update on sick clown

[Mrsfuller2572]

No change in the clown last night. This morning was a different story. Last night, I took a water sample to the LFS to see if they got the same results as I was. Everything was the same, except, she showed a 10 on nitrate. So, I came home and did a pwc and vacuumed sand with hopes that it might help. Amonia tested zero, and like Fluff said, nothing else stands out. Everyone else is fine...who knows? I also purchased some garlic and soaked their food in it to feed this morning. In reading other's posts, I have been feeding everyday, so that was probably the nitrate. Need to look at my tests again and see what I did wrong to get a different reading on that one.
As of 6 am, this morning, I finally found him flip flopping around his cove like he was loosing his mind. He made it out of the cove and into the mainstream of tank life and is drifting about. He swims a little, or tries, but is mainly being tossed around by the powerheads. Doesn't look good.
They were purchsed together, but not a mated pair. They were about the same size, although the one that seems to be dying is lighter in color and just a tad smaller (if you look close). I have (of all things) one blue-green chromis who can be a little aggressive at times, but that's it. Everyone else are simply happy little fish.
Anything else I could or should be doing to save this guy? Are we beyond hope?

 

[Fluff]

If you have a QT, you should move the fish there. How long have you had it? Any chance you could post a picture?

 

[Mrsfuller2572]

QT tank is cycling. We've had them about two months now.
I think if I were to do it all over again, one should purchse and set up QT tank closely following if not simultaneously the main tank.
Right now, he's lying on a rock near the top. Still alive, but still breathing rapidly.

 

[Fluff]

You said you soaked the food but didn't say rather the fish in question ate or not. ??

How far into the cycle is the QT? The fish really needs to be moved even if it means daily water changes. It's very hard to diagnose a fish without a picture and your description of it's behavior isn't ringing any bells for me. It could be bacterial, it could simply be stress. You said it was lighter in color than the other. Does the flesh look coated or just faded?

 

[Mrsfuller2572]

Fish died...The fish looked faded from the beginning. One was clearly darker than the other when we bought them. I had about 4g. of salt water made up in a bucket that I warmed to the temp of the tank, double checked salinity, and by the time I was ready to move him into there, he'd died. I thought I'd put him in the bucket with a powerhead until I could get to the LFS last night to stock up on RO water for the daily water changes in the RO tank.
I spoke to the gal at te LFS last night, told of the symptoms...one of their clowns was on the bottom 'panting'...and I said, "it started just like this one". She gave me a cert. to replace mine free of charge when they get a NEW batch in later this month. The QT tank will hopefully be fine by then, as well.
Thanks for the education and ideas.

 

[Fluff]

Sorry for your loss.

 

[roka64]

Sorry to hear about your loss.

 

[Mrsfuller2572]

Thanks. We're so attatched to the horses we train, our dogs, kitties, and parrot...but I didn't think we'd get attatched to fish. They really seem to have their own personalities and people watch!
Everything else in the tank is still fine, thankfully.

 

[melosu58]

Sorry

 

[schatzn]

A similar thing happened to me... still don't know what was going on. Both of my clowns died though I woke up one morning and the first was dead, a few days later the second one started acting crazy. He would half swim normal, then spaz out and turn around backwards, get blown around by the powerhead, sink slowly to the bottom sit there for a while then thrash back up to the middle of the tank adn repeat the whole process. Neither of them ate for about three days prior to death (not even the garlic soaked flakes or frozen mysis shrimp.) They would breathe very heavily and didn't seem happy at all. My small 3/4" hippo tang was fine though, along with my cleaner shrimp. If anyone had any ideas about what caused there death, I would really appreciate it. I don't want the same thing to happen to my hippo.

Thanks