Not sure what’s wrong

shawnssaltywater

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I’ve only had these clowns three days or so and my original diagnosis was wrong. The female was acting like this at the lfs (see video attached)
Params

Ammonia 0
Nitrate 5.6
Ph 8.2
Alk 9
Calc 420
Mag 1450
Salinity 1.025
Tank is around six months old and has housed numerous clown fish before. I’ve never seen this kind of activity before she will swim around just fine and eat just fine. It almost looks like she’s preparing a spot because she’s pregnant. Then she lays on the ground and sometimes she’ll lay there for a few minutes before kicking back up. Over the last three days it has gotten a little bit better. Maybe it was just stress? Anything helps. They were so cute. I couldn’t leave them at the store.
 

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Jekyl

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Try a youtube link
 

vetteguy53081

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She’s doing a ton better now the previous video shows her laying down a lot more.
This is not a spawning or cleaning behavior but the fish is thin and may likely be showing signs of early stage brooklynella which if true, some signs are wobbly swimming, lethargic behavior, loss of appetite, elevated breathing rate as examples. The fish also appears to be thin.
Other clown appears normal although blurry during the video.
Any other fish showing symptoms or other unusual behavior?
 
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shawnssaltywater

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What does this mean exactly? Where are the other clowns?
I’ve given some to friends and family as well as moved them to newly established tanks in my home and my customers homes. This tank has been the one I’ve had going the longest and my “display tank” if you would say that. I’ve only had one fish die in my possession and it was a cleaner goby. I’ll order something for brook any recommendations? Don’t really wanna mess with formaldehyde if I don’t have too but I will! All other clowns are happy and healthy the only clown that’s been in contact with the sick female is her mate and he seems fine. He’s always watching out for her and he doesn’t eat before her
 

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I’ve given some to friends and family as well as moved them to newly established tanks in my home and my customers homes. This tank has been the one I’ve had going the longest and my “display tank” if you would say that. I’ve only had one fish die in my possession and it was a cleaner goby. I’ll order something for brook any recommendations? Don’t really wanna mess with formaldehyde if I don’t have too but I will! All other clowns are happy and healthy the only clown that’s been in contact with the sick female is her mate and he seems fine. He’s always watching out for her and he doesn’t eat before her
Oh I guess the 6 month old part had me think well if you brought in a disease thats not long enough for a cycle, have fish, then fallow the tank. Sounds like you may know a little something. I am not personally great with diagnosing disease. Someone will chime in I am sure. I look for red flags when I read these and that threw one up for me.
 
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shawnssaltywater

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Oh I guess the 6 month old part had me think well if you brought in a disease thats not long enough for a cycle, have fish, then fallow the tank. Sounds like you may know a little something. I am not personally great with diagnosing disease. Someone will chime in I am sure. I look for red flags when I read these and that threw one up for me.
No worries at all! I’m terrible at diagnosing anything and my buddy who got me into the hobby isn’t around anymore so I’ve resorted to a few forums that I’ve seen positive interactions on. Everyone here is nice and informative. Or has been! I had trouble getting a pair of clowns to actually pair so I wound up with way more tanks and clownfish than expected
 
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shawnssaltywater

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This is not a spawning or cleaning behavior but the fish is thin and may likely be showing signs of early stage brooklynella which if true, some signs are wobbly swimming, lethargic behavior, loss of appetite, elevated breathing rate as examples. The fish also appears to be thin.
Other clown appears normal although blurry during the video.
Any other fish showing symptoms or other unusual

This is not a spawning or cleaning behavior but the fish is thin and may likely be showing signs of early stage brooklynella which if true, some signs are wobbly swimming, lethargic behavior, loss of appetite, elevated breathing rate as examples. The fish also appears to be thin.
Other clown appears normal although blurry during the video.
Any other fish showing symptoms or other unusual behavior?
I’ll order something for brook any recommendations? Don’t really wanna mess with formaldehyde if I don’t have too but I will! All other clowns are happy and healthy(only livestock I have) the only clown that’s been in contact with the sick female is her mate and he seems fine. He’s always watching out for her and he doesn’t eat before her. She’s eating brine and flakes should I swap diets?
 

vetteguy53081

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I’ll order something for brook any recommendations? Don’t really wanna mess with formaldehyde if I don’t have too but I will! All other clowns are happy and healthy(only livestock I have) the only clown that’s been in contact with the sick female is her mate and he seems fine. He’s always watching out for her and he doesn’t eat before her. She’s eating brine and flakes should I swap diets?
Ruby rally Pro is sufficient and reef safe and will address an array of issues. Formalin based is extremely hard to find anyways
 

Jay Hemdal

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She’s doing a ton better now the previous video shows her laying down a lot more.
If the fish was doing this at the store, and is doing the same for you, but is eating well, this may well be a “belly slider”. A certain percentage of tank raised clowns have developmental issues where their swim bladders don’t fill properly, so they tend to sink. The fish adapts to that by just sitting on the bottom more. Breeders used to cull these, but that costs list revenue, so some just sell them anyway.

What is the ammonia testing at?

Brooklynelka can cause a clown to swim weird, but they usually also develop white mucus. Problem is, that’s tough to see on mostly white designer clowns.
 
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shawnssaltywater

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If the fish was doing this at the store, and is doing the same for you, but is eating well, this may well be a “belly slider”. A certain percentage of tank raised clowns have developmental issues where their swim bladders don’t fill properly, so they tend to sink. The fish adapts to that by just sitting on the bottom more. Breeders used to cull these, but that costs list revenue, so some just sell them anyway.

What is the ammonia testing at?

Brooklynelka can cause a clown to swim weird, but they usually also develop white mucus. Problem is, that’s tough to see on mostly white designer clowns.
Ammonia is less than 0.02ppm it’s not reading anything on my test kit. I’ll post another video soon and try and make it more clear. She was up and moving around for the first few day at the pet store (I go everyday after work) and the day I got her was the day she started acting funny. she was not getting up to move around at all at the LFS. The pet stores water did not pass my tests at all and so I began acclimating immediately. 5hr drip and then I added them to the tank. She wasn’t moving much at all the first 2 days other than to eat and then when I woke up this morning she was swimming around a bit with her mate but would shortly go back to her spot. Shes a little more lively Now but still lays down for 5 minutes or so anfter any real movement.
 

Jay Hemdal

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Ammonia is less than 0.02ppm it’s not reading anything on my test kit. I’ll post another video soon and try and make it more clear. She was up and moving around for the first few day at the pet store (I go everyday after work) and the day I got her was the day she started acting funny. she was not getting up to move around at all at the LFS. The pet stores water did not pass my tests at all and so I began acclimating immediately. 5hr drip and then I added them to the tank. She wasn’t moving much at all the first 2 days other than to eat and then when I woke up this morning she was swimming around a bit with her mate but would shortly go back to her spot. Shes a little more lively Now but still lays down for 5 minutes or so anfter any real movement.

Yes - a clear video taken under white lights may help us see what's going on here.
 

Jay Hemdal

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Posted in 1080p
I watched the video a few times - these mostly white clowns makes diagnosis very difficult.

I still can’t rule out the fish being a belly slider, but I also can’t rule out Brook.

I would treat with ruby reef, just to try and cover that base.
 
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shawnssaltywater

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Been treating with Ruby for 2/3 days and shes a night and day difference. She sleeps on the ground at night now but during the day she’s zooming around pretty good. Will keep everyone updated
 

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