Clownfish start laying on sand

[Rey "deep sea" Manta]

I have a pair of clownfish in the tank for a little bit longer than a week. They ate a lot and were pretty active.

But this morning, I found the smaller one laying on the sand bed. If I am close, it swims up. It is still eating. But I am worried whether this is just the beginning of the sickness.
Here is the video of it:


The tank is up for 2 weeks, and the bio-media has been cycled in a bucket for a month. I also added turbostart 900 to boost the tank cycle.

DT size: 30G
Sump size: 18G
Ammonia - Seachem alert safe.
Nitrate - 1~2ppm
Temperature 77~78
Salinity 1.025
Other livestock: a cleaner shrimp

I also added a cleaner shrimp the day before yesterday. I didn't pour the water with the shrimp into the tank, but I am not sure whether it still carry anything bad.

Is this a sign of any disease? Should I start quarantine or treat it? Please advice, thanks in advance!

 

[fishguy242]

#fishmedic

 

[vetteguy53081]

Video shows a little much flow (drop slightly)
Is fish swimming normal or struggling to stay up?
Any signs or notice of aggression from other clown?
What is age of tank?
What test kits are you using ?
What is ammonia-ph-nitrate?

 

[Rey "deep sea" Manta]

Video shows a little much flow (drop slightly)
Is fish swimming normal or struggling to stay up?
Any signs or notice of aggression from other clown?
What is age of tank?
What test kits are you using ?
What is ammonia-ph-nitrate?

This corner is the strong flow corner. They were fine with this flow, before the clownfish has this behavior. I will try to drop it slightly.

It seems swimming normal, but it spends a lot of time on the sand bed, which is not normal compared to his past week behavior.

The other clownfish is slightly bigger, so I guess it is just showing its dominance.

I listed the age of the tank and the parameters in #1 post, let me add the test kits brand:
Ammonia - < 0.02ppm (Seachem alert shows safe)
Nitrate - Nyos Nitrate Reefer Test 1~2ppm
Temperature 77~78 (Inkbird, and Etekcity Infrared Thermometer)
Salinity 1.025 (Marine Salinity Tester, just calibrated)
I don't have Nitrite tester. I will get one if you think this may be the culprit to this odd behavior.

Thanks!

 

[Jay Hemdal]

This corner is the strong flow corner. They were fine with this flow, before the clownfish has this behavior. I will try to drop it slightly.

It seems swimming normal, but it spends a lot of time on the sand bed, which is not normal compared to his past week behavior.

The other clownfish is slightly bigger, so I guess it is just showing its dominance.

I listed the age of the tank and the parameters in #1 post, let me add the test kits brand:
Ammonia - < 0.02ppm (Seachem alert shows safe)
Nitrate - Nyos Nitrate Reefer Test 1~2ppm
Temperature 77~78 (Inkbird, and Etekcity Infrared Thermometer)
Salinity 1.025 (Marine Salinity Tester, just calibrated)
I don't have Nitrite tester. I will get one if you think this may be the culprit to this odd behavior.

Thanks!

Is the clown still feeding?

Edit: I see that you said it is still feeding.

Can you possibly move it into a breeder basket?


Jay

 

[MnFish1]

It sounds like the clown is eating, the parameters are not 'toxic.

IMHO - it could be an early disease. Did you QT the fish? Did you get it from an overnight shipper or an LFS?

You said the tank is 2 weeks old right?

It could just be the fish getting used to the new tank - BUT - something looks wrong. No clue whether it will just 'get better' or 'get worse'. You might want a hospital tank available.

I don't THINK 'flow' is the problem. In the ocean the flow is 10x this at times. BUT - you may want to consider turning off your power head - and seeing whether things resolve. Sometimes swimming into flow is a symptom of something affecting the gills (parasites, etc)

Welcome to the forum BTW

 

[Rey "deep sea" Manta]

It sounds like the clown is eating, the parameters are not 'toxic.

I just threw few pellets, and both clownfish chase the pellet like jets.

IMHO - it could be an early disease. Did you QT the fish? Did you get it from an overnight shipper or an LFS?

That's exactly I am worried about. I hope it is early, and I still have a chance to treat it. But it looks like I need to wait for more symptom before I can recognize what it got.

I didn't QT the fish. Since they are my first livestock, I was thinking I can just empty the DT for 2months if anything bad happens. I got them from an LFS, they looked perfect in the store and in the first week till this morning.

You said the tank is 2 weeks old right?

It could just be the fish getting used to the new tank - BUT - something looks wrong. No clue whether it will just 'get better' or 'get worse'. You might want a hospital tank available.

I don't THINK 'flow' is the problem. In the ocean the flow is 10x this at times. BUT - you may want to consider turning off your power head - and seeing whether things resolve. Sometimes swimming into flow is a symptom of something affecting the gills (parasites, etc)

Welcome to the forum BTW

Thanks!

I also did a 30% water change, not sure whether it can help anything.

 

[MnFish1]

I just threw few pellets, and both clownfish chase the pellet like jets.

That's exactly I am worried about. I hope it is early, and I still have a chance to treat it. But it looks like I need to wait for more symptom before I can recognize what it got.

I didn't QT the fish. Since they are my first livestock, I was thinking I can just empty the DT for 2months if anything bad happens. I got them from an LFS, they looked perfect in the store and in the first week till this morning.


Thanks!

I also did a 30% water change, not sure whether it can help anything.

If your parameters are normal - I would not necessarily do water changes. Maybe try turning off the power heads (or re-positioning) them for a couple hours - if the fish goes and swims in front of it - it could very likely be a symptom of a problem

 

[Rey "deep sea" Manta]

Just an update.

The clownfish still lays on the sand bed when nobody is around. But other than that, it swims normal, eats normal, and fights normal.

I don't see any of these symptoms:
- erosion at the edges,
- white spots or gold spots or pitting on its face,
- stringy poop that won't fall off for a long time,
- body looks like it's covered with mucus

One interesting thing is, that clownfish always lays on the same spot, on the same pose. I am hoping the clownfish is just being a lazy clownfish taking a lot of naps.

Will keep you posted.

 

[Unitylover]

i think its clowns being clowns

 

[Rey "deep sea" Manta]

This clownfish went to the other side of the tank this morning...

In the past 2 month since I updated last time, it laid on the sand bed pretty often, but it swam and ate normal. It even grew a little bit. I once thought it is just normal clownfish behavior. But unfortunately, it is not.
I still don't know what causes the death, and I don't see any sign of injured or parasites.

Thinking back, it was pairing with the other clownfish. The other clownfish (the larger and dominant one) suddenly stopped hanging out nor sleeping with it, and bullied it all the time. I guess this is the sign that its partner knows it is sick, and its partner no longer want to pair with a weak partner. This poor little clown just ran and hided from the dominant ex-partner for 2 months. I was naively thinking this is part of the mating process.

All other fishes are doing alright.