Clowns acting strange

[okinano]

I did a search on the forums here for clowns to see if anyone described sort of what I'm seeing. So here it is.

 

I noticed some white spots on my clowns 2 days ago (assuming its ich). No change in behavior from them at all, eating well, energetic, etc. Did a water change. Today, right before turning out the light for the night, I noticed both of them at the bottom of the tank breathing slow and tilted a bit to the side. At first I thought they were sleeping already (they tend to get lazy sometimes) but also noticed that the spots were starting to take up more area on them. I tested my water just to satisfiy my curiosity and everything but the nitrites (little high) were good, So i did another small water change (about 3 gallons of a 15 gallon tank) before bed. The clowns seemed to perk up a bit with the extra current from the water, but immediately settled back down after darting around in the tank banging into about everything there was. Now it almost seems as though they are either trying to be cleaned by my BCS or have teamed up against him to get him out of his little cubby hole. One will swim up to him, tap his antenne a bit then swim right towards his head. The BCS will take a kinda half assed defensive stance then just bat them away (no pinching or anything, just smacks em). They have pretty much claimed their resting spot in the tank so I dont see why they would be doing this. I would have just brushed it off but with the spots then the seemingly lethargic behavior I'm a little concerned. Any ideas?

 

the rest of the tank seems to be acting normal. alot more of my hitch hikers are starting to come out also.

[Tony]

So here's my rift. Probably clown fish disease since most people say clowns cant get ick ( but similar ). I had the same problems with my clown for awhile and the only thing different about my tank and water parameters now are my Calcium and Alk levels are now stable ( before they were all F'd up ), and I have controlled high temp issues. I also found that by performing a fresh dip and guaranteeing with ick treatment also did help. dont know if any of those things caused the problems but maybe.

[okinano]

My next step was going to be a FW dip if the water changes didnt help after a week. Guess I'll just see what the outcome is......been up too long watching them. My temp is steady at 26c, havent seen it fluctuate more than a 1/2 degree since I set the tank up. I'm surious about the calcium bit though. I recently posted about removing shrimp molt and was told I should leave it in there becuase it adds calcium to the tank. any possibility thats whats causing it?

[travisurfer]

i think we need a clownfish forum with some faq's for all the wierd stuff that they do and what happens to them etc.

[tbone]

I had a similar situation. I have 2 percs and one recently showed signs of ich (white spots, less appetite). Did 25% water change and used Ich Attack, which is 100% organic and safe for reef systems, corals, live rock. After 2-3 days problems gone. Just follow directions on label.