Is my clownfish too far gone?

[donnieb07]

Okay so pair of clownfish have been in qt for 14 days treated with cupramine. Haven’t noticed any problems with eating or swimming.

Over the last 2 days I’ve seen the bigger clownfish bullying him. Just now watching them I watched the bigger one drag him across the tank. About an hour later now he’s laying on the blower. He just got up and is now literally doing 360s lol

What’s the next step here?

 

[donnieb07]

Currently have him in a bucket, assuming he’s a lost cause. He does still get up and swim occasionally but upside down, weak, etc. breathing heavy.

 

[vaguelyreeflike]

Put him in a breeder box and turn your lights off for a few hrs, but it sounds like he is moribund and there isn’t much to do to help him at this point. Lessening stress via separation and dimming/turning off lights can help, if he will eat offer some frozen foods, but try not to disturb him much.

In the future as soon as one is hiding from the other, and there is vigorous nipping/chasing, separate immediately into a breeder box to observe behaviour. I also recommend starting your new clowns off inside a breeder/acclimation box in order to let the female get the initial aggression out, and once she starts ignoring the new clown that is when I release them and watch very closely for the next few hours for signs of aggression.

 

[vetteguy53081]

Currently have him in a bucket, assuming he’s a lost cause. He does still get up and swim occasionally but upside down, weak, etc. breathing heavy.

More Like gone. This fish if still breathing is Moribund and will likely not eat or swim normal moving forward and sad to see

 

[donnieb07]

Put him in a breeder box and turn your lights off for a few hrs, but it sounds like he is moribund and there isn’t much to do to help him at this point. Lessening stress via separation and dimming/turning off lights can help, if he will eat offer some frozen foods, but try not to disturb him much.

In the future as soon as one is hiding from the other, and there is vigorous nipping/chasing, separate immediately into a breeder box to observe behaviour. I also recommend starting your new clowns off inside a breeder/acclimation box in order to let the female get the initial aggression out, and once she starts ignoring the new clown that is when I release them and watch very closely for the next few hours for signs of aggression.

I gotcha I figured but I really appreciate it.

They were in DT together for about 2 weeks, never had a problem. Then got hit with ich.

I’ll keep that in mind for the next pair I get!

 

[donnieb07]

More Like gone. This fish if still breathing is Moribund and will likely not eat or swim normal moving forward and sad to see

I figured as much. That’s fish number 5 gone since ich outbreak! Down to one clownfish and a royal gramma :/

 

[vaguelyreeflike]

I gotcha I figured but I really appreciate it.

They were in DT together for about 2 weeks, never had a problem. Then got hit with ich.

I’ll keep that in mind for the next pair I get!

Ah I see, stressful events can cause the male to change sex and raise problems with the pair. I’ve seen it with illness, tank changes, rehomes etc.

Sorry for your loss, hopefully the next attempt goes better

 

[vaguelyreeflike]

I figured as much. That’s fish number 5 gone since ich outbreak! Down to one clownfish and a royal gramma :/

Do you have a quarantine tank?

 

[donnieb07]

Ah I see, stressful events can cause the male to change sex and raise problems with the pair. I’ve seen it with illness, tank changes, rehomes etc.

Sorry for your loss, hopefully the next attempt goes better

This is actually the 3rd clownfish I’ve tried to put with her. They are all significantly smaller than her, I’ve swapped the other two out at my lfs and she’s bullied all of them but this one made it the longest. So is it possible that she just can’t be paired with another clown?

 

[donnieb07]

Do you have a quarantine tank?

I do it’s a 10 gal qt, got pvc tubes for them to hide in. But it’s my first time dealing with ich so the start was a little rough, which I’m sure was not very good for them lol

 

[vaguelyreeflike]

This is actually the 3rd clownfish I’ve tried to put with her. They are all significantly smaller than her, I’ve swapped the other two out at my lfs and she’s bullied all of them but this one made it the longest. So is it possible that she just can’t be paired with another clown?

It may be the individual is too aggressive, or that the pairs were too small, or that you were sold females by accident. I would try to aim for one closer to her size if you attempt it again, and ensure you’re getting males and not females. It can be hard to ensure the sex while in store, but typically finding a confirmed pair and taking the male or finding a group and avoiding the female is your best bet. You don’t want to take home a clown that’s been alone for any longer than a few days as it raises the risk of a sex change.

I do it’s a 10 gal qt, got pvc tubes for them to hide in. But it’s my first time dealing with ich so the start was a little rough, which I’m sure was not very good for them lol

Perfect! Keep therapeutic levels of copper in it and ensure your salinity stays stable at 35ppt during the entire QT period, and keep them separate from your display tank for at least 3 weeks for observation/preventative treatment.

When ich is a known factor go for the full 4-5 weeks of QT/treatment.

 

[donnieb07]

It may be the individual is too aggressive, or that the pairs were too small, or that you were sold females by accident. I would try to aim for one closer to her size if you attempt it again, and ensure you’re getting males and not females. It can be hard to ensure the sex while in store, but typically finding a confirmed pair and taking the male or finding a group and avoiding the female is your best bet. You don’t want to take home a clown that’s been alone for any longer than a few days as it raises the risk of a sex change.



Perfect! Keep therapeutic levels of copper in it and ensure your salinity stays stable at 35ppt during the entire QT period, and keep them separate from your display tank for at least 3 weeks for observation/preventative treatment.

When ich is a known factor go for the full 4-5 weeks of QT/treatment.

For sure! Going to let DT go fallow for 90 days before restocking. Just picked up a foxface and started the medicated QT process (separate QT tank) so hell be done a bit after the fallow period and ready to go.
Crazy to think 4 months ago I started with a 20 gallon and 2 clownfish, now I have that a 75 gal and two 10 gal qt tanks

 

[vetteguy53081]

I gotcha I figured but I really appreciate it.

They were in DT together for about 2 weeks, never had a problem. Then got hit with ich.

I’ll keep that in mind for the next pair I get!

Acclimation box wont do a thing for this fish. It appears you have a dominant female and smaller likely males and you need to add the males moving forward and add female later

 

[donnieb07]

Acclimation box wont do a thing for this fish. It appears you have a dominant female and smaller likely males and you need to add the males moving forward and add female later

Interesting. Will keep that in mind thank you!