Clownfish dying?

[bimbo.baggins3]

Hi everyone, I’ve had two clownfish for about three months now. They’ve always appeared very happy and healthy until recently when one of them seems to have taken a turn for the worse. His upper fin is tattered, his face has gone pale, he’s running himself into substrate and going up to the top of the tank for air much more than usual. He’s also fighting with the other clownfish which is not common with these two, hes been nipping at the other one nonstop and while he is bigger so I know hes the dominant one I don’t understand why hes getting so angry all of the sudden. He’s still eating and is not lethargic, if anything hes been more active. His gills don’t appear to be inflamed and the only damaged fin is the very top one that is slightly tattered. The tank has experienced a change recently in which I introduced new hermit crabs and he (Oswald) does not like them at all. They’ve claimed the Nemo statue I gave them as their hosting spot and the hermit crabs tend to go over there quite a bit which upsets Oswald immensely and I’ve noticed he gets incredibly stressed after the encounter. I’ve created a barrier to hopefully ward off the crabs a bit, but there’s only so much I can do. The other clownfish is perfectly fine and I do only have these two. I clean the tank regularly and will attach pictures. Their diet consists of marine flakes and rehydrated shrimp and like I said they’ve been eating normally. I’ve been raising the PH levels slowly as they were slightly low and I know that can cause some of these symptoms but please if you have any more recommendations do let me know.
Parameters:
PH: 7.2
Hardness: 500
Ammonia: 0
Nitrate: 0-10 ish
Nitrite: 0
Chlorine: 0
Carbonate root: 0
Alkalinity: 120
Salinity: 1.024
Temp: 81
(He’s the bigger mostly orange one by the way)

 

[Jay Hemdal]

Welcome to Reef2Reef!

From the videos, the bond between the two clowns has broken down. IMO you will need to install a tank divider to separate them for some time and try reintroducing them a few weeks later.

Also, be sure your tank has good aeration, not just circulation. I didn’t see many bubbles in the tank.

Jay

 

[bimbo.baggins3]

Welcome to Reef2Reef!

From the videos, the bond between the two clowns has broken down. IMO you will need to install a tank divider to separate them for some time and try reintroducing them a few weeks later.

Also, be sure your tank has good aeration, not just circulation. I didn’t see many bubbles in the tank.

Jay

Yea that’s not really an option, not everyone has the luxury of being able to buy a new tank so unless you have another idea then I cannot take ur advice. Also they’ve got tons of bubbles, I have an air stone in the center of the tank.

 

[PhishMonger84]

Yea that’s not really an option, not everyone has the luxury of being able to buy a new tank so unless you have another idea then I cannot take ur advice. Also they’ve got tons of bubbles, I have an air stone in the center of the tank.

A divider is not another tank. You can create one from a sheet of egg crate for less than $10.
It’s something you should have on hand whenever you’re dealing with pairs.
You should also have a hospital or QT tank available. A $10 gallon is dirt cheap at Petco now.

Do you have any live rock in there, what’s your biomedia?

 

[bimbo.baggins3]

A divider is not another tank. You can create one from a sheet of egg crate for less than $10.
It’s something you should have on hand whenever you’re dealing with pairs.
You should also have a hospital or QT tank available. A $10 gallon is dirt cheap at Petco now.

Do you have any live rock in there, what’s your biomedia?

Sorry didn’t read your reply right but I also don’t know what petco you’re talking about but it’s DEFINITELY not mine, cheapest one at mine is at least twenty or twenty five. And yes I have live rock. I understand that you think the bond has broken down but you’ve given me no idea as to why so I’m not exactly jumping to take your advice. Especially since only Oswald seems to be suffering so I’m more eager to believe that he’s sick. I hardly think that chalking all of the symptoms up to their bond simply breaking down makes sense, especially since like I said Ziggy is in perfect health. So if you have some ideas as to why their bond might have broken down or maybe some other contributing factors to Oswald’s ailments then that would be very helpful. In the meantime I’ll look into getting and setting up a divider, it just worries me because they both have the same hosting spot (nemo statue in the corner) and I wouldn’t want to separate one of them from it.

 

[Sharkbait19]

I’ll just echo the fact that these clowns are no longer a happy pair- usually the smaller one (the male) is the one to get beat up, but not in this case. Sometimes this can fix itself, but more often results in death for the one being bullied if the two aren’t separated.
It sounds like the smaller one was never really submissive, or could have been a female as well and is trying to take dominance.
Getting worked up when something goes near it’s spot (the hermits) is also fairly normal as clowns are very territorial fish that will run off (or kill in a small enough tank) any intruders.

 

[bimbo.baggins3]

I’ll just echo the fact that these clowns are no longer a happy pair- usually the smaller one (the male) is the one to get beat up, but not in this case. Sometimes this can fix itself, but more often results in death for the one being bullied if the two aren’t separated.
It sounds like the smaller one was never really submissive, or could have been a female as well and is trying to take dominance.
Getting worked up when something goes near it’s spot (the hermits) is also fairly normal as clowns are very territorial fish that will run off (or kill in a small enough tank) any intruders.

No it is the smaller one that’s getting beaten up, Oswald is the big one and he’s the one I’m concerned for. And I definitely agree with you, it is very clear that they are no longer happy together and I plan on getting a divider asap but do you guys really think that’s it. Not just going off the videos, going off all the other symptoms I listed, the discoloration in face, the tattered fin, the running into substrate, I know that these are all stress behaviors and symptoms but do you think the only stressor is their strained relationship? I’m not doubting it, I just want to make sure you don’t have any other ideas and I can just get a divider and call it a day. I just would’ve expected these behaviors from Sigmund as he’s the one being picked on but like I said he’s in perfect health so I don’t understand why only Oswald is experiencing these symptoms especially because he’s the dominant one.

 

[Cichlid Dad]

Sorry didn’t read your reply right but I also don’t know what petco you’re talking about but it’s DEFINITELY not mine, cheapest one at mine is at least twenty or twenty five. And yes I have live rock. I understand that you think the bond has broken down but you’ve given me no idea as to why so I’m not exactly jumping to take your advice. Especially since only Oswald seems to be suffering so I’m more eager to believe that he’s sick. I hardly think that chalking all of the symptoms up to their bond simply breaking down makes sense, especially since like I said Ziggy is in perfect health. So if you have some ideas as to why their bond might have broken down or maybe some other contributing factors to Oswald’s ailments then that would be very helpful. In the meantime I’ll look into getting and setting up a divider, it just worries me because they both have the same hosting spot (nemo statue in the corner) and I wouldn’t want to separate one of them from it.

Hello, just a word of advice, the members trying to help you are all experience fish keepers giving you sound advice. You can take their advice or not. But they are giving you the best advice for you. What you have described is aggression not disease. Aggression will show one fish tore up the other just fine. One dominant over the other

 

[bimbo.baggins3]

Hello, just a word of advice, the members trying to help you are all experience fish keepers giving you sound advice. You can take their advice or not. But they are giving you the best advice for you. What you have described is aggression not disease.

Yes I know and I clearly said that I’d take their advice I just wanted to make sure there weren’t any other contributing factors as the nipping at each other wasn’t the only symptom I stated. I’m glad to hear it’s not disease but all I was doing was making sure that nothing else was causing Oswald’s pale face and tattered fin.

 

[Cichlid Dad]

Im glad you have a direction now and hopefully that it will help your little buddies.


By the way Welcome To The Reef!

 

[Jay Hemdal]

Yea that’s not really an option, not everyone has the luxury of being able to buy a new tank so unless you have another idea then I cannot take ur advice. Also they’ve got tons of bubbles, I have an air stone in the center of the tank.

O.K., I know a new tank is expensive, but I didn't suggest that.

A tank divider can be DYI, or you can buy them at most fish stores if your tank's internal dimensions are of a standard size.

Jay