Clownfish all of a suddon sick

[Blondek727]

I have had this fish for 3 days not sure if there tank breed or wild cought they have been in my system for 3 days the only other fish in the tank is his gf the fish are eating mysis and pellits there is no aggression in the tank the peramitters are as follows gh180, kh240, ph 8.1, no3 0, no2 0, ammonia 0.15. He's faded one the top of his head and swimming at the top on his side but moving alot not just hovering there. He was acclamated doing the measuring cup meathed 2 days ago and was fine untill this morning the tank is ten gallons. It has about 7 pounds of liverock. And has a marineland penguen bio wheel 100. There are no additives

 

[Blondek727]

The funny thing is as he's at the top he is still chasing thoughs copepods as they run by on the glass so he's def eating

 

[austinsdad]

You got ammonia present. How long has the tank been up and how did you cycle it? Are you cycling it with the clowns? Fish don't do well in ammonia.

 

[Blondek727]

The tank is almost done cycling the ammonia levels keep going down but in the mean time is there anything I can do

 

[Blondek727]

Should I set up a tank and acclamat then to it and wait till the main tank is done cycling

 

[austinsdad]

QT tank is always a good idea for new additions, regardless of if you're cycling or not. Might wanna consider returning those clowns to the store and finish your cycle with a grocery store shrimp. Ya still gotta cycle a QT tank. See article at this site for fishless cycling.

How high did your ammonia levels get up to? Hasn't the nitrite started rising yet?

 

[Blondek727]

The ammonia went up to about 0. 50 the nitrate went up a little but is at 0 now i did a couple water changes sence then including one this morning tested the water and nitrate and nitrite both zero but ammonia is inbetween 0ppm and 0.25ppm ooh and I orderd the fish off line to returning is out of question they would probably die on the way back

 

[loneranger]

As said, fish don't like ammonia! I'd do a substantial water change, 50% ish to keep it low. Make sure the param's of the new water are the same as the tank water otherwise your gonna stress the fish out even more.

Keep an eye on the ammonia then for the next few days and do more water changes as necessary. It's an expensive way of cycling a marine tank, much better to do it fishless with liverock, less water changes involved.

Could also get hold of some purigen or polyfilter to help.

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[loneranger]

Worth noting, clowns do behave quite strangely...they are clowns after all.

I had one who used to sleep on his side at the top of the tank. I was always having to check he was still alive.

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[drummev]

Mine sleep on their side at top of tank

To look at them in the morning you'd think they were dead. One likes to also sleep near the water intake going to back of nano- I guess he likes the water brushing past him as he sleeps. They take a good 30 minutes to wake up and get active.
Could your fish just be sleeping? Or is he exhibiting this behavior through out the day?

 

[Blondek727]

As a matter a fact I think he was just sleeping cuz after about an hour he was fine swimming like normal and as of right now is still happly swimin but for the ammonia levels I will do what u have recomended and do a 50% water change and keep a close eye on the level for the next couple weeks till it's at 0. Might be a stupid question nut is it bad to do to many water changes

 

[loneranger]

As long as all the levels (pH, temp and sg) are the same as the tank water it should be fine. Once all is stable, 10% weekly or fortnightly would be fine if stocking is low.
It might also be worht getting your lfs to check the ammonia levels, sometimes testkits can give false results when looking at such small levels.
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[drummev]

I'm pretty new but have been told to do more frequent 10%-20% h2o changes rather than infrequent huge (50%) changes. Anyone want to chime in? I do 15-20% water changes every 5-7 days in a 24 gal reef tank.

 

[drummev]

Also, I'm so glad your Clown was just sleeping. They are very personable sweet fish. They will quickly learn that you feed them and will 'beg'.

 

[loneranger]

drummev, your quite right. I was only suggesting the 50% changes while there was ammonia present in the system. I would then do 10-20% weekly or fortnightly, like I said previously.

TBH lots of people do 40-50% water changes fortnightly in nano's, I'm always a bit worried about the stress on the fish tho.

I think the key with nano's is regularity, i.e. do whatever suits you (within reason), but do the same thing every time to maintain stability in the system.

HTH
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[anthonyi]

I have 2 small Ocellaris Clownfish and 2 larger Black & White Ocellaris Clownfish. They all get along great together. They even huddle up at night at the top of my tank behind my HYDOR KORALIA 4 POWER HEAD.

 

[Blondek727]

Thanks for the great info everyone I just finished with a 40% water change and the ammonia levels went down alot but I'm going to check the level everyother day if not everyday i'm new to the saltwater world so I'm still learning. I just want these fish to have the best home possible. Thanks agien for all the help.

Ps I love this site AA rules

 

[melosu58]

You might want to read our article on cycling to know what the clown is going through.

http://www.aquariumadvice.com/articles/articles/3/1/Cycle-your-salt-tank/Page1.html

 

[Blondek727]

thanks for the info melosu58

 

[thincat]

My advice is the same as austandad. Do water changes and do them until ammonia levels are 0. The fact that your nitrate levels are very low at this point indicate that the cycle still has a bit to go. Keep up with the water changes and you should be okay.