Clownfish heavy breathing, open mouth, and not eating. Please help!

[Dyln]

Hi, I have a pair of clownfish in a 105l tank. The tank is just over a year old now. Water parameters are as follows
Salinity - 1.0275 [Red Sea Coral Pro Salt salt + RODI water]. My ATO malfunctioned, and I am slowly bringing this down.
pH - 7.75
Ammonia - 0ppm (Salifert test kit) + Seachem ammonia alert
Nitrite - 0ppm (Salifert test kit)
Nitrate - 5ppm (Salifert test kit)

My female clownfish is breathing heavily, and her mouth is always open. She doesn't eat (normally she eats a lot), and she hid under the rocks (99% of the time) for about a week. The only changes I made in the recent past are adding PhosGuard and changing salt from H2Ocean classic formula to Red Sea Coral Pro.

My LFS advised me to turn the lights off assuming she was stressed. The day after I turned the lights off, she started swimming, but not the way she normally swims.

Today, I could clearly see that she isn't as fat as she used to be, and I went back to LFS. They think it could be gill flukes, and I was advised to use eSHa OODINEX (https://eshalabs.com/esha-oodinex/). However, I have read product info and reviews of the product, and I have mixed feelings. Any advice from you would be much appreciated.

PS: the male clown seems fine.

 

[Jay Hemdal]

Hi, I have a pair of clownfish in a 105l tank. The tank is just over a year old now. Water parameters are as follows
Salinity - 1.0275 [Red Sea Coral Pro Salt salt + RODI water]. My ATO malfunctioned, and I am slowly bringing this down.
pH - 7.75
Ammonia - 0ppm (Salifert test kit) + Seachem ammonia alert
Nitrite - 0ppm (Salifert test kit)
Nitrate - 5ppm (Salifert test kit)

My female clownfish is breathing heavily, and her mouth is always open. She doesn't eat (normally she eats a lot), and she hid under the rocks (99% of the time) for about a week. The only changes I made in the recent past are adding PhosGuard and changing salt from H2Ocean classic formula to Red Sea Coral Pro.

My LFS advised me to turn the lights off assuming she was stressed. The day after I turned the lights off, she started swimming, but not the way she normally swims.

Today, I could clearly see that she isn't as fat as she used to be, and I went back to LFS. They think it could be gill flukes, and I was advised to use eSHa OODINEX (https://eshalabs.com/esha-oodinex/). However, I have read product info and reviews of the product, and I have mixed feelings. Any advice from you would be much appreciated.

PS: the male clown seems fine.

Probably unrelated, but the low pH can be from high carbon dioxide levels. That in turn can case rapid breathing. However, I would expect both clowns to show breathing issues.

Can you post a video of both fish?

As far as I know, Oodinex will not work on flukes. Praziquantel does, and is reef safe if used properly.

Jay

 

[Dyln]

Thank you so much for the quick response. My pH never stayed above 8. Do you think that would be a problem? I have attached 2 videos.

 

[tgrick]

So here is my quick advice.

Freshwater Dip with RODI water.

You take RODI water and you put a squirt of tank water to buffer it minimally. Then, in go the fish. Make sure the temperature is as close as possible. They freak out at first but then settle down. OH....here is a BIG SECRET!!! You need to run an air stone with air pump and oxygenate the freshwater 1st for about 15 minutes. Keep the airstone running while the fish are in the dip!

I do this in a small container, see thru. If they have flukes they will be almost translucent and fall to the bottom. My clowns got velvet years ago and a FW dip is my urgent go to. I have never lost a fish due to a freshwater dip. I have some very old fish...

 

[Uncle99]

Hi, I have a pair of clownfish in a 105l tank. The tank is just over a year old now. Water parameters are as follows
Salinity - 1.0275 [Red Sea Coral Pro Salt salt + RODI water]. My ATO malfunctioned, and I am slowly bringing this down.
pH - 7.75
Ammonia - 0ppm (Salifert test kit) + Seachem ammonia alert
Nitrite - 0ppm (Salifert test kit)
Nitrate - 5ppm (Salifert test kit)

My female clownfish is breathing heavily, and her mouth is always open. She doesn't eat (normally she eats a lot), and she hid under the rocks (99% of the time) for about a week. The only changes I made in the recent past are adding PhosGuard and changing salt from H2Ocean classic formula to Red Sea Coral Pro.

My LFS advised me to turn the lights off assuming she was stressed. The day after I turned the lights off, she started swimming, but not the way she normally swims.

Today, I could clearly see that she isn't as fat as she used to be, and I went back to LFS. They think it could be gill flukes, and I was advised to use eSHa OODINEX (https://eshalabs.com/esha-oodinex/). However, I have read product info and reviews of the product, and I have mixed feelings. Any advice from you would be much appreciated.

PS: the male clown seems fine.

When increasing salinity go slow.
You can decrease immediately without issue.
I’d put it on point now to normal and ensure stability.
Can see any vids on my end.

 

[Jay Hemdal]

Thank you so much for the quick response. My pH never stayed above 8. Do you think that would be a problem? I have attached 2 videos.

Both clowns are actually breathing to fast. The water looks a bit murky - that could be bacteria, which in turn are giving off carbon dioxide, which in turn lowers the pH and causes the fish to breathe too fast. So - the first thing to do is determine if the tank has good aeration. You need to have strong air bubbles breaking the water's surface. If not, add some aeration and see if the fish improve in a few hours.

If not, then the next step is to treat for a gill disease. Trouble is, rapid breathing, by itself doesn't tell what kind of gill disease it might be.

What other animals are in this tank? How are they doing?
How long have you had these clownfish?

Jay

 

[Dyln]

So here is my quick advice.

Freshwater Dip with RODI water.

You take RODI water and you put a squirt of tank water to buffer it minimally. Then, in go the fish. Make sure the temperature is as close as possible. They freak out at first but then settle down. OH....here is a BIG SECRET!!! You need to run an air stone with air pump and oxygenate the freshwater 1st for about 15 minutes. Keep the airstone running while the fish are in the dip!

I do this in a small container, see thru. If they have flukes they will be almost translucent and fall to the bottom. My clowns got velvet years ago and a FW dip is my urgent go to. I have never lost a fish due to a freshwater dip. I have some very old fish...

Thank you for the response. Can you put the fish back into DT just after the freshwater dip? Would it not shock the fish?

 

[Dyln]

When increasing salinity go slow.
You can decrease immediately without issue.
I’d put it on point now to normal and ensure stability.
Can see any vids on my end.

Thank you for the response. I am slowly reducing my salinity. The aim is 1.025. I thought any (+ or -) sudden salinity change would adversely affect the fish. Do you think high salinity is contributing to the issue? Also, Did you mean you can't see my videos?

 

[JayM]

Thank you for the response. I am slowly reducing my salinity. The aim is 1.025. I thought any (+ or -) sudden salinity change would adversely affect the fish. Do you think high salinity is contributing to the issue? Also, Did you mean you can't see my videos?

It seems most members can’t see video on mobile devices unless you upload them to YouTube and then add a link to your post.

 

[Dyln]

Both clowns are actually breathing to fast. The water looks a bit murky - that could be bacteria, which in turn are giving off carbon dioxide, which in turn lowers the pH and causes the fish to breathe too fast. So - the first thing to do is determine if the tank has good aeration. You need to have strong air bubbles breaking the water's surface. If not, add some aeration and see if the fish improve in a few hours.

If not, then the next step is to treat for a gill disease. Trouble is, rapid breathing, by itself doesn't tell what kind of gill disease it might be.

What other animals are in this tank? How are they doing?
How long have you had these clownfish?

Jay

As far as I can remember, the male clown is breathing at a similar rate when I bought them. However, now thinking about it, I remember they were swimming a little faster in the LFS tank. Knowing what I know now, I think they were probably stressed at the time when I bought them. Could you please show me a video of a normal clownfish breathing?

About the water looking murky, 1) I made the mistake of using the magnet glass cleaner after my last water change and saltwater drops got spread on the glass making it slightly unclear. 2) I have a HOB Fluval skimmer in the tank releasing micro bubbles making it a little cloudy. I took the videos before cleaning the class.

Having said all that, I noticed a little surface bacteria (white colour film) at the opposite end of the stronger wavemaker (it is pointed at the surface). I have two wavemakers running at different times (one is a light wavemaker) and the skimmer to support gas exchange. Today, I turned on my airstone as well. I can't see any improvement.

There are no other animals/corals in the tank. I have had them for over 9 months now.

The female clown looks a little pale now. What should I do now?

 

[Jay Hemdal]

As far as I can remember, the male clown is breathing at a similar rate when I bought them. However, now thinking about it, I remember they were swimming a little faster in the LFS tank. Knowing what I know now, I think they were probably stressed at the time when I bought them. Could you please show me a video of a normal clownfish breathing?

About the water looking murky, 1) I made the mistake of using the magnet glass cleaner after my last water change and saltwater drops got spread on the glass making it slightly unclear. 2) I have a HOB Fluval skimmer in the tank releasing micro bubbles making it a little cloudy. I took the videos before cleaning the class.

Having said all that, I noticed a little surface bacteria (white colour film) at the opposite end of the stronger wavemaker (it is pointed at the surface). I have two wavemakers running at different times (one is a light wavemaker) and the skimmer to support gas exchange. Today, I turned on my airstone as well. I can't see any improvement.

There are no other animals/corals in the tank. I have had them for over 9 months now.

The female clown looks a little pale now. What should I do now?

You added aeration and there was no improvement, so your next rule out would be gill diseases.

If it is just these two fish, I would try coppersafe or copper power. However, you may have trouble getting those in the UK. What anti-parasitic medications do you have available to you?

The male clown is still fine though?

Jay

 

[Dyln]

You added aeration and there was no improvement, so your next rule out would be gill diseases.

If it is just these two fish, I would try coppersafe or copper power. However, you may have trouble getting those in the UK. What anti-parasitic medications do you have available to you?

The male clown is still fine though?

Jay

Thank you for your response.

I lost the female clown . I haven't lost a pet before its expected full life for a long long time and it hit me really hard.

When I took her out of the tank, she looked slightly pale, slightly skinny, and had some brown colour patches between the first and second white bands (only right side). Other than that there weren't any changes I could spot.

The male clown is breathing slightly heavier than usual but he ate yesterday. he didn't eat today.

I started adding eSHa OODINEX as per LFS' advice. Tonight will be the end of the 3-day dosage. I will turn on the skimmer and dose Seachem Prime tonight, and add carbon and do a water change tomorrow to get the medication out. Meanwhile, I am setting up a QT. If possible, I want to dose copper (if needed) in a QT because I want to add crabs, anemone, corals, etc. The plan was to start adding them from Jan next year. But I wouldn't do this at the expense of my male clown.

We can buy almost all eSHa products; available within a 1-2 hour drive. The following two products are available online but take some time to arrive.
Allpawspetsupply Hikari Aquarium Solutions Prazipro 4Oz
Copper Power (Endich) ACP0004B Blue Treatment for Marine Fish, 4-Ounce

What do you think is the best cause of action?

 

[Jay Hemdal]

Thank you for your response.

I lost the female clown . I haven't lost a pet before its expected full life for a long long time and it hit me really hard.

When I took her out of the tank, she looked slightly pale, slightly skinny, and had some brown colour patches between the first and second white bands (only right side). Other than that there weren't any changes I could spot.

The male clown is breathing slightly heavier than usual but he ate yesterday. he didn't eat today.

I started adding eSHa OODINEX as per LFS' advice. Tonight will be the end of the 3-day dosage. I will turn on the skimmer and dose Seachem Prime tonight, and add carbon and do a water change tomorrow to get the medication out. Meanwhile, I am setting up a QT. If possible, I want to dose copper (if needed) in a QT because I want to add crabs, anemone, corals, etc. The plan was to start adding them from Jan next year. But I wouldn't do this at the expense of my male clown.

We can buy almost all eSHa products; available within a 1-2 hour drive. The following two products are available online but take some time to arrive.
Allpawspetsupply Hikari Aquarium Solutions Prazipro 4Oz
Copper Power (Endich) ACP0004B Blue Treatment for Marine Fish, 4-Ounce

What do you think is the best cause of action?

Sorry to hear about the female clown. It does sound like the male clown has caught the same issue.

We don't use Oodinex in the US, so I can't tell you much about it other than it has failed to cure some fish here.

Copper Power works well for protozoan diseases, but cannot be used if there are invertebrates in the tank, and if there is a lot of limestone and coral sand, that tends to bind with it.

Jay


Jay

 

[Dyln]

Sorry to hear about the female clown. It does sound like the male clown has caught the same issue.

We don't use Oodinex in the US, so I can't tell you much about it other than it has failed to cure some fish here.

Copper Power works well for protozoan diseases, but cannot be used if there are invertebrates in the tank, and if there is a lot of limestone and coral sand, that tends to bind with it.

Jay


Jay

Thank you so much for your kind words.

Just to be sure is this (https://www.amazon.co.uk/Copper-Power-Endich-ACP0004B-Treatment/dp/B00BUFU95A?th=1) the product? Amazon delivers faster than other places.

Also, since I dosed Oodinex, how long should I wait to treat him with Copper Power?

My plan is to use a plastic box with fresh saltwater, a heater, a HOB filter, an airstone, and a small live rock from the DT. Does that sound OK?

I am going to turn on the skimmer shortly, dose seachem prime and will do a partial water change tomorrow, and carbon to filter out Oodinex (as much as I can). Is it a good idea to use a live rock after? You may not know the answer since you don't use Oodinex, but I am going to ask anyway; Would the live rock still have Oodinex?

Edit: the link wasn't warking.

 

[Dyln]

Sorry to hear about the female clown. It does sound like the male clown has caught the same issue.

We don't use Oodinex in the US, so I can't tell you much about it other than it has failed to cure some fish here.

Copper Power works well for protozoan diseases, but cannot be used if there are invertebrates in the tank, and if there is a lot of limestone and coral sand, that tends to bind with it.

Jay


Jay

Also, it (copper power) says "Used at 2.5 PPM Copper". Is there a dosage based on litres of tank saltwater or do I need to use a test kit?

 

[Jay Hemdal]

Also, it (copper power) says "Used at 2.5 PPM Copper". Is there a dosage based on litres of tank saltwater or do I need to use a test kit?

We use the Hanna copper test meter, but they are expensive. You can use the API copper test, but the colors are difficult to read. If you know the exact water volume of the tank (not counting rock displacement, etc.) you can dose - I think that is one ounce (30 ml) per 20 gallons. That can be done without a test kit in many cases.

Jay

 

[Dyln]

We use the Hanna copper test meter, but they are expensive. You can use the API copper test, but the colors are difficult to read. If you know the exact water volume of the tank (not counting rock displacement, etc.) you can dose - I think that is one ounce (30 ml) per 20 gallons. That can be done without a test kit in many cases.

Jay

Thank you again.

We have API, Salifert, and Seachem copper test kits at the not so expensive end. What's the best brand out of these three for copper? I have heard API isn't the best. I mostly use Salifert and then Seachem.

 

[Jay Hemdal]

Thank you again.

We have API, Salifert, and Seachem copper test kits at the not so expensive end. What's the best brand out of these three for copper? I have heard API isn't the best. I mostly use Salifert and then Seachem.

You need a test that can read in the 0.5 to 3.0 ppm range. The Seachem test doesn't read above 0.8 ppm. The Salifert test tops out a 2 ppm. The API kit reads 0 to 4 ppm, The exact range you need, but the colors are tough to read.

Jay

 

[Dyln]

You need a test that can read in the 0.5 to 3.0 ppm range. The Seachem test doesn't read above 0.8 ppm. The Salifert test tops out a 2 ppm. The API kit reads 0 to 4 ppm, The exact range you need, but the colors are tough to read.

Jay

Good thing I ordered both salifert and API just in case

 

[Jay Hemdal]

Good thing I ordered both salifert and API just in case

You might be able to use the Salifert kit by diluting the sample with an equal amount of untreated saltwater, and then multiplying your results by two.
Jay