Clowns yawning and flashing?

atul176 · Oct 29, 2022

Hi all,

I have had two clowns for over a year now, and they both went through an initial qt. Unfortunately I don’t have the space for a coral qt and a few new corals were introduced maybe 2 weeks ago. Just yesterday I noticed both of them yawning, however not too frequently. This morning I can see that the bigger of the two sporadically moves it’s head and it’s behavior is definitely not like what it was 2-3 days ago and it occasionally scratches on the rock. It is still eating well and swimming fine without rapid breathing. I assumed that they have flukes so I dosed some general cure, but I’m not 100 percent sure. As of now, I cannot see any white spots or anything on the body, so I’m wondering if it’s the early stages of ich? If not could it be territory marking? If it is ich I can setup a qt for them pretty quickly. Any advice? #fishmedic

unfortunately I could not get any videos because it scratches for only a second and even then they are not predictable.

vetteguy53081 · Oct 29, 2022

atul176 said:
Hi all,

I have had two clowns for over a year now, and they both went through an initial qt. Unfortunately I don’t have the space for a coral qt and a few new corals were introduced maybe 2 weeks ago. Just yesterday I noticed both of them yawning, however not too frequently. This morning I can see that the bigger of the two sporadically moves it’s head and it’s behavior is definitely not like what it was 2-3 days ago and it occasionally scratches on the rock. It is still eating well and swimming fine without rapid breathing. I assumed that they have flukes so I dosed some general cure, but I’m not 100 percent sure. As of now, I cannot see any white spots or anything on the body, so I’m wondering if it’s the early stages of ich? If not could it be territory marking? If it is ich I can setup a qt for them pretty quickly. Any advice? #fishmedic

unfortunately I could not get any videos because it scratches for only a second and even then they are not predictable.

Yawning is often a sign of flukes and if so, you can offer them a quick 5 minute dip in a CLEAN bucket the same temperature as display tank and then return them to tank or quarantine tank (preferred)
Look on bottom of bucket for what looks like sesame seeds or fish sclaes. If you see any- Those are your flukes (worms)
Other signs of flukes are gills will be red or swollen with rapid breathing, fish acting lethargic or swimming near the water surface, hiding in the corner of tank or behind rocks, loss of appetite, shaking its head, flashing/darting, develop clamped fins, , or scratching against objects. They may also exhibit what looks like yawning from gill irritation develop, cloudy eyes and loss of color .
Treatment of choice is PraziPro and while reef safe I prefer QT tank for treating but not necessary. If in dislay tank, remove your skimmer cup but leave the skimmer running as prazi-pro will make your skimmer go nuts. It will produce a high amount of bubbles so still have your skimmer running to keep the oxygen levels high in the water as some medications like praz-pro can lower the amount of oxygen in the water which is something you want to avoid so I recommend running an airstone in addition to treatment.
Also . . . remove any type of carbon that you have running to allow Prazi to run at full strength which will be an initial treatment for an 8 day interval, change water and treat again for one more dose 8 day interval. To be safe, treat at 80% of recommended dosage

Jay Hemdal · Oct 29, 2022

FW dips won’t show Gyrodactylus or gill flukes unless you look under a microscope.
Prazipro dosed twice, 8 days apart with good aeration is a reef safe treatment that will help against flukes.
Are you sure the clowns aren’t just posturing to each other? Sometimes their social dynamics change over time.

Jay

atul176 · Oct 29, 2022

Jay Hemdal said:
FW dips won’t show Gyrodactylus or gill flukes unless you look under a microscope.
Prazipro dosed twice, 8 days apart with good aeration is a reef safe treatment that will help against flukes.
Are you sure the clowns aren’t just posturing to each other? Sometimes their social dynamics change over time.

Jay

I’m not entirely sure about the posturing, but I will finish the GC dose and just observe them for a while just in case I’m being paranoid.