clown fish help asap

hiviswutipee · May 31, 2012

hey hows everyone doing today?
im new to r2r. my tank has been running perfect for the past 6months. I just had everything tested on my tank yesturday and this morning lights came on an everythings stressed out. my problem and question is. why are my clownfish fins are see through?plus ones on the sand bed, and the other is swimming 2 inches above sand bed. please help. i also have a RBTA thats doing great. but seems as if shes splitting. ? thank you for your time.

Reef Breeders · May 31, 2012

Pics?

hiviswutipee · May 31, 2012

hiviswutipee · May 31, 2012

and forgot to mention just about half of my zoanthids are closed.

jonbar1 · May 31, 2012

How'd the tests turn out? Have you added ANYTHING other than top off water to the tank recently?

hiviswutipee · May 31, 2012

oh and this is a 30 gallon. with 4bulb t-5's .just a couple chemicals. kents- microvert and something called fuel for corals. i used the right amount and everything. plus i added a pound of floridas crushed coral. do you think i should do another water change. just did one 5 days ago when i set up my biocube.

hiviswutipee · May 31, 2012

BarbH · May 31, 2012

Hello and welcome to r2r. Did you test your water at home or have the lfs test? What numbers did you get on the tests?

hiviswutipee · May 31, 2012

lfs. alls the guy told me was ammonia wasnt even .02 didnt give me the numbers. just said everthing was perfect. my female clown which has the most color missing off the fins is swimming just a little bit more. and will even go and check on the RBTA.

hiviswutipee · May 31, 2012

laskopyre · May 31, 2012

Did you rinse the crushed coral before you added it? Also, go out and get some test kits. Even API is good. Just get the kit that has PH, Ammonia, Nitrate, Nitrite. I believe it is there saltwater test kit. It's the most inexpensive one out there. It's better then nothing. Having any ammonia or nitrite could be a reason. Are they struggling to breath? If your PH is low, that could be an issue as well.

BarbH · May 31, 2012

A few things that come to mind of possible things to check, what is your temp at? Have you checked your heater to make sure that everything is okay?

Loki · May 31, 2012

Do you have any test kits? I would rub the tests myself to know the numbers.

How long has this been going on? Did you first notice it with the nem splitting?

I see the translucency in the fin you are talking about, but I don't know anything to be able to help with that.

What equipment do you have?

How often are water changes done?

I would mix up 20 gallons (if you can) and do a 5-10 gallon water change per day to see if that helps. Also it would be very important to make sure the salinity is the same when changing that much percentage of water. The water changes won't do anything bad, but it could get rid of whatever is in the tank causing this.

Loki · May 31, 2012

BarbH said:
A few things that come to mind of possible things to check, what is your temp at? Have you checked your heater to make sure that everything is okay?

+1 I would use a kitchen thermometer to get a second (or even third) reading device to know what the temp truly is.

jonbar1 · May 31, 2012

I'd do another waterchange. With the fish and corals acting stressed, there's something in the water that's bothering them. A waterchange should help dilute whatever that is.

I'd look into getting your own ammonia and nitrate test kits at the least. They're pretty cheap and easy to use, also very important things to know when a tank is less than a year old. How are you measuring salinity?

Trex · May 31, 2012

How long have you had the clowns?
Did you QT them?
Add any other fish recently?
Are they breathing rapibly?

hiviswutipee · May 31, 2012

ok. i just got back from the lfs they tested it again . everything came back perfect. so i also bought a test. well one of the guys from the lfs told me that my clowns might have clown fish desease? so i bought a dip he told me to use. its called ich-x one gallon bucket of saltwater. an a teaspoon of dip for ten minutes. female seeems fine male hits the sand bed. temp is like 78-79. i do 6 gallons for the water change. there seems to be alot of what looks like dust on the glass from the crushed coral. im about to do a 7 galllon water change in a bit. but if it was the water wouldnt it have effected my RBTA? thanks so much for the help. and forgot they are breathing rapidly

Trex · May 31, 2012

"ich-x" won't do anything for "brook", which it seems like they have.

wysiwyg · May 31, 2012

if you didnt rinse your crushed coral the fine particles might be irritating there gills. what are you running for a protein skimmer what are you running as far as wavemakers/powerheads.