beginner, and sick or dying clownfish, need help

[mike54784]

I've only had my first tank since around December or January, and My clownfish aren't doing good.
I've had this clown for about a week, and he's acting strange. I don't know what's going on. I've read a bunch online as to possibilities, but everything I read says to be sure what it is before starting a treatment.
Currently have:

2 Ocellaris Clownfish
1 coral Beauty
about 15 blue leg hermet crabs
2 white leg hermet crabs
2 red leg hermet crabs
3 Nassarius snails
1 Porcelain crab

Ammonia = 0
Nitrite = 0
nitrate = 10ppm
alkalinity = 400
salinity between 1.022 -1.023
PH = 8.2

no coral
Fish eats whatever I put in there, but my other clown has had poop as shown in the picture I'm attaching to this thread for about 8 weeks. The clown laying at the bottom of the tank hasn't had poop like the other clown, but he's now laying at the bottom of the tank. He gets right up when I come close to the tank, and swims around full of energy. I've read that it could be a parasite because of the white poop, but it's only in the other clown so far. I also don't want to add any treatment till I can be sure. And assuming that it is a parasite, since my one clown has had it for about 8 weeks, I believe it would be safe to say all my fish have it, so would it be okay to treat the water, or will if affect everything else I have in the tank? I have everything listed above. Please help! I'm also working on attaching my pictures in a few minutes. I'm also starting to notice some of my other fish becoming more lethargic as I'm writing this.

[mike54784]

here are my pictures. Two are of the same clown, he looks physically okay to me in it, but as you can see in the other he keeps laying down, and didn't really respond to the other nudging it. The other has had that long white poop for a few months

[blueblimp312]

Seems like it could be a couple of things. Internal parasites, feeding an unbalanced diet ( only 1 type of food), or maybe just stress from being new. If it is internal parasites you can treat it with prazi pro, which as far as i kno is reef safe, just follow the instructions clearly. Im not sure about other parasite treatments being safe in a display tank, or if a qt is necessary. if it is diet related try feeding other foods, maybe add garlic/ selcon to your foods.

[semi_butterfly]

+1 for trying to switch to a diffrent food and see if it helps. sometimes that helps them clear up.

[MrClam]

Lethargy could be from low dissolved O2 levels. Do you have a skimmer, sump, or powerhead pointed at the surface?

[mike54784]

Seems like it could be a couple of things. Internal parasites, feeding an unbalanced diet ( only 1 type of food), or maybe just stress from being new. If it is internal parasites you can treat it with prazi pro, which as far as i kno is reef safe, just follow the instructions clearly. Im not sure about other parasite treatments being safe in a display tank, or if a qt is necessary. if it is diet related try feeding other foods, maybe add garlic/ selcon to your foods.

Thank you, I've been feeding them mostly flakes, but supplement them occasionally with a piece out of a pack of frozen food that I have. It is a pack of cubes that has something like 5 or 6 different types of food. Maybe I haven't been giving that to them often enough. I'll try giving that to them more often than flakes.
I had been having problems with low ph up till a couple weeks ago, and fixed it by adding a powerhead pointing to the top of the tank, and opening my window more. It still may be low o2, even if not as low as what it was a few weeks ago. I'm thinking of adding an air tube that runs from my tank out of the window.
I'll also try the garlic, but the medication you recommended, prazi pro, is it safe for inverts?

[Rustafar]

Try adding a small air pump and airstone to add oxygen, opening a window will not help.
If your powerhead has a venturi add a piece of airline to it.

[mike54784]

Try adding a small air pump and airstone to add oxygen, opening a window will not help.
If your powerhead has a venturi add a piece of airline to it.

Thank you, that's actually what I was thinking of doing, adding the airline to the powerhead, but since it's only a few feet from the window, I was thinking of having the end of the tubing hanging outside of the window. It's only about 3 feet from the window, and since my apartment is fairly new, it's tightly sealed, and the co2 level inside is a lot higher than outside (reason I had so many PH problems). Hopefully that works out. Thanks again

[Spyderturbo007]

You might also want to post your questions about the poop in the Fish Disease Forum (http://www.reefcentral.com/forums/forumdisplay.php?f=87) and see what those guys/gals think.

[MrTuskfish]

Thank you, that's actually what I was thinking of doing, adding the airline to the powerhead, but since it's only a few feet from the window, I was thinking of having the end of the tubing hanging outside of the window. It's only about 3 feet from the window, and since my apartment is fairly new, it's tightly sealed, and the co2 level inside is a lot higher than outside (reason I had so many PH problems). Hopefully that works out. Thanks again

First, I'd worm the tank with Praz-Pro. White, stringy poop is usually/often caused by internal parasitic worms. PP will usually take care of these worms and external flukes as well. Its the safest med I know of. If you're trying to increase oxygen in the tank, air stones do next to nothing ( except make your tank look like a Petco tank, IMO). The bubbles don't solved in the water. They help a bit by disturbing the water surface so gas exchange is improved. You can do the same with a PH slightly point toward the surface and roiling the surface water.

[mike54784]

Thank you, I'm new to reefcentral and didn't initially realize there was a disease forum on here till after posting this thread. I've found quite a bit on there over the past 24 hours. I'm thinking to increase air exchange I'll put my PH in powerhead mode, where I can add an air line, rather than using an air stone. I've noticed the O2 disolves much better than with stones. I just ordered praz pro, but I'm hoping it comes in soon enough. Thanks again

[Spyderturbo007]

Thank you, I'm new to reefcentral and didn't initially realize there was a disease forum on here till after posting this thread.

No problem. You're actually luck. Mr Tuskfish is one of the experts from that forum. He helped me out in the past with a clown that suddenly died. He knows what he's talking about. :thumbsup:

[mike54784]

First, I'd worm the tank with Praz-Pro. White, stringy poop is usually/often caused by internal parasitic worms. PP will usually take care of these worms and external flukes as well. Its the safest med I know of. If you're trying to increase oxygen in the tank, air stones do next to nothing ( except make your tank look like a Petco tank, IMO). The bubbles don't solved in the water. They help a bit by disturbing the water surface so gas exchange is improved. You can do the same with a PH slightly point toward the surface and roiling the surface water.

MrTuskfish, I have a quick question for you, related to treatment. I've been doing a lot more research on treatment. Actually haven't done much else the last couple days because of worrying about my fishes health. I wasn't sure if I should continue this thread because it's not under the disease section, but my question is more so related to drug interactions, and I found another thread for that, so I posted my question there. If you get a chance, please let me know what you think. Thank you in advance. http://www.reefcentral.com/forums/showthread.php?t=1997077