How can I help my clownfish? breathing heavy, not swimming, sitting at the bottom

[maurice-io]

2 days ago I added two clownfish to my new 65gal tank.
The LFS told me that clownfish are hardy and will be helpful to cycle the tank faster. (Tank has live rock and live sand but not cycled)

Water is RO/DI
Salinity 1.024
pH was at 8, now at 8.3
Ammonia has just started to go up. Currently at 0.25
Nitrites/Nitrates still at 0

First day both fish were doing fine, swimming around.
Fish 1 was eating well, fish 2 was not.
This morning (1.5 days after introduction), fish 1 was breathing heavily at the bottom of the tank, while fish 2 is doing ok and swimming/eating well.

Things seem to be getting worse for fish 1 -- breathing heavier, swimming less, tilting to his side. The other one had to pull him by the tail t one point (to keep him alive?)

Here's a video showing both of them:
https://photos.app.goo.gl/h3jcNbZfondS55vL7


Bottom line, I am not sure what this is due to. Could 0.25 ammonia be causing the difficulty in breathing?
I moved him to a quarantine tank with new RODI water at 1.024 salinity for an hour or so, but he didn't seem to breathe better/improve.
I put him back in the main tank for now, but I am hoping to learn something that can help me save him. Any advice is appreciated!

I read the related threads and they seem to point in various directions..
Thanks!

 

[Big G]

Yes. 0.25 depending on the individual fish and the pH of the water can be a serious issue for fish.
Ammonia burns/damage to the gills can inhibit the fish's ability to transpire oxygen.
Giving the fish a 30 minute bath dosed with Methylene Blue can often help the fish to "breathe" better.

 

[maurice-io]

Thanks BigG. I will get that first thing tomorrow morning hoping that he survives till then!

 

[vetteguy53081]

2 days ago I added two clownfish to my new 65gal tank.
The LFS told me that clownfish are hardy and will be helpful to cycle the tank faster. (Tank has live rock and live sand but not cycled)

Water is RO/DI
Salinity 1.024
pH was at 8, now at 8.3
Ammonia has just started to go up. Currently at 0.25
Nitrites/Nitrates still at 0

First day both fish were doing fine, swimming around.
Fish 1 was eating well, fish 2 was not.
This morning (1.5 days after introduction), fish 1 was breathing heavily at the bottom of the tank, while fish 2 is doing ok and swimming/eating well.

Things seem to be getting worse for fish 1 -- breathing heavier, swimming less, tilting to his side. The other one had to pull him by the tail t one point (to keep him alive?)

Here's a video showing both of them:
https://photos.app.goo.gl/h3jcNbZfondS55vL7


Bottom line, I am not sure what this is due to. Could 0.25 ammonia be causing the difficulty in breathing?
I moved him to a quarantine tank with new RODI water at 1.024 salinity for an hour or so, but he didn't seem to breathe better/improve.
I put him back in the main tank for now, but I am hoping to learn something that can help me save him. Any advice is appreciated!

I read the related threads and they seem to point in various directions..
Thanks!

0.25 is the max safe level but concern also may be false reading and higher than you see.
What test kits are you using?
How were fish acclimated and for how long ?

 

[maurice-io]

0.25 is the max safe level but concern also may be false reading and higher than you see.
What test kits are you using?
How were fish acclimated and for how long ?

Using API test kit, they def seem more reliable than the test strips i used before. Are there better/more accurate tests out there?

Acclimation:
- Floated the bags 15 mins
- emptied both bags together into a small bucket
- progressively added tank water to that bucket (1/4 cup every minute for 15 mins) until doubled the volume
- used a net to bring the fish from the small bucket to the tank

They both did fine the first 24 hrs.. does that mean acclimation was ok?

I believe i overfed since i tried feeding again when they didn't eat the first time. This must have caused more ammonia than necessary. The struggling fish is now in a separate qt tank with newly mixed water.

Thoughts? Any feedback/learning would be much appreciated. Thanks!

 

[Reeflix]

api for me is when i need a quick test if something is wrong. also the ammonia test can be hard to read, so i would use salifert

 

[vetteguy53081]

Using API test kit, they def seem more reliable than the test strips i used before. Are there better/more accurate tests out there?

Acclimation:
- Floated the bags 15 mins
- emptied both bags together into a small bucket
- progressively added tank water to that bucket (1/4 cup every minute for 15 mins) until doubled the volume
- used a net to bring the fish from the small bucket to the tank

They both did fine the first 24 hrs.. does that mean acclimation was ok?

I believe i overfed since i tried feeding again when they didn't eat the first time. This must have caused more ammonia than necessary. The struggling fish is now in a separate qt tank with newly mixed water.

Thoughts? Any feedback/learning would be much appreciated. Thanks!

mainly Api ammonia offers false readings often higher than shown. I would suggest taking a water sample to a trusted LFS that does NOT use Api tests and have them test ammonia and nitrate and see what readings they come up with and to compare with yours.
Hanna and salifert tests are reliable industry kits
On acclimation, prior to release, check salinity and ph in the bucket to assure it matches that or close to of the intended tank they are going to.