My poor Clownfish

slav621 · Apr 4, 2024

I came home yesterday after work to my clownfish like this. What could it be? My parameters are pretty normal except high nitrates at 40. I have a cleaner shrimp, pistol shrimp, yasha goby, urchin, and snails.

Salinity: 1.026
PH- 8.2
Nitrates- 40
Nitrites-0
Ammonia-0

vetteguy53081 · Apr 4, 2024

slav621 said:
I came home yesterday after work to my clownfish like this. What could it be? My parameters are pretty normal except high nitrates at 40. I have a cleaner shrimp, pistol shrimp, yasha goby, urchin, and snails.

Salinity: 1.026
PH- 8.2
Nitrates- 40
Nitrites-0
Ammonia-0

Oh no. Appears to be post injury, or even neurological but hard to tell without tell-tale signs.
Any other occupants in with it?
As for parameters, disregard Nitrites and I would suggest taking a water sample to a store that does NOT use Api kits and have them test your ammonia and nitrates and compare readings- then you'll know where your levels truly are at
Fish is moribund and may or may not swim normal again and could be a loss. Add an airstone to provide more oxygen

slav621 · Apr 4, 2024

vetteguy53081 said:
Oh no. Appears to be post injury, or even neurological but hard to tell without tell-tale signs.
Any other occupants in with it?
As for parameters, disregard Nitrites and I would suggest taking a water sample to a store that does NOT use Api kits and have them test your ammonia and nitrates and compare readings- then you'll know where your levels truly are at
Fish is moribund and may or may not swim normal again and could be a loss. Add an airstone to provide more oxygen

Thank you for your response. I have a cleaner shrimp, pistol shrimp, yasha goby, urchin, and snails. He did pass yesterday when I noticed it. It seemed to happen fast and there were no signs of any illness prior to this. All other tank mates are doing just fine. If there was something wrong with the water wouldn't the other tank mates be bothered? All of my other corals are open and doing good as well.

MnFish1 · Apr 4, 2024

slav621 said:
Thank you for your response. I have a cleaner shrimp, pistol shrimp, yasha goby, urchin, and snails. He did pass yesterday when I noticed it. It seemed to happen fast and there were no signs of any illness prior to this. All other tank mates are doing just fine. If there was something wrong with the water wouldn't the other tank mates be bothered? All of my other corals are open and doing good as well.

Yes. If there was something seriously wrong with the water the other tank mates should have been bothered. Did you mean the clown passed? Did you have 2 of them by chance? It could be nearly anything - including trauma, disease, etc.

ieatbugman · Apr 4, 2024

Do you think you could have hit a powerhead? (If you have any)

Uncle99 · Apr 4, 2024

Quick changes only to one fish can be post attack.
Attack can be viscous

slav621 · Apr 4, 2024

Yes, not long after I noticed it doing this it laid over on it side with heavy breathing and died shortly after. It was really sudden honestly. It had a pair but that one died like 3 months ago. I had a pair of clowns and a chromis that I got from Petco almost 2 years ago and they have all died since. I feel like I am doing everything right so I don't know if it is sick fish with diseases or what. I have a cleaner shrimp and a yasha goby/shrimp pair and a urchin that I did not get from Petco and they are doing fine.

slav621 · Apr 4, 2024

ieatbugman said:
Do you think you could have hit a powerhead? (If you have any)

Yes, I have two. I had recently moved a powerhead to the bottom of the tank but that was not where he would hang out. I never saw him on a powerhead but honestly with how quick it happened I would not be surprised. he did not have any damages to his body though. Could him getting stuck on a powerhead for a little cause death if no signs of harm?