Battered Clownfish

[SeaHorseQueen]

Hey, so I picked the wrong time to step into Petco. This guy was being chased and beaten up and I just couldn’t walk away. What can I do to get him back into health? He’s super pale but super active. I got him discounted to get him out of there. They said to treat him for bacterial infection but I wanted some input before I did anything. He just lost a chunk of fin in the bag. He was with 6-7 others his size. He’s about 1.25” long guesstimate.

I’ve had him ten minutes and he’s just started getting darker. I couldn’t believe it.

 

[AydenLincoln]

Put him in a QT tank and monitor him. If he’s not acting strangely and doesn’t appear sick he may not need to be medicated. He could just have been bullied and stressed and may not be sick.

 

[Crustaceon]

The lighter color was due to stress. A lot of fish do this and it makes sense the clown would darken back to normal coloration in an environment where it wasn't in fear of its life. I'd just keep it in a peaceful spot and keep it well fed. QT would be perfect.

 

[vetteguy53081]

This poor guy got mauled. Best bet is acclimation box as it will have to heal on its own. One great thing about saltwater fish is their ability to heal and heal quickly. If skiun starts to worsen, you then want to utilize quarantine and treat either with Maracyn 2 or Seachem neoplex

 

[SeaHorseQueen]

Thanks everyone.

 

[jabberwock]

Nice job on the rescue. Keep us posted please.

 

[SeaHorseQueen]

Nice job on the rescue. Keep us posted please.

I’ll try too. He’s just swimming around. Eating like a horse. Kind of swims funny to me but he’s having a little hard time with current flow from filter. Otherwise, seems fine.

 

[Sharkbait19]

FWIW, I’d still want to do a qt and treatment on a fish pulled from a petco tank. If it doesn’t show symptoms now, I’m sure it will soon.
Otherwise, I agree with the others to give it good care and it will heal up on its own. Clowns are tough.

 

[SeaHorseQueen]

FWIW, I’d still want to do a qt and treatment on a fish pulled from a petco tank. If it doesn’t show symptoms now, I’m sure it will soon.
Otherwise, I agree with the others to give it good care and it will heal up on its own. Clowns are tough.

He’ll be watched for a good while. At the moment he’s just swimming around acting like a normal clown. His color is bright so far and stays in the mid-upper column. He just doesn’t know what to make of the tank by himself yet.

 

[SeaHorseQueen]

Update! The clownfish is still doing good. I came back from a weekend trip and he’s still acting fine. No signs of illnesses as of yet. He’s being a little picky on what he’s wanting to eat though. Going to try some frozen and see how it goes. Does anyone know if it’s true that Petco sells fish from an aquaculture place or is it still wild caught?

 

[Sharkbait19]

Does anyone know if it’s true that Petco sells fish from an aquaculture place or is it still wild caught?

It depends on the fish. I know that many of their fish are aquacultured, but any of the species that would normally be wild caught are likely wild caught at Petcos as well.

 

[SeaHorseQueen]

It depends on the fish. I know that many of their fish are aquacultured, but any of the species that would normally be wild caught are likely wild caught at Petcos as well.

I can see it. There was some mixed reviews. This one is trying to host in the fake anemone. At least it stays around it and interacts with it which I heard the tank grown ones don’t usually do? Or was it the wild caught?

 

[Sharkbait19]

It’s still instinct to host. My captive clowns host a torch.
Wild clowns aren’t too common these days.

 

[SeaHorseQueen]

It’s still instinct to host. My captive clowns host a torch.
Wild clowns aren’t too common these days.

I’d like to pair him to a snowflake since my original plan was to get a pair together but obviously that’s out of the question as of now. Do you have any tips to successfully introduce another one? I read online to make sure it’s smaller than the one already in the tank.

 

[Sharkbait19]

Definitely keep it much smaller. Same breed has the most success, but other pairings can work.
I’d keep the current clown separated for a few days to give the new one a chance to settle in.

 

[SeaHorseQueen]

New update! I haven’t named it but he’s actually about 1.5” long. I underestimated him and measured a picture of him by my hand. I have to shut off my filter so it’ll eat or bust. No signs of illness whatsoever. Still has to heal and grow out the fin damages from the other fish from store. So far so good.