I'VE TRIED EVERYTHING!!!!!! What can I do??

[SquishyFish]

Wow...we have got some "unusual" answers one this one....


First...Ammonia is toxic. I'll site my source. DR. Ron. I have the article if anyone would like to read it. According to him, and every other experience hobbyist I have spoken with, in an established tank ammonia should be at 0. In a Q/T, it should only be at trace levels.

2nd...Medicating for ammonia is the equivalent of tanking a Asprin because your starving to death. It wont do any good. Water changes...frequent, but small. To large of a water change and you will cause as much or more damage as the ammonia its self. 50% in emergency cases...other wise 20% will do fine.

As far as feeding...try some plankton or mysis and put some Garlic Xtreme on it. Its an appetite stimulant.

 

[BlueDolphin]

Thank you everyone for your responses. I am now into day 9 of my clown being in the QT. He still has not eaten. The last food I tried was mysis shrimp soaked in garlic. Again, he didn't even give it a second glance. As for the ammonia levels - I do frequent water changes. Today I did 20%, and yesterday I did 30%. It's a constant battle with ammonia in the QT. However, that is not what I am currently worried about. It is my fish's eating disorder that is constantly in my thoughts.

I called my LFS to see what they are feeding the tank-raised percs and they mentioned something about bloodworms and brine shrimp - ok, I've already tried these. So, I asked how long my clown could go without eating before I should get really worried. He said 30 days. Could this be correct?? I thought surely after that amount of time that my little clown would be no more.... I'm worried because I'm into week #2. I guess I'll just keep trying - there's nothing more I can do. However, I was thinking about live brine shrimp...

 

[Atari]

The unfavourable conditions may well be contributing to the lack of appetite. What kind of biofiltration are you using in the QT ?

 

[BlueDolphin]

I have a penguin mini bio-wheel filter. I also have a sponge in the QT that was seeded in my main tank.

 

[Atari]

Try the live shrimp... let's hope it was feeding at the LFS before you bought it and just needs more time to adjust. If not I guess it's a lesson learned. Crossing my fingers for you :?

 

[NightSpirit]

Only free ammonia is really toxic.

Let's try some actual biochem:
http://ce.ecn.purdue.edu/~piwc/w3-research/free-ammonia/nh3.html

So, guessing his tank temp and using his pH and total ammonia readings I find he has a free ammonia of 0.03805833303292352mg/L

Or hardly anything.

There are tons of charts and other biochem sites that will tell you how much free ammonia is considered toxic or stressful to your saltwater fish, and I doubt it's the ammonia that's the prob. It's likely the stress of being in the QT.

Does the fish have anywhere to hide? My clowns like to hide alot.

Anyways I wish the best for your fish.

 

[SquishyFish]

I read your article that you posted. What I saw was that it says "free ammonia is toxic." But bottom line is that if your test kit is registering ammonia...you have a problem.

The test kit doesnt read ".05 of free ammonia...panic!" Or ".05 of Ionized ammonia...Water change!" It just says ammonia. In a QT with no bio filter, we are talking about the deadly kind...or as you stated, free ammonia. In a stabilized tank, the presence of any ammonia shows a problem with the biofiltration capabilities...period. No ammonia of any kind should be present if the biofiltration is in place and stable.

 

[NightSpirit]

I read your article that you posted. What I saw was that it says "free ammonia is toxic."

There area lot of articles based on it, I'm just too lazy to pull them up.

The test kit doesnt read ".05 of free ammonia...panic!" Or ".05 of Ionized ammonia...Water change!" It just says ammonia.

Because it's a bad/cheap testkit. Mine (Hagen) differentiates.

No ammonia of any kind should be present if the biofiltration is in place and stable.

This is idealistic in a QT, but often not plausible.

It just says ammonia. In a QT with no bio filter, we are talking about the deadly kind...or as you stated, free ammonia.

Not really, as he barely has any free ammonia.

The thing is, if a differential diagnosis is to be made, his current ammonia levels would be at the bottom of my list. And making this type of diagnosis is important to minimize future fish loss. It's easy to blame everything on ammonia but it often isn't the case at such low free ammonia levels.

I would ask the following questions:
Does the clownfish have an adequate place to hide?
Does the fish exhibit any signs of stress?
Did you feed the fish the exact brand and type of food the LFS uses?
What are the current nitrite levels?
Did you recently switch salt brands?
Does the fish exhibit any signs of cyanide poisoning?
Do they add flouride to your tapwater and/or do you use tapwater?

My guess would be either stress due to being in the QT, or cyanide poisoning.

 

[srgetz]

as far as ammonia goes, why not put in a piece of cured lr or base rock to aid biofiltration? as i understand it you're not using meds, just pull it out if you need to use meds......i agree with live brine right now also, best of luck

 

[Atari]

as far as ammonia goes, why not put in a piece of cured lr or base rock to aid biofiltration? as i understand it you're not using meds, just pull it out if you need to use meds......i agree with live brine right now also, best of luck

If it turns out the fish has an infection then the LR will also be contaminated and cannot be returned to the main tank.

 

[srgetz]

yea

If it turns out the fish has an infection then the LR will also be contaminated and cannot be returned to the main tank.

understood, I meant to say "expendable" lr! though, one could leave the rock in qt without fish for 6-8 weeks fallow and no more ich...

 

[srgetz]

also BlueDolphin, has he eaten yet? he is not looking really thin is he? also just curious, is this system water you are using in qt, ro or tap? just wondering if it could be something related to tap water chemicals as this is really unusual for a clown...

 

[quarryshark]

also BlueDolphin, has he eaten yet? he is not looking really thin is he? also just curious, is this system water you are using in qt, ro or tap? just wondering if it could be something related to tap water chemicals as this is really unusual for a clown...

Agreed, good question. Also, have you tried lacing the food with garlic juice, it can stimulate a feeding responce.

 

[indy]

His posts say he's tried garlic with his foods and it hasn't worked. I'm starting to wonder if he doesn't have a plastic nemo from mcdonalds. Not eating for a clown is pretty rare. I know mine were little garbage guts 30 seconds after I put them in my tank. I'd lay money on pure stress and would be curious what he has in his qt and where its placed. If he has no hiding spots and has a lot of trafic around the tank, he's likely pretty stressed out. Especially if he's wild caught. If your qt is bare, put in a few pvc 90 degree elbows, limit his lighting to around 6-8 hours per day, and limit as much traffic as you can. This includes checking him every 10 minutes. Fish can go a pretty lengthy time without eating, so hope in not entirely lost. GL w/him.

 

[srgetz]

I just read your other thread...

Sorry to hear about the clown Keep your head up, I have had some painful experiences in this hobby as I'm sure most of us have, but we are here as a community to give them all the care we can and that is inspiring. Get another, it's the best thing you can do right now.