Sick clownfish?

abryant · Jan 1, 2023

new tank and my clown fish did fine for the first day and day two they started to lay on their side and breath super heavy and not move around to much and will not eat I don’t know what’s wrong but I don’t want to lose him I already lost my other due to the same problem I checked my water it all appeared to be fine I’m just not sure what the issue is can anyone help?

Uncle99 · Jan 1, 2023

Were you cycled?
What did you check when you “checked” your water?
What were the results?

abryant · Jan 1, 2023

For a couple days but I added a bottle of fritz bacteria so I could add fish

vetteguy53081 · Jan 1, 2023

abryant said:
new tank and my clown fish did fine for the first day and day two they started to lay on their side and breath super heavy and not move around to much and will not eat I don’t know what’s wrong but I don’t want to lose him I already lost my other due to the same problem I checked my water it all appeared to be fine I’m just not sure what the issue is can anyone help?

Please post a pic or two of your setup under white lighting. A tank fully cycled and ready to go with fresh water should be good to go.
When you say tank is new- What is age of tank?
Did you cycle tank, and by what means and for how long?
Introduction - How did you acclimate fish and for how long ?
Are you using RODI water or tap water from the faucet?
What test kits are you using and what is current ammonia and nitrate level ?

vetteguy53081 · Jan 1, 2023

abryant said:
For a couple days but I added a bottle of fritz bacteria so I could add fish

For freshwater this may work but not even close in saltwater. For proper cycle for preparation of fish, a cycle is called a cycle when two significant actions occur. . . . when ammonia rises then falls and achieves a steady reading of Zero for at least 5 days and when nitrate rises and falls and holds at 20 or below- you are cycled.
Did you add ammonia chloride or something to increase ammonia initially ?
I you are using API kits , I would suggest taking a water sample to a trusted LFS and see what numbers they come up with and to compare with yours then you will know where your readings are at.
A typical cycle period is 14-21 days and you want to stock very slowly to allow denitrifying bacteria to keep up with new bioload as tank matures
Adding bacteria such as your fritz at 1.5ml per ten gallons daily for next 2 weeks will assure bacteria is sufficient and supported. Your fish likely suffered from osmotic shock or high levels.
What is salinity, Ph and temperature also ?

abryant · Jan 1, 2023

Uncle99 said:
Were you cycled?
What did you check when you “checked” your water?
What were the results?

PH was just a tad low so I added this stuff the guy at the pet store told me to and it went up to 8.3 like it’s supposed to be at and my ammonia was zero and nitrites were zero and so was nitrates the only thing I didn’t check was salinity and thats because I don’t have a tester for it and because it was saltwater from the store so I knew the salinity was good

LaloJ · Jan 1, 2023

So you're saying that you were sold salt water from the store but you don't have cycled biological material? That is what I understand, or you have completely new biological material and you are adding bacteria to achieve colonization, if so it seems to me that you are going to deal with many water changes until the cycle is complete, if the lfs sold you water from a established tank but they did not sell you cycled biological material so do not ever return there, get a refractometer or a hydrometer as soon as possible.

abryant · Jan 1, 2023

vetteguy53081 said:
Please post a pic or two of your setup under white lighting. A tank fully cycled and ready to go with fresh water should be good to go.
When you say tank is new- What is age of tank?
Did you cycle tank, and by what means and for how long?
Introduction - How did you acclimate fish and for how long ?
Are you using RODI water or tap water from the faucet?
What test kits are you using and what is current ammonia and nitrate level ?

I used the API saltwater master test kit and the tank is maybe two years old I purchased it used but set it up about a week ago I used saltwater I bought from the store and I put some live rock and live sand in then I added this fritz bacteria after a couple days then waited a day before I added fish, my clowns appeared to be fine the first day then the next day the one looked like it was maybe sleeping and was kind of like on it’s side and not moving then later it died and now the same thing is happening to my other clownfish and he appearing to be struggling to breather he’s taking in be gulps and a lot of them and I couldn’t get them to eat the whole time I had them I tried frozen brine shrimp and flakes and it wouldn’t eat either.

I drip acclimated them for like 20 mins.

amonia was at zero and so was nitrates.

abryant · Jan 1, 2023

vetteguy53081 said:
For freshwater this may work but not even close in saltwater. For proper cycle for preparation of fish, a cycle is called a cycle when two significant actions occur. . . . when ammonia rises then falls and achieves a steady reading of Zero for at least 5 days and when nitrate rises and falls and holds at 20 or below- you are cycled.
Did you add ammonia chloride or something to increase ammonia initially ?
I you are using API kits , I would suggest taking a water sample to a trusted LFS and see what numbers they come up with and to compare with yours then you will know where your readings are at.
A typical cycle period is 14-21 days and you want to stock very slowly to allow denitrifying bacteria to keep up with new bioload as tank matures
Adding bacteria such as your fritz at 1.5ml per ten gallons daily for next 2 weeks will assure bacteria is sufficient and supported. Your fish likely suffered from osmotic shock or high levels.
What is salinity, Ph and temperature also ?

Temperature is at 79° and not sure what salinity is at I don’t have a tester yet still waiting on that but it should be perfect since I purchased pre made saltwater Ph was at 8.2-8.4

Ben.QLD2 · Jan 1, 2023

If nitrate is zero in a new tank then it isn't cycled. Those fish are likely dying from ammonia poisoning, in addition to other skewed parameters.

Their (almost inevitable) deaths were wholly preventable. You need to research things like this before jumping in, and your LFS has a lot to answer for in my opinion.

vetteguy53081 · Jan 1, 2023

abryant said:
I used the API saltwater master test kit and the tank is maybe two years old I purchased it used but set it up about a week ago I used saltwater I bought from the store and I put some live rock and live sand in then I added this fritz bacteria after a couple days then waited a day before I added fish, my clowns appeared to be fine the first day then the next day the one looked like it was maybe sleeping and was kind of like on it’s side and not moving then later it died and now the same thing is happening to my other clownfish and he appearing to be struggling to breather he’s taking in be gulps and a lot of them and I couldn’t get them to eat the whole time I had them I tried frozen brine shrimp and flakes and it wouldn’t eat either.

I drip acclimated them for like 20 mins.

amonia was at zero and so was nitrates.

Unfortunately the acclimation was not long enough nor was the resetting of tank although it was run previously
Follow the steps I mentioned for cycling as you must
For acclimation, you want to float the bag with fish for twenty minutes and then add tank water every 10-15 mins until you have matched the ph and salinity in the bag water with that of the tank

While this is Not the only method, this is my introduction:

I generally:
Float for 20-30 minutes
Transfer fish and water into a clean bucket
Then . . . .
Measure the Ph, salinity and temperature of the bag water. If you can, make up some water in a container that has exactly the same measurements as the bag readings and move the fish right over, then you can add a cup of tank water to bucket every 15 mins 6 times (almost 1.5 hours)
Then check salinity in bucket and compare to tank. If no match or very close, add a cup of water every few mins until youve reached salinity and trap fish in same cup and pour off water and release into display. Release under LOW light before lights out. Fish in shipped bags produce carbon dioxide and ammonia. The carbon dioxide lowers the pH of the water in the bag, That in turn makes the ammonia non-toxic to the fish. When you acclimate them, if not done just right, you drive off the carbon dioxide faster than you are diluting the ammonia. That raises the pH of the water in the bag, and that in turn, makes the residual ammonia very toxic to the fish. Sometimes, the fish will die right in the bag

abryant · Jan 1, 2023

LaloJ said:
So you're saying that you were sold salt water from the store but you don't have cycled biological material? That is what I understand, or you have completely new biological material and you are adding bacteria to achieve colonization, if so it seems to me that you are going to deal with many water changes until the cycle is complete, if the lfs sold you water from a established tank but they did not sell you cycled biological material so do not ever return there, get a refractometer or a hydrometer as soon as possible.

What do you mean cycled biological material? Live rock and sand? Because I did put live rock and live sand in the tank here is a picture of the water I purchased

vetteguy53081 · Jan 1, 2023

abryant said:
Temperature is at 79° and not sure what salinity is at I don’t have a tester yet still waiting on that but it should be perfect since I purchased pre made saltwater Ph was at 8.2-8.4

Pre made water from LFS us and has been known to be low in salinity, high in nitrate and phosphate and cannot be assumed as perfect
Refractometer is a must with sea water and I can assume shock played a role in fish loss
Saltwater aquaria is often a slow process but rewarding in the long run
Best is to allow tank to run 2-3 weeks without fish allowing the tank to settle and numbers to decline to safe levels at steady rate known as stability

abryant · Jan 1, 2023

Ben.QLD2 said:
If nitrate is zero in a new tank then it isn't cycled. Those fish are likely dying from ammonia poisoning, in addition to other skewed parameters.

Their (almost inevitable) deaths were wholly preventable. You need to research things like this before jumping in, and your LFS has a lot to answer for in my opinion.

So what should all my water levels be at like
PH:
Ammonia:
Nitrites:
Nitrates:
Salinity:

the guy at the one store did a water test for me and said my water was all good

vetteguy53081 · Jan 1, 2023

abryant said:
So what should all my water levels be at like
PH:
Ammonia:
Nitrites:
Nitrates:
Salinity:

the guy at the one store did a water test for me and said my water was all good

PH: 8.1-8.3
Ammonia: < .025
Nitrites: Dont worry about this lwevel unless sky high
Nitrates: < 15
Salinity: 1.024-1.025

I suggest taking a water sample to a store that does NOT use Api kits and compare readings- then you'll know

abryant · Jan 1, 2023

vetteguy53081 said:
PH: 8.1-8.3
Ammonia: < .025
Nitrites: Dont worry about this lwevel unless sky high
Nitrates: < 15
Salinity: 1.024-1.025

I suggested to take a water sample to a store that does NOT use Api kits and compare readings- then you'll know

So is there any way to save the fish before it dies?

vetteguy53081 · Jan 1, 2023

abryant said:
So is there any way to save the fish before it dies?

Personally - if the store is open, ask them to hold it and perfect your tank. You have the right tools for the tank to be successful- Just a little premature for stocking

abryant · Jan 1, 2023

vetteguy53081 said:
Personally - if the store is open, ask them to hold it and perfect your tank. You have the right tools for the tank to be successful- Just a little premature for stocking

Currently they are closed but if he’s still okay by tomorrow I’ll take him up there. Thanks for the help and advice anything else you would recommend before I add fish for the next time or anything you recommend I do in the future as I am new to this hobby

thank you

vetteguy53081 · Jan 1, 2023

abryant said:
Currently they are closed but if he’s still okay by tomorrow I’ll take him up there. Thanks for the help and advice anything else you would recommend before I add fish for the next time or anything you recommend I do in the future as I am new to this hobby

thank you

Go back to acclimation I mentioned. Let the tank mature and cycle and introduce slowly
I highly recommend better test kits such as Hanna or salifert brand and monitor water
Goal here is to see you succeed and spend time enjoying your piece of the ocean in your home

threebuoys · Jan 1, 2023

Welcome toR2R!

I'm sorry your jump into the hobby has been so challenging today.

I suggest you spend a little time reading some of the instructional posts on the forum before you go much further.

New to Saltwater & Reef Aquariums? Post Here

If you're new to the Saltwater Hobby and have questions please post them here. So you finally decided to take the plunge. The only dumb question is the one you don't ask!

www.reef2reef.com