Perc Clown not eating

[KSum89]

I have a perc clown that hasnt ate at all since i brought It home saturday. He's breathing fast too.. I was told he has to get use to his new home and it will straighten itself out. But going this long without eating and all that increased breathing rate has me worried. Hes running away when i get close to the tank, so it still is showing its aware of surroundings

I only have 4 fish and 1 shrimp in my 55 so far and everything is tested, its perfect. No nitrates, nitrites, or ammonia. And ph is around 8.2.

I tried: frozen brine, frozen mysis and flake food with added garlic. All the others eat but him.

I have a perc clown (biggest fish), o clown, royal gramma, andsix line wrasse. And fortunately the o clown and perc arent fighting.

 

[Codyheitmiller]

So you have 3 clownfish? If it is just two then they are fighting for the female role, How did you acclimate the little guy? how much live rock do you have? like 1 3rd, 2 3rd, 3 3rds? Did you turn the lights off when adding it to the tank? that will help with stress too.

 

[KSum89]

No, i only have 2. A o-clown and a perc clown. They arent fighting at all, and the perc is double the size of the o clown.. I also have about 55 pounds of base rock with 10 pounds of live rock in my 55 gal. I kept the light off for the first 2 days.

-i acclimated by adding a little tank water from a small cup every 15 minutes over a hour.

 

[iDream]

I wouldn't start worrying until he hasn't eaten for over a week.

Is he pecking at the rock at all? If so then he's eating something

 

[KSum89]

No, hes not pecking the rock either. I just fed the fish some garlic flakes hoping he would get some.. He still is smelling it when it comes close and turns away. He does this with everything.. Frozen and flake food. It will be exactly a week tommorow.

-it looks like the perc is losing a little weight im going to test the water again but if everythings perfect like yesterday then i dont know whats going on.

 

[bart051284]

No, hes not pecking the rock either. I just fed the fish some garlic flakes hoping he would get some.. He still is smelling it when it comes close and turns away. He does this with everything.. Frozen and flake food. It will be exactly a week tommorow.

-it looks like the perc is losing a little weight im going to test the water again but if everythings perfect like yesterday then i dont know whats going on.

I used to have 2 perc and 2 o clowns. I never really seen them fight but my o clowns were very skiddish and weren't eating. Although yours are not fighting the o clown may feel threatened

 

[KSum89]

If you mean the perc may feel threatened, he stays kinda close to the o clown. If i walk away from the aquarium and come back they are close together but not fighting. So i dont thinks its because of that. Plus the perc clown (the one thats not eating) is double the size of the very small o clown

 

[hackteck]

if you only have 2 and not 3 then thats probly not the issue if one is bigger then the other ive never had this problem before so i cant really help sorry

 

[Codyheitmiller]

Get more rock in there, that way they have more hiding spots.

 

[KSum89]

I called my lfs, the one i got the fish from and talked to the manager hoping i can find some for help. He told me since its percula they sometimes have something called brooklena (misspelled probably) and i need to give it a freshwater bath for 2 mins max. Im lookin for something to put him in to do this asap. My only tote is full of newly made saltmix

 

[Maya]

Brooklynella. Here's a link to tell you what to look for.
http://saltaquarium.about.com/od/ichparasiticdiseases/a/aabrooklynella.htm

 

[KSum89]

Thanks. He isnt scratching at all, but the other symptoms are here. I dont have a extra heater for the lil tote i wanna dip him in.. Is it neccesary?

 

[Maya]

Try to keep the parameters of the water the same. Same temp very close in ph if possible. The salinity change is stressful and a temp change on top of that is even more stressful. Watch the fish for breathing trouble or lethargy to keep him out of osmotic shock.

 

[KSum89]

I added buffer and im adding warm water to match the aquariums temp in the plastic box im putting him in. This should work, but hes been breathing fast since i first added him into my tank, im afraid this will shock him more.

 

[Maya]

Good luck. I have my fingers crossed for you and the little guy. I agree with your LFS though, a hyposalinity dip is the best idea to kill the parasite.

 

[KSum89]

Ph is around 8.3 and temp is around 79-80 so its ready. Before i put him in.. Should i leave him for a full 2 minutes or what should i do... Hes already stressed and breathing fast.

 

[leftyfish]

When I got clowns, I thought they had ich, but there was no visible signs, I ended up killing them by following bad advice and kept switching the poor things from quarantine tank (qt) to qt.

If there is no visible sign of a disease he is probably stressed. Keep the lights off and movement around the outside of the tank to a minimum. Try to feed a few times a day to see if it will eat. I had two chromis that died after a week as they just wouldn't eat, were breathing rapid and got skinnier and skinnier.

Unfortunately if it doesn't learn to eat, it will not make it.

 

[Maya]

I wouldn't dip him longer than 2 minutes... He's already stressed. The FW dip won't cure Brooklynella but it might remove some of the slime and some of the gill
Parasites. A formalin dip (quick cure
Is one brand?) is what the guys on wet web media are suggesting.

 

[Maya]

This is their thread... Hope it helps.

 

[Maya]

Oops http://www.wetwebmedia.com/ca/volume_6/volume_6_1/brooklynella.htm