Picasso Clownfish sick? HELP!

[Mr. Arbuckle]

Hello,

Im usually lurking around the forums and don't post much....but I'm having some issues with my tank at the moment. Yesterday I finally rid my tank of a bully fish (Lantern Basslet), and replaced him along with a shrimp/goby pair with 2 captive bred Picasso clownfish, a skunk cleaner shrimp and 2 peppermint shrimp. Everything seems to be going pretty well, aside from one of the clownfish, who seems to be pretty active and swimming, but from time to time will just go and lay on the sand bed for a bit (under a minute or so) before swimming around with his buddy again. I tried to attach a picture but I couldn't figure out how to get the file size small enough, if it really would help, let me know and I'll try harder to figure out how to post it.

I figure there might be some questions about my parameters and setup, so here it goes: I just checked the water parameters, and they are as follows:

Specific Gravity = 1.025
pH = 8.4
Ammonia = 0 ppm
Magnesium = 1380ppm
Calcium = 1400ppm
Alkalinity = 11 dKH
Phosphate = 0.25ppm
Nitrate = 10ppm

For lighting I have a 42W LED system (Steve's LED's Biocube 14 upgrade kit), and I'm running white lights at 55% and the blue lights a little higher at 57%.

Temperature generally stays between 74 and 79F.

The rest of the setup is a Biocube 14 tank with a MJ900 (Italian made) pump, and I'm running a media basket with filter floss up top, siporax in the middle, and on the bottom I'm running activated carbon, Rowaphos, and Puirgen.

Livestock includes:
1 skunk cleaner shrimp
2 peppermint shrimp
1 lettuce nudibranch
6 nassarius snails
2 astrea snails
5 head blastomussa coral
many-headed Duncan coral
Acan coral
pulsing xenia coral
green/green-orange Zola colony
a small-ish sun coral
a galaxea coral hitchhiker (just a few polyps)

I've only had these two clowns in the tank for about 24 hours. During that time I also did a 25% water change, and I dosed calcium and alkalinity (which I've been doing regularly anyway). I tried feeding them earlier this morning and they seemed to be interested, and took in a few flakes but sort of spat them out.

Is this something to be concerned about? If so, what should I do?

[Mr. Arbuckle]

OK I figured out how to post a picture!

[EzReefs]

When you say your temperature is between 74-79, what do you mean? You should keep the temperature very stable. Like 79-80 24 hours a day. Large temperature swings can really cause problems. That probably isn't the problem with your ocellaris clown though. Any time a fish is laying down in the tank there is a concern.

[slyseekr]

Some fish can have a more difficult time adjusting to a new tank. Have you tried feeding prepared frozen foods, and supplementing with a bit of garlic to entice appetite?

Also a few things:

- Is that 1400 calcium a correct reading? If so, it's sky high and should be brought down to 400 - 450 range.

- How quickly does your tank swing from 74 - 79 degrees and how often? It would be in the fish's best interest to stabilize the temperature as numerous temperature swings can cause stress, reduce immune response and encourage disease. Try to keep those swings to less than 1º if you can.

Good luck, I hope your new denizens pull through!

[Mr. Arbuckle]

Some fish can have a more difficult time adjusting to a new tank. Have you tried feeding prepared frozen foods, and supplementing with a bit of garlic to entice appetite?

Also a few things:

- Is that 1400 calcium a correct reading? If so, it's sky high and should be brought down to 400 - 450 range.

- How quickly does your tank swing from 74 - 79 degrees and how often? It would be in the fish's best interest to stabilize the temperature as numerous temperature swings can cause stress, reduce immune response and encourage disease. Try to keep those swings to less than 1º if you can.

Good luck, I hope your new denizens pull through!

A-ha; my temperature swings are probably the issue. I never had a problem with my other inhabitants and the temperature was allowed to swing quite a bit. I just setup an extra fan in the hood and I'm going to try and keep it as steady as I can at 76F, and be sure to top it off with distilled water regularly. I think I just got complacent with temperature and my last setup....I'll get it sorted.

WHOOPS! I definitely meant 400ppm for calcium....haha sorry about that.

The food I give them is a frozen food, here's a list of ingredients:
Fresh Wild Caught Scallop
Fresh Wild Caught, Hand Peeled Shrimp
Fresh Wild Caught Ocean Perch and Whitefish
Premium Piscine Energetics Mysis Shrimp
Squid
Euphausia pacifica krill
Fresh Shucked Oysters and Clams
Zooplankton and Rotifers
Seaweed (Porphyra)
Blanched Broccoli Flowers (Rich in Vit A&D)
Oyster Eggs and Ovarian Tissue
Highly Unsaturated Fatty Acids
Buffered ascorbic acid added as an antioxidant
D. salina algae (Beta carotene to boost pigmentation, immunity)
LRS Probiotics

Thank you for your help and good thoughts!

[Mr. Arbuckle]

When you say your temperature is between 74-79, what do you mean? You should keep the temperature very stable. Like 79-80 24 hours a day. Large temperature swings can really cause problems. That probably isn't the problem with your ocellaris clown though. Any time a fish is laying down in the tank there is a concern.

Thank you - as I described in my previous reply I'm guessing this is probably the issue. I'm going to do my best to keep it at a steady 76 from now on.

General update: The little guy has rested a few times, but does not seem to be losing color, is not breathing hard and still gets up and swims quite a bit. I'm hoping it's just part of the acclimation process - I'm working to keep everything stable now.

[fishkeeprian]

Thank you - as I described in my previous reply I'm guessing this is probably the issue. I'm going to do my best to keep it at a steady 76 from now on.

General update: The little guy has rested a few times, but does not seem to be losing colour, is not breathing hard and still gets up and swims quite a bit. I'm hoping it's just part of the acclimation process - I'm working to keep everything stable now.

In my personal experience, I don't think the temperature of 5 degrees is the problem here, and would not leave the fish lying lethargic and losing colour, what was your acclimation procedure, any QT (I am assuming not).

[Mr. Arbuckle]

In my personal experience, I don't think the temperature of 5 degrees is the problem here, and would not leave the fish lying lethargic and losing colour, what was your acclimation procedure, any QT (I am assuming not).

The fish was never losing color.

My acclimation procedure was to float the bag until the temperature was the same in the tank as it was inside the bag. Then over the course of an hour, I would take a turkey-baster full of water out of the bag, and added a turkey baster full of water from the tank back into the bag. I did that at regular intervals, about every 5 minutes. I figured by then the original water in the bag would have been completely replaced by then. I did all of this when the lights were off.

I don't QT anything - I live in a small apartment and don't have room for additional tanks, or even a sump, really. I just try to go to my high quality LFS and just hope that there are no hitchhikers...not the best approach, I understand, but it's what works for me right now.

General update: both clownfish are doing great today! Neither one has rested in the sand bed, and they even nibbled on some seaweed earlier. I really think the consistent temperature is helping.

Thank you everybody for your responses! I hope everything is ok - if not, I'll definitely let you know.