Desperately Need Clownfish Help

[Dooten93]

I have an ocellaris clownfish that refuses to eat. I have had him for 3 weeks and he just refuses to eat anything I give him. I have tried Hakari pellets, flakes, frozen mysis, soaking food with garlic, soaking food with Selcon, crushing food into smaller bites, and I have even tried blood worms. Doesn't seem to notice the food even if it floats right past him. He just continues to swim in the same place along a wall in my tank. He is skinny and his orange coloring is faded. It's more of a peachy-brown color now. I ordered him from bluezooaquatics (should've gotten from liveaquaira). He arrived on time and I acclimated him correctly. I live in the boonies so LFS with saltwater are hard to come by.



I have a 36 gallon bowfront with liverock, sand, snails (ceriths, nerites, nassarius, trochus), and a few scarlet reef hermits. I also have a HoB refugium with liverock and chaeto. My water parameters are perfect, except for my nitrates (which reads at 10).

[ahmer1781]

this doesn't sound very good...my clowns didnt' eat for a few days, frozen mysis and the small fish pellets did the trick, then they started swimming around...

[Dooten93]

It's completely bizarre to me. I have a little experience with clownfish and on average they went about a week and then started eating and swimming around. Two were even delayed for a day and trapped in bags for over 48 hours. So why this one is acting the way it does blows my mind. I figured if it was a bad batch he wouldn't have lasted this long. He has to be a tough little dude.

[Arc Drafter]

You say your water parameters are perfect you should be more specific. Do they look like they are breathing heavy? what is your salinity at? what is your lighting schedule? are there other fish in there that might be messing w/ them? there are so many variables you are leaving out how much are you feeding them? are you feeding enough so that all the inhabitants have a chance to get some or is the food gone before the clowns can get to it... How many total clowns do you have? maybe 2 of them have paired up and are messing w/ the third?

[Dooten93]

Temperature: 78, Ammonia: 0, Nitrates: 10, Nitrites: 0, pH: 8.2, Salinity: 1.024
He is the only fish in this tank. Lighting is from 10 am - 8 pm. He's breathing a little heavy but nothing crazy. I feed him once a day. Just a little bit (about 3 pellets) because it's all gone to my inverts so far. Vitamins about once a week. I have a powerhead and HoB mechanical filter along with the fuge. The flow is not too strong. He is not struggling to swim.

[MrClam]

Is it possible the way he was caught/shipped may have done internal damage? Possibly try treating with Prazipro because a very heavy worm infection can suppress appetite.

[hogfanreefer]

That's definitely weird. My clowns ate within 4 hours of entering QT. Doesn't sound good for the little fellow.

[Dooten93]

Is it possible the way he was caught/shipped may have done internal damage? Possibly try treating with Prazipro because a very heavy worm infection can suppress appetite.

Are there any tell tale signs of a worm infection?

[Spyderturbo007]

There is a thread around here about force feeding a fish. I'll search around and see if I can dig it up. The guy/gal was able to successfully keep the fish alive and it started eating.

[Spyderturbo007]

Ah ha. I found it. There is a video and everything.

How to tube feed your fish, by alprazo (http://www.reefcentral.com/forums/showthread.php?t=2138236&highlight=force+feeding)

[igot2gats]

Was it eating in QT?

[anbosu]

Try different foods. If you're only feeding pellets it may not recognize them as food yet. Live baby brine would probably be a good bet to get the fish eating something.

[MrTuskfish]

Dup. Sorry.

[MrTuskfish]

Are there any tell tale signs of a worm infection?

At this point, I think worming is your only option and all fish should be wormed anyhow. . Blue Zoo is a very good dealer and have a very good guarentee. (at least they were when they sponsored us :lmao:). Stuff like this can happen to anyone. Just going through every food imaginable won't help, if they won't eat live brine, I doubt they'll eat anything. This does not sound like a case of a fish just not liking the food. Can you post a pic of this fish? It sounds like this fish wasn't quarantined and your description of the fish sounds a little like brooklynella. Is his skin peeling or sloughing?

[wrott]

It's probably too late, but you should have done something after 4 or 5 days of not eating.
I would have FW dipped and/or formalin bathed. Blue zoo is a very reputable store, I have received delicate fish from them that are very healthy. You need to be prepared to act--by having meds, qt tank, etc.. ready for any new arrivals, I'm sorry.