Clownfish with brooklynella?

[leafyseadragon]

I picked up a clownfish on Friday, acclimated him very slowly to the tank. I fed him Friday afternoon, and he was eating quite nicely.

A SW friend of mine said she spotted liver problems, which was evidenced by the up and down bobbing of his swimming. I guess the side to side motion is okay, but the up and down is not?

Today (Sunday), he seems to mouth, then spit up his food.

I looked at the Aquareport here

http://www22.brinkster.com/seafan/fish/fr009ocellaris/ocellaris.html

and it says clowns are also susceptible to brooklynella. Looking at the internet, one of the symptoms is spitting up food. But other than that, I can see no visible signs of disease.

Should I be worried yet? Well, actually, I already am...

 

[steve-s]

Clowns as well as many other fish will spit up food for for a variety of reasons, most having nothing to do with ailments or problems. I would not conclude that as a parasite problem as yet. It could simpley be that the food is not to it's liking or possibley too large for the clown to eat. Try different foods and ensure the food size is small or break it up manually, they do have small mouths.

Watch the clown for signs of lethargy, excess body slime, diminshed color and body ulcers.

Was the clown properly acclimated to a quarantine or the main display tank?

If treatment is needed, hyposalinity will be the best option for Brooklynella hostilis if that is indeed the issue.

I cannot comment on your friends diagnosis of the "liver problem" as I have never heard that before. If anything, poor swimming patterns are more a result of swim bladder problems. Ocellaris/Percula clowns are not the most graceful swimmers in the first place.

Cheers
Steve

 

[reefrunner69]

Ocellaris/Percula clowns are not the most graceful swimmers in the first place

I've had my true perc for about 5 months now, it still bobs up and down while swimming...it's quite normal.

 

[leafyseadragon]

It was maybe 5 minutes from the pet store to my tank. I floated the bag for 30 minutes, then opened it up. Then I put 1/2-1 oz of tank water in the bag every 15 minutes. When the store bag filled up, I emptied everything into a 1 gallon ziploc bag.

So about 3.5 hours later, I turned the fish loose in the tank. It swam around its new surroundings, and then set up shop near one of the rocks towards the top of the stack. I didn't even try to feed it the first day.

I don't know if the food is not to its liking, but it ate marine cuisine Saturday morning. I know about its small mouth, but my clown was spitting up (frozen) brine shrimp. That's not too big, is it? It was eating them before, which really was my cause for concern.

As for lethargy, it seems to hover around the rocks. It doesn't look sick to me, but this is my first SW fish. From what I've learned, clowns don't seem to lap around the tank.

How about this: I did soak the original cube of marine cuisine in Ken Zoe last night. Could that have caused the spitting up?

 

[steve-s]

How about this: I did soak the original cube of marine cuisine in Ken Zoe last night. Could that have caused the spitting up?

Could be. I have seen several fish that turn their "noses" up at foods that have been soaked in vitamins. You might want to try your hand at blender mush. It will be easier for the clown to eat and should provide all the good stuff it needs.

Keep tabs on the clown for now but I do not think it will be an issue. As long as you find something it likes to eat, you should both be fine.

Cheers
Steve