Clownfish Rapid Breathing + Not Eating

[ATon98]

Was looking for some help assessing my clown…. have only been in the hobby for a year and am still learning so apologies if I’m getting worried over nothing.

One of my two clowns is opening and closing its mouth rapidly, and did not eat this evening. All other inhabitants seem to be behaving normally. I’ve included parameters below (note the high nitrates, which recently spiked after introducing more nutrients to combat Cyano, and which I am currently working to normalize). Happy to provide additional context if needed.

Parameters:

Ammonia - 0
Nitrites - 0
Nitrates - 50
pH - 8.2
Using Red Sea

 

[Jay Hemdal]

Was looking for some help assessing my clown…. have only been in the hobby for a year and am still learning so apologies if I’m getting worried over nothing.

One of my two clowns is opening and closing its mouth rapidly, and did not eat this evening. All other inhabitants seem to be behaving normally. I’ve included parameters below (note the high nitrates, which recently spiked after introducing more nutrients to combat Cyano, and which I am currently working to normalize). Happy to provide additional context if needed.

Parameters:

Ammonia - 0
Nitrites - 0
Nitrates - 50
pH - 8.2
Using Red Sea

Both clowns look good in the video aside from the rapid breathing. You’ve had these for awhile? Does the tank have good aeration? I can see lots of circulation, but do you have bubbles breaking the surface? A protein skimmer would suffice, or an air stone.

 

[ATon98]

Both clowns look good in the video aside from the rapid breathing. You’ve had these for awhile? Does the tank have good aeration? I can see lots of circulation, but do you have bubbles breaking the surface? A protein skimmer would suffice, or an air stone.

Have a wave-maker close to the surface and pump return intentionally pointed towards the surface. That said, noticed the protein skimmer was running dry today as I was panicking over this so cleaned it out and increased the skim so that it was collecting into the cup. For additional context, no new additions in the past 1+ month if helpful.

 

[ATon98]

And I’ve had both for a year come 1/27.

 

[Jay Hemdal]

And I’ve had both for a year come 1/27.

I just wanted to rule out the low hanging fruit.

The trouble is; you have two clowns, but only one showing symptoms. That implies this isn’t contagious….bit it doesn’t tell us what is going on here.

 

[ATon98]

I just wanted to rule out the low hanging fruit.

The trouble is; you have two clowns, but only one showing symptoms. That implies this isn’t contagious….bit it doesn’t tell us what is going on here.

totally - I’m wondering if it’s something stress related as he’s really locked into a specific part of the live rock that he’s never shown interest in before.

W/r/t your implication of it not being contagious, in most other cases do tank mates start flaring up around the same time?

 

[ATon98]

Edited “livestock” to “live rock”

 

[ATon98]

Edited “livestock” to “live rock”

As an update, he does appear to have about a cm long string of white poop hanging under him. I’m trying to get a picture but he’s currently hidden under a rock. Shorter in length but otherwise similar to this post….

Clownfish has white stringy poop

Hi all, I recently started up a new tank and once it finished cycling I went and got a pair of clownfish to add. They both seem very healthy and act normally, however recently one has started having long and stringy white poop. The first time I saw it the poop actually was not white and was...

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