Nemo's sick please help

[Spazz67]

I noticed last night that our smaller clown is looking sickly, he seemed to be sunk in around his stomach and head. When I fed frozen brine shrimp, he didn't dart after it like the female and gramma. I even tried live baby brine, he seemed like he ate some. I also tried garlic soaked food. He just swims in place and seems to be breathing heavy.
The only thing I've done has been a water change (10 gal total <7 fresh and 3 salt), the salinity(salt content) was 1.026 so I added fresh water to lower it. And raised the ph with baking soda.
This was done on 10/11
Tank prams Before water change After water change
Temp 79 Temp 78
ph 7.8 ph 8.2
nitrates 0 nitrates 0
Nitrites 0 Nitrites 0
Ammonia 0 Ammonia 0
salinity 1.026 salinity 1.023

Our Equipment List

Lighting/Hood = RO1636 Model#36PSDX Rated 120 VAC 60 HZ 40 WT

Bulb = Ocean Sun 10,000K 25 wt 36in

Tank = 46 gal bow face H=21in W= 3ft Short D= 12in Long D= 16in with glass cover.

Powerheads/wavemakers= 1 Zoo Med Power sweep 30 gal wt pre filter (rotating)
2 Wal-Mart stationary power heads

Heater = 2x UL 100 wt

Filters= 2x Whisper 10-30i with Biofilters
3 1/2in (100 lbs appx) live sand bed (4/50 lbs bags of non silica play sand mixed with 25 lbs of reef
oyster shells and seeded with 20 lbs of actual live sand and
cycled for about 8 weeks. Still have about 120/140 lbs dried,
sealed, and stored in our building.
Bio Pro Sk-40 Air Driven Protein Skimmer

Livestock= 2 A.p clownfish (mated pair)(might be false)
1 Royal Gramma
2 Red leg hermits
3 Peppermint Shrimp
2 Feather Duster
1 Oyster Cluster

 

[Kurt_Nelson]

Just a guess, but I'd say the sudden change in water parameters might not be making it very happy. Was the water change just before the fish started acting sickly?

You want to match salinity as close as possible when doing a water change. Swinging from 1.026 to 1.023 with a 20% water change was a pretty big jump.

 

[Spazz67]

Is there anything I can do for him? If he dies my son and wife will kill me, after the last time.

 

[Spazz67]

Was the water change just before the fish started acting sickly?

Yes.

 

[melosu58]

Have you tried soaking the food in garlic? This sometimes causes them to eat. Just need to get him to eat soon.

 

[Kurt_Nelson]

Is there anything I can do for him? If he dies my son and wife will kill me, after the last time.

At this point, just keeping the water parameters stable is probably the only think you can do. Also as melosu commented, getting him to eat is probably top priority. How about some mysis shrimp or cyclopeeze, instead of the brine? I haven't seen anything refuse mysis shrimp in my tank, plus it's waaaaaay more nutritional. From what I've read, brine shrimp as the sole source of food just doesn't end up being too nutritional.

 

[Innovator]

I'm curious as to what you mean by live baby brine, as in nauplii or?

 

[Spazz67]

I'm curious as to what you mean by live baby brine, as in nauplii or?

Fresh hatched brine shrinp.

 

[Innovator]

This might be too small for them to take much interest in. Another option is enriching live adult brine shrimp with selco and/or spirulina. I haven't seen a fish yet resist it and since it would be enriched, more nutritional as well

 

[Spazz67]

Nemo's still not eating. I've tried Melosua's suggestion of soaking the food in garlic, Kurt_Nelson's suggestion of feeding mysis shrimp or cyclopeeze, instead of the brine. LFS only had frozen. And Innovator's suggestion of enriching the food with selco and/or spirulina, I couldn't do because they didn't carry it. Any other suggestions on what else to try?

 

[Spazz67]

Nemo's worse. The skin on his head looks like it's falling off. One of my peppermint shrimp also died last night. The prams are good. Any clue whats going on.
Livestock= 2 A.p clownfish (mated pair)(might be false)
1 Royal Gramma
2 Red leg hermits
2 Peppermint Shrimp
3 Feather Duster
2 Oyster Cluster
1 Turbo Snail

 

[Spazz67]

Pictures of Nemo

These are alittle blurry, but the skin is flaking of in the spots that are circled. And I found out that a poker buddy (yes the same one who brought the other clown) put a dose of Stop Parasites in the tank, because he thought he seen white spots on the Gramma. Could this be the problem?

 

[Kurt_Nelson]

Well... looking at the info regarding "Stop Parasites", I see this:

This product will not cause harm to life forms unless pH monitoring is ignored. If pH is going to drop, it will immediately after application.

Since your friend did you the favor of dosing your main tank with meds (!!), did he/she bother to monitor pH after they dosed? I notice in your water parameter list that your "before water change" pH was 7.8 and after it was 8.2.

Just guessing, but perhaps the pH drastically dropped after the meds were put in which stressed the fish. Then the drastic increase in salinity occurred, which kind of added insult to injury.

Can't really see the flaky areas with those pictures, but the fish looks healthy otherwise. I really think it's just a stress induced thing that the fish has to work through itself. Kind of like us getting a flu... once it takes hold you just have to ride it out and hope you don't get some secondary infection along the way.

[Edit: regarding the shrimp - are you sure you're just not seeing a molt? If it truly is dead, then it could be from the same issues as above... sudden change in parameters.]

 

[melosu58]

If it was my tank I would immediately do 25% PWC`s every few days. This should get everything where it needs to be and should help your fish out. Just so you know for future references Rule no. 1 is never treat your main tank for disease. Remove the fish into a QT and treat.

An Ounce of Prevention is Worth a Pound of Cure: A Quarantine Tank for Everything by Steven Pro - Reefkeeping.com

 

[Spazz67]

Well... looking at the info regarding "Stop Parasites", I see this:

This product will not cause harm to life forms unless pH monitoring is ignored. If pH is going to drop, it will immediately after application.

Since your friend did you the favor of dosing your main tank with meds (!!), did he/she bother to monitor pH after they dosed?

[Edit: regarding the shrimp - are you sure you're just not seeing a molt? If it truly is dead, then it could be from the same issues as above... sudden change in parameters.]

According to him, he only dosed the tank and didn't check anything afterwards. My Wife has forbidden him to touch the "HER" tank again. Nemo died about an hour after I posted. Now the female is starting to act the same way, yesterday she went nuts over mysis shrimp, today she's not eating. And yes the shrimp was dead, but the other 2 and the snails seem fine.

If it was my tank I would immediately do 25% PWC`s every few days. This should get everything where it needs to be and should help your fish out. Just so you know for future references Rule no. 1 is never treat your main tank for disease. Remove the fish into a QT and treat.

An Ounce of Prevention is Worth a Pound of Cure: A Quarantine Tank for Everything by Steven Pro - Reefkeeping.com

These fish had just came out of the QT tank. A buddy treated the tank, while I was getting snacks for our card game. He was going to buy her a new fish, but I told him to just get her a gift card if he wanted to replace it.