Sick Clown?

[DJRansome]

Is this the right forum for help with diagnosis and treatment?

What info do you need?

My brother-in-law called me because I keep fish, but mine are freshwater. He has 2-3 clowns in a Nano and they have been fine for 8 months. Over the past 4 weeks one has become increasingly lethargic and is not eating much. Now the second one is starting to decline. His LFS has examined pictures and can see no marks or parasites. Please help!

 

[Anonymous]

I need more info......but what does he feed the clown. If it's normally flakes, try some brine shrimp. Make sure to rinse with tank water and strain before putting in the tank.

 

[Anonymous]

DJRansome
:welcome:



We need more information indeed. Well my first thought would be to ask what size tank he is keeping the clowns in, and what the water paramters are.

 

[shavo]

need to know what the water conditions are first!!!
then we can go from there

 

[DJRansome]

From brother-in-law...
I test the water weekly. Results are pretty consistent as follows:
salinity (1.02-1.025)
ph (8.0-8.2)
nitrate (between 10-25 ppm)
ammonia (0-.025)
nitrite (<.1 or less)
temp (70-71) this is probably a little low, but it has been constant for 8-9 months

I generally feed them flakes, a small amount 2x daily
I supplement this with both live and frozen brine shrimp (live only in last 2 months as I found a source which gets them regularly.)

Until this started they were very active, always swan up to feed or just check you out when you approached.

There are no marks, spots, or fading colors. No sign of parasites or fungus. Both appear to be taking food, no apparent weight loss. However, they no longer rise to feed. One very lethargic, spends most of time lying on bottom of tank under the reef. Other spending increasingly more time in cave like area.

 

[DJRansome]

Anyone have any ideas to help??

 

[trido]

My first thought after reading is the temp. Just because a fish doesnt die right away doesnt mean that the environment it is in, isnt going to sustain it for a long time. How big is the tank? How often does he do water changes? How much live rock does he have? Have the fish been fighting for territory the whole time and are finally wore out? The Amm., Nitrite and Nitrate could also be the cause of slow death.

 

[Anonymous]

My first thought after reading is the temp. Just because a fish doesnt die right away doesnt mean that the environment it is in, isnt going to sustain it for a long time. How big is the tank? How often does he do water changes? How much live rock does he have? Have the fish been fighting for territory the whole time and are finally wore out? The Amm., Nitrite and Nitrate could also be the cause of slow death.

I also would like to know how big the tank is.

 

[ChrisRD]

An established tank shouldn't be showing signs of ammonia or nitrite - that may be part of the issue (if those are accurate readings).

The temp is also low. It's probably not low enough to be a big factor, but personally, I'd be running it in the mid to upper 70s.

IMO it would be helpful to start feeding some stuff with more nutritional value like mysis and cyclopeeze.

 

[pknipper]

Tank is small 8 gal nano. Have 8+lbs of live rock. I have not been rinsing the live brine prior to feeding, hadn"t thought of that as an issue. No fighting between the two, bought as a matched pair. Water changes every 2 weeks, about a third of tank at a time.

Any suggestions welcome. Thanks!

 

[shavo]

the readings aren't so bad but why is the temp so low? is there a heater in it? or is it the temp of the house? I also wonder why there are ammonia and nitrate readings changing 1/3 of the water every other week or so? This tank should be cycling good by now. I work with a 125 gallon, i could imagine the work needed to get an 8 gallon set and running properly.
does he have a skimmer on this tank?