Lonely? Clownfish in QT starving

[Gretchacha]

So here is the update: I added a robo-fish that was a similar size and color to test the “loneliness” hypothesis. The article Jay posted actually seemed to posit that fish psychology had a lot to do with whether a fish survived. So, knowing that clownfish mate for life, and mine was very social and attached to his hawk fish friend, I couldn’t rule out the possibility that he refused to eat due to fish depression, whatever that might be for him. The clownfish was VERY interested in the fake fish swimming around.
So I went to the LFS and showed my video of the fish from this morning and talked it over with them. I got frozen pe calanus (irresistible-they didn’t have small enough guppies or feeder fish), another clownfish, and the advice to check for stray voltage and add seasoned substrate to the tank so it doesn’t look like a dangerous abyss or smell new. If the clowns fight, they BOTH go back to the LFS. Because that is the other risk, they would try to determine dominance and that would do him in.
Currently the new clown is in a clear specimen cup in the tank with H2O2 and the two are interacting through the glass. I’m very hopeful that this will improve his outlook on life.

 

[Jay Hemdal]

I can´t see that your method is more screw-loose, shamanic, magical and mystical and likely dangerous than those methods that use prophylactic treatments with drugs that´s either not tested on the actual species or content a not known unique blend of trade secret anti-microbial formulations (from here).

I have no single idea what HydroPlex™ from Ruby reef contain but it has a trade mark - it means that the name is protected to one product. A search for HydroPlex™ shows to be very interesting. Plexus is a supplement company that sells products that claims improve overall health in humans. According to this sheet it contains a lot of ingredient's that is questionable - at least in the concentrations used here.
View attachment 3101461
As I said before - I have no idea if Ruby Reefs HydroPlex™ is identical with Plexus HydroPlex™ bu the ™ indicate that they are the same- and IMO - to sell or recommend products like this is more screw-loosen and likely more dangerous than just release and pray



Sincerely Lasse

It is tricky to run a Google search on "Hydroplex". It turns out that there is some sort of plant fertilizer material that also shows up since it has the same name. You need to search for "Hydroplex aquarium ingredients" That will take you to this link:

Ruby Reef Hydroplex

I'm trying Hydroplex in my QT for 7 days Add 2 oz. (60 ml) of HYDROPLEX per 5 gal. (20 liters) of water. Dosage may be repeated 24 hours and every 48 hours for up to 7 days. Can you add garlic power, vitamarin-M, focus and metroplex, kanaplex to the food?

www.reef2reef.com

Jay

 

[KrisReef]

So here is the update: I added a robo-fish that was a similar size and color to test the “loneliness” hypothesis. The article Jay posted actually seemed to posit that fish psychology had a lot to do with whether a fish survived. So, knowing that clownfish mate for life, and mine was very social and attached to his hawk fish friend, I couldn’t rule out the possibility that he refused to eat due to fish depression, whatever that might be for him. The clownfish was VERY interested in the fake fish swimming around.
So I went to the LFS and showed my video of the fish from this morning and talked it over with them. I got frozen pe calanus (irresistible-they didn’t have small enough guppies or feeder fish), another clownfish, and the advice to check for stray voltage and add seasoned substrate to the tank so it doesn’t look like a dangerous abyss or smell new. If the clowns fight, they BOTH go back to the LFS. Because that is the other risk, they would try to determine dominance and that would do him in.
Currently the new clown is in a clear specimen cup in the tank with H2O2 and the two are interacting through the glass. I’m very hopeful that this will improve his outlook on life.

This seems like a good idea. Hopefully it works.
Did you have a chance to talk with the new fish about your expectations?

 

[Gretchacha]

This seems like a good idea. Hopefully it works.
Did you have a chance to talk with the new fish about your expectations?

I didn’t need to. My first fish was swimming parallel orientation and shimmying to the new fish while he was still in the specimen cup. They paired up immediately. The first fish was trembling and showing his belly to the new fish from the moment they were introduced. His behavior has totally changed. He must have bonded with that hawkfish after all. I added gravel with pods and filter media to the tank as well (from coral QT). Plus a xenia and baby mushroom and snail. Hopefully this all does the trick and tomorrow he is eating like it’s time to mate

 

[Tired]

Interesting that he took interest in the robo-fish, and glad to hear he's showing signs of life!

I recommend keeping some BBS cysts and a hatchery on hand for fish that won't eat. Live BBS are great for just about any tiny fish you can think of.

 

[Lasse]

It is tricky to run a Google search on "Hydroplex". It turns out that there is some sort of plant fertilizer material that also shows up since it has the same name. You need to search for "Hydroplex aquarium ingredients" That will take you to this link:

Ruby Reef Hydroplex

I'm trying Hydroplex in my QT for 7 days Add 2 oz. (60 ml) of HYDROPLEX per 5 gal. (20 liters) of water. Dosage may be repeated 24 hours and every 48 hours for up to 7 days. Can you add garlic power, vitamarin-M, focus and metroplex, kanaplex to the food?

www.reef2reef.com

Jay

Both the aquatic and the human use the word HydroPlex™ TM in this context stand for trademark and for me - it could be the same, According to the plant fertilizer HYDROPLEX® indicate that it is a registred trademark.

Common to all three is that they contain extra potassium. To dip my saltwater fish in a solution that contains extra potassium is unthinkable for me. In our salt water there is already about 400 mg/L of potassium and I have had indication of bad experiences with concentrations around 550-600 mg/L

But the bottom line - we know nothing about the content and how it works. If we do as Kris suggest - tell our fish not to die - we att least know that they will not die because that we ask then not to do so.

Sincerely Lasse

​

 

[Gretchacha]

Both the aquatic and the human use the word HydroPlex™ TM in this context stand for trademark and for me - it could be the same, According to the plant fertilizer HYDROPLEX® indicate that it is a registred trademark.

Common to all three is that they contain extra potassium. To dip my saltwater fish in a solution that contains extra potassium is unthinkable for me. In our salt water there is already about 400 mg/L of potassium and I have had indication of bad experiences with concentrations around 550-600 mg/L

But the bottom line - we know nothing about the content and how it works. If we do as Kris suggest - tell our fish not to die - we att least know that they will not die because that we ask then not to do so.

Sincerely Lasse

​

Hydroplex from ruby reef is patented. If you are interested in learning about the technology behind it, patents are all public domain. You can look up exactly what is in it and the specific concentrations plus all the published research to support it. It’s not trivial proving a patentable process or product, so it’s likely effective. My husband has 6 patents, and they take years to prove. It sounds like you are making some wild guesses here.

 

[Gretchacha]

Interesting that he took interest in the robo-fish, and glad to hear he's showing signs of life!

I recommend keeping some BBS cysts and a hatchery on hand for fish that won't eat. Live BBS are great for just about any tiny fish you can think of.

I have a hatchery and was producing hatches for a week and also growing out some. This was the first fish that I have had that wouldn’t take fresh bbs. He kind if acted like he couldn’t see them, though. Is it possible he is too big to care about bbs? He is 2”-2.5”

 

[C4ctus99]

Sounds like he is a sociable little guy! Is he larger or smaller than the second one you got at the lfs?

Hoping he pulls through!

 

[Gretchacha]

Sounds like he is a sociable little guy! Is he larger or smaller than the second one you got at the lfs?

Hoping he pulls through!

The first one shimmying his stuff at the new one is larger. He must have tajen on the male role to the much larger flame hawk. The new one, a bit smaller, is probably confused. But they swim together. Hopefully the transition is smooth. The new one is not chasing the old one. Hopefully the old one starts eating before that occurs.

 

[Jay Hemdal]

Hydroplex from ruby reef is patented. If you are interested in learning about the technology behind it, patents are all public domain. You can look up exactly what is in it and the specific concentrations plus all the published research to support it. It’s not trivial proving a patentable process or product, so it’s likely effective. My husband has 6 patents, and they take years to prove. It sounds like you are making some wild guesses here.

I don't think Hydroplex is patented. It is a trademarked name. That makes it a "patent medicine". Patent medicines for humans were mostly legislated out of existence in the US by laws (Coca Cola was once one). For aquarium use, there is no legislation regarding efficacy, so anything can be marketed as a fish medication. There was once a "magic filter" on the market that was purported to eliminate fish disease. Somebody opened one up and found that it was just a bit of copper pot scrubbing pad.

It is not for us, the consumers to prove that a given medication works or not - the companies marketing them must do that. The first step is if they would openly list the ingredients so that we can do a reference check in the scientific literature for their effectiveness. Even an MSDS would be a first step, but I have not been able to find one online for this product line. Edit: I read that the MSDS is provided in the package?

Jay

 

[Lasse]

Hydroplex from ruby reef is patented. If you are interested in learning about the technology behind it, patents are all public domain. You can look up exactly what is in it and the specific concentrations plus all the published research to support it. It’s not trivial proving a patentable process or product, so it’s likely effective. My husband has 6 patents, and they take years to prove. It sounds like you are making some wild guesses here.

It is really patented? There is no information of that on their website and about the content - they do not say anything about the content at their website - however different retailers report something. If you have a patent number (that I can´t find) please - publish it here - or the best in order to end this discussion in your favour - publish the content from the patent papers or from the MSDS if it is in the package.,

The information you can get from different websites is the following:

This website (Marine Aquatics)

Quotes from their description my bold

HydroPlex™ contains a unique blend of trade secret anti-microbial formulations available to the hobby industry exclusively through Ruby Reef™.

These formulations (the active ingredients are on the label) are widely used in over-the-counter health care products (e.g., in antibacterial and antifungal products) and in a broad range of cosmetics and beauty aids (e.g., as antimicrobial preservatives). In-other-words, they offer broad-spectrum protection against infectious disease, while being safe for human and animal exposure as well as for disposal down the drain.

Another website describe it like this

The HydroPlex water treatment contains a number of ingredients
that have been approved by the Unites States Food and Drug
Administration for over the counter sales.

These ingredients include preservatives used for eye makeup,
lipstick, lotions, etc., as well as antibacterials used in
handsoaps and shampoos (e.g. for dandruff). HydroPlex also
includes compounds effective for the control of yeast and fungal
(e.g. athletes foot) problems.

This single products may be approved for external use - but salt water fish drinks - it means that they will ingest this compounds and as I can understand - these compounds are not approved for internal use in either human or other mammals

I do not know what other person will do - but I would never ever use "antibacterials used in handsoaps and shampoos to my aquarium !!!

Back to the Lonely theory you have. I have very little experiences with hospitalization or quarantine of saltwater fish but according to freshwater fish - I have a huge experiences of hospitalization and keeping few fishes in an aquarium. (mostly African cichlids) The lesson I have learned is that never keep a fish alone in a hospital tank. If you have a few fellows (I mostly use guppies or fry from another species) with the sick fish - the recovery and surviving rate is normally much, much higher compared with keep the fish alone. I have deal with mouthbrooders a lot and a mouthbrooding female is rather week after 2 - 3 weeks with no or low amount of foods. (single in a release aquarium) They need a recovery period before they go back to their aquarium. The recovery time decrease and surviving rate increase if they get company in their small aquarium

IMO - its worth a try

But still - the reason why you have ended up in this situation is - IMO - your prophylactic approach. There is no "totally safe" treatment methods -IME - treatment is always associated with a risk

Sincerely Lasse