Possible Emergency with Clownfish, Banded Coral and Sea Serp

[PumaKrieg]

I bought these saltwater species from Live Aquaria that i recently bought.
: Sea Serpent
: Clownfish (small)
: 12 Scarlet Hermits
: 12 Turbo Snails
:1 Cleaner Shrimp
:1 Banded Coral Shrimp

The first day after aclimating my species they all seemed fine and ate heavily. However, after the 2nd my clownfish stopped eating and hasnt eaten for 2 days now. He shows very rapid breathing, however does not seem to hide. I also saw that underneath his third stripe, a white line was in sight, each hour it got larger and larger until it is as long as him. It looks almost as if his stripe is unwinding! My water quality and tests are fine considering I already have some hard to keep species in my tank that have been living peacefully for a few months now. I do not see any signs of aggresion except it seems the banded coral shrimp looks like it is trying to sneak up and attack it constantly. My other problem is my sea serpent is missing a leg and i am guessing the banded coral shrimp caused this. However, my friend insists that either my blenny, doctorfish, or my clown wrasse is causing it. ( all under 1 inch except blenny ) My friend's best guess is that the blenny did this but he shows no sign of aggression, it more or so looks like he is protecting him. Several times it appears that the banded coral shrimp is trying to sneak up on the serpent but the goby scares him away. Please give me info on who you think is the culprit is and how I should solve the problem. I also have another tank with fish all over 2.5 inches that i could move the banded coral shrimp into.

 

[fishfreek]

Describe your tank(s): 20 gallon NANO 1 True Percula Clownfish 1 Scarlet Cleaner Shrimp 1 Doctorfish 1 Clown Wrasse 1 Banded Coral Wrasse 2 Gruntfish 1 Sea Serpent Fancy 1 Horned Blenny 24 Astrea and Turbo Snails 15 Dwarf and Scarlet Hermit Crabs

The above is from your profile. If this is indeed what you have in a 20 then I have to say your tank is VERY much over crowded. The heavy breathing is most likly the result of high ammonia. You say your tests are showing fine water quality but what are the exact values? Whats the brand of yoru test kit and whats the sensitivy of the kit?

How did you acclomate these fish?

 

[PumaKrieg]

My PH is 7, salinity measures in at 1.024, ammonia levels are 0, my tank has a lot of live rock, no nitrates or ammonias, no alage, low phosphates, very abundant coraline alage. Also the tank is a 30 gallon. It has been going succesfully for 3 years with only two deaths, a clownfish pair due to hurricanes. I ordered these guys from live aquaria so I and guessing the high stress levels developed brook. Also my banded coral shrimp was recently moved into my other tank about 15 minutes ago because of him showing agrression, and we suspect he is the culprit behind my decapitated hermits and 3 armed sea serpent. Also I gave the clownfish a freshwater dip for 2 mins. How long do you think i should wait until attempting to see if he is better by feeding him?

 

[Devilishturtles]

My PH is 7

This is way too low for a SW fish... The range for SW is about 7.4 to around 8.8. Your ideal should be in the 8.0 range.

no nitrates or ammonias,

What kind of kit do you have? You should have some nitrates, even if it is minimal.

Describe your tank(s): 20 gallon NANO 1 True Percula Clownfish 1 Scarlet Cleaner Shrimp 1 Doctorfish 1 Clown Wrasse 1 Banded Coral Wrasse 2 Gruntfish 1 Sea Serpent Fancy 1 Horned Blenny 24 Astrea and Turbo Snails 15 Dwarf and Scarlet Hermit Crabs

IMO, you are still WAY overstocked, even if it is 30 gallons. The wrasse alone will almost outgrow that tank.

 

[Devilishturtles]

Also I gave the clownfish a freshwater dip for 2 mins. How long do you think i should wait until attempting to see if he is better by feeding him?

I thought FW dips should only be done when parasites are present, and even then, it shouldn't be pure FW, but actually more like a SG of 1.007 or something like that. When you do that, you throw off the electrostatic balance of the fish...it's a very stressful experience. I hope your fish makes it though...but it sounds like it's pretty stressed out now.

Good luck.

 

[PumaKrieg]

I have a 70 gallon for my fish to grow in and even 280 gallon for ones that outgrow that

 

[PumaKrieg]

I thought FW dips should only be done when parasites are present, and even then, it shouldn't be pure FW, but actually more like a SG of 1.007 or something like that. When you do that, you throw off the electrostatic balance of the fish...it's a very stressful experience. I hope your fish makes it though...but it sounds like it's pretty stressed out now.

It does appear to have parasites, at least that is what everyone is telling me
Thank you for your help

 

[PumaKrieg]

My nitrates and amonias are so low they are almost undetectable

 

[fishfreek]

You described your fish as showing stress not parasitic attachment. The Ph is way off by more than a factor of 10. PH should be at a minimum 8.0 and optimally between 8.2 and 8.3.

You never went into details on how you acclomated these new arrivals to the tank. Whom is everyone? Also if you could use the tags when quoting a previous message. It makes it much easier to follow. There for a minute I thought you was carrying on a conversaion with yourself until I realized it was a cut and paste from a different persons post. Almost undetectable and zero are different. In an established tank of 3 years you should have zero ammonia and nitrates between 5-20. Expecially given the bioload.

 

[lando]

My nitrates and amonias are so low they are almost undetectable

"Almost" undetectable? You should have absolutly no detectable ammonia. Also, what are your nitrites? Slowly bump up the Ph and think about reducing the number of fish in the tank.

 

[PumaKrieg]

I do have no detectable nitrates and amonias. I should have restated that. I have so little, they are undetectable.

 

[lando]

What about nitrites?

 

[PumaKrieg]

My PH is fine, and it is not overcrowding with all my fish being 1/2 inch to 2/3 inch besides my blenny. I removed a few snails and my banded coral yesterday just in case. I have no other sick species it is just the clownfish. I gave him the freshwater bath yesterday and he is much less sluggish just breathing heavily. I'm hoping he will feel better. My starfish came out today b/c i gave him shrimp but he did not eat it. I noticed he now has 3 missing legs but i removed the shrimp that was attacking him. I acclomated the clownfish exactly how Live Aquaria said so but just a little bit longer, say 15 min just in case. I really do not need to reduce the number of fish, once they outgrow it i will move them to a larger tank. However, this most likely will never happen anyway because of stunted growth. I also do not use a very well test kit, however my current ph now is 7.6. Thank you for your help anyway.

 

[lando]

however my current ph now is 7.6.

That is a bit on the low side. It should be up around 8.1-8.3. Any word on Nitrites?

 

[PumaKrieg]

My Nitrates are basically 0, and I did water changes just to be safe. Thank you for your help and advice my clown seems to be getting better. I'm just hoping he eats tonight.

 

[lando]

My Nitrates are basically 0

I am not asking about nitrates (NO3), I am asking about nitrites (NO2). In very small amounts, NO2 can be just as deadly to fish as ammonia (NH3).
removing the CBS and a few snails is not really going to due much to help water parameters as they do not contribute to the overal bioload of the tank. It is the fish you might need to thin out.

I did water changes just to be safe

Always the best course of action and the first thing to do when something seems "amiss".

 

[PumaKrieg]

My fish are fine. They are small and healthy.

 

[lando]

He shows very rapid breathing,

Has this changed?

 

[sunryze]

Also I gave the clownfish a freshwater dip for 2 mins. How long do you think i should wait until attempting to see if he is better by feeding him?

okay sorry to interupt but..??? what is dipping in freshwater for parasites and how is it done??

 

[fishfirst]

wow... all I can say is lando knows his stuff... and you obviously don't Pumakreig... first off, why wouldn't you do a fishless cycle on one of your bigger tanks and just put all your fish and stuff in there??? Second you should know that pH should be at 8.3 and that ammonia nitrites should be at 0. Also it is quite obvious that you do not have a healthy system... your clownfish is breathing heavy and your starfish is losing legs (which is a last ditch effort to save himself). to put it bluntly... your a This portion of your post has been edited, it is in violation of the User Agreement. Further violations of the User Agreement could result in removal from our community. if you argue with lando and some of the other experts here.

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