Clownfish not eating anything...advice?

[Nick_76]

Hi guys!
Im pretty knew to the saltwater hobby, and I have two black Ocellaris clowns in a 13.5 Fluval. (Yes it was cycled, yes I waited, yes I tested). Ive done freshwater for years, and ive always gotten my fish to eat. However, within a week of having them, my clowns won't touch anything. All my parameters are good, ill list them below:

Ammonia: 0 PPM
Nitrite: 0 PPM
Nitrate: 10 ppm
dkH: 12
pH: 8.2
Phosphate: 0 PPM ( I expect it to begin to climb, yet I'm doing my weekly water changes of 25%)
Salinity: 34.5 PPT

Ive tried live brine, frozen Mysis shrimp, flakes, and have soaked flakes in Garlic supreme from my LFS. They haven't touched any of it. Furthermore, my larger clown, who I assume to be the female, has been acting odd. At night, she gets knocked around by the flow, bumps into wall, and her pupils are extremely dilated. I thought it could have been a parasite due to long stringy white poop, so I did a dip for 5 minutes and it seemed to do a little something. I ordered Rally Reef to dose the tank. She also had a bit of a white mucus and the dip cured that. I feed twice a day, and nothing is working. (However, the clean up crew of a tiger conch, which when it gets to big is going to a friend, and the hermit crabs are having a field day with eating lol)

If anyone has any advice it'll be greatly appreciated. (sorry if anything comes off as arrogant, I am just very worried about these little guys . )

 

[Pickle_soup]

It seems that you are doing everything right. Do you see any other signs of an illness or parasites? The only thing I would do differently is just leave the tank alone for now. Don't do any water changes, see if they respond. I am familiar with that tank setup, run just a blue light for a couple of days, and it's pretty dim, or turn it off completely.

 

[Nick_76]

I actually have a prime 16 AI light on the setup, it's better for coral growth, or so ive heard. I'll turn it off for a few days/set its spectrum to blues only to see if that does anything. There are no corals in the tank, only inverts. I don't see any other signs, other than the white stringy poop, and sometimes the larger female shakes her head around violently. She also see she hides in the rocks sometimes, but is also coming out and about too. Should I feed them normally during this as well? Thank you!

 

[Pickle_soup]

I actually have a prime 16 AI light on the setup, it's better for coral growth, or so ive heard. I'll turn it off for a few days/set its spectrum to blues only to see if that does anything. There are no corals in the tank, only inverts. I don't see any other signs, other than the white stringy poop, and sometimes the larger female shakes her head around violently. She also see she hides in the rocks sometimes, but is also coming out and about too. Should I feed them normally during this as well? Thank you!

Shaking of the head would suggest something in the gills, probably flukes. I do believe that Prezipro is okay with inverts in the tank, but double check please, and try that.

 

[kevgib67]

@vetteguy53081

 

[Nick_76]

It appears that Prezipro may cause some issues within the tank on the invert side. Most people say it's mostly safe, but the amount of comments saying there were issues is slightly concerning. I am going to try to use Rally Reef, which is 100% reef and invert safe and does treat most parasites including gill flukes. Thank you so much for your help.

(I tried feeding them a small amount of garlic soaked flake this morning, and to no avail )

 

[vetteguy53081]

Hi guys!
Im pretty knew to the saltwater hobby, and I have two black Ocellaris clowns in a 13.5 Fluval. (Yes it was cycled, yes I waited, yes I tested). Ive done freshwater for years, and ive always gotten my fish to eat. However, within a week of having them, my clowns won't touch anything. All my parameters are good, ill list them below:

Ammonia: 0 PPM
Nitrite: 0 PPM
Nitrate: 10 ppm
dkH: 12
pH: 8.2
Phosphate: 0 PPM ( I expect it to begin to climb, yet I'm doing my weekly water changes of 25%)
Salinity: 34.5 PPT

Ive tried live brine, frozen Mysis shrimp, flakes, and have soaked flakes in Garlic supreme from my LFS. They haven't touched any of it. Furthermore, my larger clown, who I assume to be the female, has been acting odd. At night, she gets knocked around by the flow, bumps into wall, and her pupils are extremely dilated. I thought it could have been a parasite due to long stringy white poop, so I did a dip for 5 minutes and it seemed to do a little something. I ordered Rally Reef to dose the tank. She also had a bit of a white mucus and the dip cured that. I feed twice a day, and nothing is working. (However, the clean up crew of a tiger conch, which when it gets to big is going to a friend, and the hermit crabs are having a field day with eating lol)

If anyone has any advice it'll be greatly appreciated. (sorry if anything comes off as arrogant, I am just very worried about these little guys . )

Prazi is indeed safe but can be overdosed and it does reduce oxygen and appetite. Ruby is good. If you were feeding mysis and brine which contributed to the looks of white feces which are often misdiagnosed as internal issues is excess mucus in the stomach lining . In turn, you want to feed pellets and less fatty foods temporarily such as LRS fish frenzy, small plankton and formula 1.
The shaking of the head can be an irritant, mucus build up and others but without video or pics, hard to assess and determine.

 

[Spare time]

It appears that Prezipro may cause some issues within the tank on the invert side. Most people say it's mostly safe, but the amount of comments saying there were issues is slightly concerning. I am going to try to use Rally Reef, which is 100% reef and invert safe and does treat most parasites including gill flukes. Thank you so much for your help.

(I tried feeding them a small amount of garlic soaked flake this morning, and to no avail )

Prazi is safe with inverts.

 

[Nick_76]

Prazi is indeed safe but can be overdosed and it does reduce oxygen and appetite. Ruby is good. If you were feeding mysis and brine which contributed to the looks of white feces which are often misdiagnosed as internal issues is excess mucus in the stomach lining . In turn, you want to feed pellets and less fatty foods temporarily such as LRS fish frenzy, small plankton and formula 1.
The shaking of the head can be an irritant, mucus build up and others but without video or pics, hard to assess and determine.

Ive tried to get pictures and videos, but it's just very erratic behavior that often occurs at night. They haven't eaten anything since I got them, so even though ive tried brine and Mysis they haven't eaten. I just picked up pellets, Hakari Marine, today and there seemed to be a little interest, though not much. The lights on the tank are still off. Thank you for your advice, I will try to get pictures.

 

[Nick_76]

Prazi is safe with inverts.

Thanks for confirming. I just read a bunch of people had issues and didn't want to take the chance, so I went with the reef rally. Thank you for your input, it was still much appreciated

 

[Nick_76]

UPDATE: Great news!! I recently got pellets and they seem to be showing a little bit of interest!!! They took a couple of test bites out of them, but ultimately, let them sink. I just dosed the tank with it's first Rally Reef... (13.5 gallons so it's approximately 20.3 mL of Rally Reef solution). Thank you to everyone who commented back, your advice was greatly appreciated and followed. I'll keep this forum updated until I have a two 100% confirmed healthy, eating, fishes!

 

[Nick_76]

Great news! One of the clownfish is seemingly going after brine both frozen and live! I am hoping once the female observes this behavior, she too will begin eating!

 

[EeyoreIsMySpiritAnimal]

Great news! One of the clownfish is seemingly going after brine both frozen and live! I am hoping once the female observes this behavior, she too will begin eating!

Good job! I hope they both end up ok

 

[Nick_76]

Alright here's a somber update: My male clown so it seems is doing well, yet this morning my female suddenly died. She was extremely faded last night and kept trying to rest at the bottom, and was acting odd the last couple days. She swam rly close to the bottom and refused food. does anyone know what could have caused this?