Sick Clownfish? Need advice

Scuba1337 · 07/14/2016, 11:59 AM

Hi, I'm new to saltwater tank keeping and need some advice on my gladiator clownfish. For starters, I have a 10 gallon tank, live rock only, with 2 juvenile 1inch clownfish and 5 Zebra hermit crabs. The tank has been running for 3 months, and I made sure all the tank perimeters were good before adding life. I check the perimeters daily, and they stay at: salinity: 1.024, temp: 81 degF, ammonia 0, nitrates 0-10, nitrites 0, and pH 8.1.

So about my clownfish. When I first bought her 2 1/2 weeks ago, she was vibrant, healthy and active with no signs of stress. But recently, about 4 days ago, she started having brown marks around her top fin, small red spots on her sides, her fins became clamped, she stopped eating, and she started hiding at the bottom of the tank. Originally I thought this might be from the 2 clowns fighting, BUT she was the dominant fish and the 2 always seemed to get along well as far as clownfish are concerned, all she would do is occasionally rush at the other and the other would do the siezure thing and all would be fine. I asked my local LFS what this might be and they recommended separating the fish for a week, but so far I have seen no improvement. If anything my fish has only gotten worse, with more discoloration, and has become skinnier by the day. Recently, she has begun swimming vertically and will sometimes swim in a small counter clockwise circle.

so far the 2 fish are separated by a tank divider, and I added some API stress coat, which seemed to make the sick clown a little more active. Is there anything else I can do? I'm dumbfounded as to what this might be and I really don't want her to die. Any help would be much appreciated.

SeaCucumberFan · 07/14/2016, 06:19 PM

It sounds like bacterial finrot which is caused by stress or poor water quality. Did you QT?

Seahorse NJRC · 07/14/2016, 06:23 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by SeaCucumberFan

It sounds like bacterial finrot which is caused by stress or poor water quality. Did you QT?

+1

Is there any way to setup a quarantine tank to treat the clown?

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LED Jack · 07/14/2016, 08:00 PM

Yeah except your QT tank would be larger than your display tank.

OrQidz · 07/14/2016, 09:14 PM

Sounds like the fish needs medication. You could probably use a large container of some kind if you don't have another tank.

bdunn12 · 07/15/2016, 09:48 AM

Get a 10 gal tank from PETCO, they are still having their $1 a gallon tank sale.

07/14/2016, 11:59 AM	#1
Scuba1337 Registered Member Join Date: Jul 2016 Posts: 6	Sick Clownfish? Need advice Hi, I'm new to saltwater tank keeping and need some advice on my gladiator clownfish. For starters, I have a 10 gallon tank, live rock only, with 2 juvenile 1inch clownfish and 5 Zebra hermit crabs. The tank has been running for 3 months, and I made sure all the tank perimeters were good before adding life. I check the perimeters daily, and they stay at: salinity: 1.024, temp: 81 degF, ammonia 0, nitrates 0-10, nitrites 0, and pH 8.1. So about my clownfish. When I first bought her 2 1/2 weeks ago, she was vibrant, healthy and active with no signs of stress. But recently, about 4 days ago, she started having brown marks around her top fin, small red spots on her sides, her fins became clamped, she stopped eating, and she started hiding at the bottom of the tank. Originally I thought this might be from the 2 clowns fighting, BUT she was the dominant fish and the 2 always seemed to get along well as far as clownfish are concerned, all she would do is occasionally rush at the other and the other would do the siezure thing and all would be fine. I asked my local LFS what this might be and they recommended separating the fish for a week, but so far I have seen no improvement. If anything my fish has only gotten worse, with more discoloration, and has become skinnier by the day. Recently, she has begun swimming vertically and will sometimes swim in a small counter clockwise circle. so far the 2 fish are separated by a tank divider, and I added some API stress coat, which seemed to make the sick clown a little more active. Is there anything else I can do? I'm dumbfounded as to what this might be and I really don't want her to die. Any help would be much appreciated.

07/14/2016, 06:19 PM	#2
SeaCucumberFan Moved On Join Date: May 2016 Location: Sleman, Yogyakarta, Central Java, Indonesia Posts: 858	It sounds like bacterial finrot which is caused by stress or poor water quality. Did you QT?

07/14/2016, 08:00 PM	#4
LED Jack Registered Member Join Date: May 2016 Location: Evansville, Indiana Posts: 152	Yeah except your QT tank would be larger than your display tank.

07/14/2016, 09:14 PM	#5
OrQidz Registered Member Join Date: May 2006 Location: Pacific Northwest Posts: 825	Sounds like the fish needs medication. You could probably use a large container of some kind if you don't have another tank.

07/15/2016, 09:48 AM	#6
bdunn12 Registered Member Join Date: Feb 2009 Location: Bossier City, LA Posts: 79	Get a 10 gal tank from PETCO, they are still having their $1 a gallon tank sale.