I think my clown is sick : (

[tammyjennings]

Hey guys I think my clown is sick. It is one of a pair the male I think, it's the smaller of the two. I got the pair about a year and a half ago when I started my 125 gal tank. They made it through a hairy cycle. Dummy me put them in before we were nitrite neg. Anyway they made it through that without much difficulty and have been strong ever since. The other clown and the other tank mates are doing great. Actively feeding and no obvious signs of disease. The tank perameters are wnl: Temp 77.8, Alk300, ph 8.4 NO3 20 , NO2 0 Ammonia 0, SG 1.023-1.024 Cal 450 phos 0
The clown started lying on the bottom of the tank and digging out what looked like a nest. He looked OK physically at that point, now he is not eating, he lies on the bottom at night, swims mid water during the day. I have even seen him swiming sideways at the surface of the water. A couple of his fins look a bit frayed and he has a bit of a slimmy look to his head, a few raised scales but no definite white spots that look like ich. We've never had ich but what I read about and seen in books, it doesn't look like that.

Any ideas of what might be wrong with him.

 

[prow]

swim bladder disorder comes to mind. does he have a problem staying in mid water during the day?

 

[tammyjennings]

no he swims mid water well during the day. But he seems to stay about the same general area, which interestingly, is not the place he and his mate used to inhabit.

 

[prow]

clowns, IME, never really cruise all that much. might be just he likes that spot and/or got kick out of his old hang out. give it a few days, if he doesnt start to eat again a QT might be inorder. it could be nitrite poisoning any rapid breathing or change in the color of the gills? i would increase the aeration anyway, make sure you have good surface agitation. the idea is to increase the available O2.(the ammonia and nitrite cycling take up lots of O2)

 

[tammyjennings]

our ammonia is zero and we've been cycled for a year and a half

 

[prow]

Dummy me put them in before we were nitrite neg

after a year and half you might have bigger issues if your still getting nitrite readings. something is a miss. you should not have any nitrites. how long were the nitrites present?

 

[tammyjennings]

we have no nitrites , just little amount of nitrate

 

[tammyjennings]

It's weird the minute the metal halide goes out he is swimming sideways at the top ...but by morning he is in his little pit in the sand again.

 

[prow]

ahh miss read it on the nitrites.
does he still hang with the female? maybe the female kick him out and he is still shocked. any new additions that could of brought in something?

 

[tammyjennings]

they run together during the day but at night she goes to their old stomping grounds and h goes to the surface to swim sideways but by morning he is in his nest on the sand.