the bucket about, umm, 2 inches or so, enough to cover the fish but disuade jumping and too much movement (we don't need any fishy boo-boos).

 

- The best invention on the planet-

and is like $10 or less.

regardless of thermometer, check the tank and reproduce the same temp in the bucket. Cooler water can bring on disease, warmer water can drasticly reduce oxygen.

 

-grab a clock, watch, anything. we're dipping for 3-5 minutes.

 

- net the fish, plop it in the bucket. dont acclimate.

 

-sit and watch the fish, or cover the bucket to reduce stress. i like to watch b/c then you know what dipping looks like for the future. the fish is going to sit there and stare at you, or flop around and freak out. both are normal.

 

-time for 3-5 minutes.

 

-net fish out, add to tank. no acclimation.

 

-turn lights out and let the fish rest for 6 hours or so (this is recommended, but not essential). i like to dip before night-time. you with your nose on the glass won't help, so try to let the fish rest. its hard, but better for the fish.

 

then it'll pull through.

 

 

make sure the temp of your tank is staying consistant, the pH and alk, oxygen content (make sure skimmer is on if you have one, great way to add O2), and make sure nitrate is as close to 0 as you can get. lower than 30ppm is best.

 

oh, and feed varied foods. thats essential to keeping the fish healthy and disease free.

 

HTH, GL

 

Six

[Pinoy_Fish_Dude]

Okay i was going to do the freshwater dip when i got home from work but it seems that the clownfish doesn't have any more spots on it when i checked her. Me so happy. But unfortunately the royal gramma has ich on it. Bo ho. I think it's ich cause he has alot of visible white spots on him and i've seen him rubbing his body against my live rocks. Now how should i treat this? Should i start up a 2.5 gallon QT tank? Also is there any way to treat my tank. (It has inverts and softies in it). Also is there anything (chemicals) that i could use?

[Six]

Now how should i treat this? Should i start up a 2.5 gallon QT tank? Also is there any way to treat my tank. (It has inverts and softies in it). Also is there anything (chemicals) that i could use?

 

If the spots on the clown are gone, the fish wasn't sick with crypt (SW ich). the parasite does not 'jump' on and off so it must have been something else.

 

 

Don't use anything less than a 10 to QT. for one, most meds are incremeted in 10g intervals, eyeballing 1/4 or even 1/2 of a capsulated pill will not be accurate enough. Plus, the main reason fish get sick is stress, usually water chemistry related. cramming a fish into a 2.5 isnt going to help the fish and will probably kill it.

 

I wouldnt do anything until you test your water quality. you may just need to do a few water changes. thats a lot less time, effort, money and stress for all parties.

 

LMK how your test results turn out.

 

get these done if you arent sure-

ammonia

nitrite

nitrate

pH

KH

specific gravity (ideally with a refractometer)

 

GL

6

[Pinoy_Fish_Dude]

When i checked the water params i got everything to be at 0 ppm or very very close to it. The salinity is set at 1.024. Could i use Kordon's Rid Ich when i have the infected fish in a seperate tank?

[Six]

When i checked the water params i got everything to be at 0 ppm or very very close to it. The salinity is set at 1.024. Could i use Kordon's Rid Ich when i have the infected fish in a seperate tank?

 

Yup, sounds good. Make sure the new tank has seeded water from your main tank and seeded filter media or youre accidently going to use your sick fish to cycle the QT tank. Also make sure you have a decent filter b/c the meds can lower the oxygen content of the water.

as you can imagine, thats no good for the already stressed and sick fish.

 

 

GL

[Pinoy_Fish_Dude]

What do you mean by seeded flter? Right now i have a bio-wheel filter. So how would i go about seeding the QT tank?