clownfish in resperatory distress?

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Decz

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Aug 15, 2002
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BC, Canada
I've had my 2 clownfish since February, and both have been doing very well until recently. They have grown significantly, and I can now tell which is the female and male.

It is very normal for me to see my clownfish sleeping or laying on the bottom of the tank. But normally this only lasts for short periods, and the majority of their time is spent swimming.

My problem is with the female. For a week now, she hasn't really moved from the bottom of the tank. She comes up to eat everytime I feed them (every 2 days), and if I come up to the side of the tank, she will get up and move to another spot. But that is the extent of her movement. She just lays there all day and all night. The only thing that looks different is that her gills are moving more rapidly than the males. Resperatory distress?

There seems to be no problems with the male, he is moving around fine, and doesn't lay there all day, but he does hover near the female while she lays on the bottom.

I've checked my water levels (my initial thought was ammonia), but everything checks out (my test kits were bought in December). I have also done two 4-gallon water changes in the last 5 days.

It's a 20 gallon tank, with 18 pounds of live rock, 1.5 inches of substrate, a heater, powerhead and a HOB filter used only for water movement. I only use bottled water (tap water has never entered my tank). I do 4-gallon water changes every two weeks, and top up the water once a week (2 inches of water is lost to evaporation every week).

ph 8.6 or 8.7
ammonia 0
nitrite 0
nitrate 5 mg/litre

Everything else in the tank is fine...There is one brittle star, 12 snails and 8 hermit crabs.

I used to have more snails and hermit crabs, but I had 2 mantis shrimp that had killed many of them off, and since I removed the mantis shrimp, I haven't replaced the snails/crabs.

Any idea's what is wrong with my female clownfish?

Thanks!

_Decz.
 

skiflyer

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May 27, 2004
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I had very similar problems with one of my clownfish. It showed this behavior for about 3 weeks and then died. I could never link the death, or behavior to anything. The water param. were fine, water was clear...and all the other fish were fine too.
You say that your ph is at 8.6-8.7, which may be little high. I know that a too high or too low ph can cause stress in fish....but i read that problems or stress are more likley to come with a low ph. sorry i could be of no more help.
 

reefpicker

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Mar 16, 2003
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She comes up to eat everytime I feed them (every 2 days)
Why do you feed them every two days?

In the wild animals eat continously. They can survive prolonged periods without food, but only to a certain extent.

Your clownfish could have a bacterial infection or she could have fatty liver due to lack of food.

Is she skinnier than the male?

It is very probable that she is going to die. Change your feeding schedule. Feed daily....

Where did you get that idea anyway?

HTH

BTW Unless they are really young, adult clownfish that do not have a hosting anemone do not "sleep" or lay on their sides. This is only normal at night, before "lights-out". I think they are weak, probably because of your feeding schedule.
 

Decz

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Aug 15, 2002
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BC, Canada
Thanks for all the help...

I read here in AC, that feeding them every other day was fine, sometimes even every 3 days.... If I can find that thread, I will link it here. For now, I will start feeding them daily.

Other than laying on her side, and the rapid gill movements, she looks totally normal. She is bigger than the male, and doesn't look slim.... doesn't look bloated.. no swelling.. .no tears in the fins - nothing!

Thanks,

_Decz.
 

reefpicker

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Mar 16, 2003
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Hi,

I do not know who said that feeding fish every other day for the rest of their life is ok. These fish are planktivores. I believe they eat ALL the time!!! Planktivores and algae browser/grazers usually eat continously all day. The only exeptions may be the piscivores, and I am not a 100% sure.

We may usually overfed our fish, but in this case I suspect you may be underfeeding.

In any case, females are the first to go if underfed, since they may be trying to split their energy budget between eggs and themeselves, but who knows? I am just guessing a little... I do know that females are the first to die in a pair, both dissease-wise and age-wise....


HTH
 
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