Clown help.

[Baffels]

Hey folks, looking for some help. I've had these two clowns for almost two years, bought them as a pair with zero issues. Last couple days, the female has been chasing the male pretty aggressively. Thought they were just doing clown things. Today, he was breathing heavy and I noticed what appears to be bits all over his fins. Is this a correct diagnosis? Anything I can/should do?

 

[vetteguy53081]

Hey folks, looking for some help. I've had these two clowns for almost two years, bought them as a pair with zero issues. Last couple days, the female has been chasing the male pretty aggressively. Thought they were just doing clown things. Today, he was breathing heavy and I noticed what appears to be bits all over his fins. Is this a correct diagnosis? Anything I can/should do?

I see shredded fins suggesting heavy aggression
Anything else hard to tell with a white fish out of water

 

[MnFish1]

It looks like the female and male were 'scrapping'. Otherwise out of water cannot tell anything

 

[Baffels]

Here's in water pics.

 

[Baffels]

It looks like the female and male were 'scrapping'. Otherwise out of water cannot tell anything

I see shredded fins suggesting heavy aggression
Anything else hard to tell with a white fish out of water

In water pics posted. Thank you for the prompt responses.

 

[Jay Hemdal Verified Community Expert]

In water pics posted. Thank you for the prompt responses.

Yes, sorry but it got beat up pretty severely. Clownfish pairs do sometimes breakdown, and when that happens, you need to separate them right away.

It may not survive with that much damage. Two things happen - first, with all that skin and fin damage, the fish has difficulty maintaining a proper osmotic balance with the water. Lowering the specific gravity to 1.020 can help with that. Then, if the fish survives that, secondary bacterial infections can happen. You would need to dose it in a treatment tank with a broad specitum, gram negative antibiotic.

Jay

 

[Dom]

Here's in water pics.

OMG! That poor fish!!
(sorry, I know that comment wasn't much help.)

 

[Dom]

Two things happen - first, with all that skin and fin damage, the fish has difficulty maintaining a proper osmotic balance with the water. Lowering the specific gravity to 1.020 can help with that.

Interesting. So how does this play a role in osmotic balance? Is it related to reduced surface area on the fish due to all the damage?

 

[Jay Hemdal Verified Community Expert]

Interesting. So how does this play a role in osmotic balance? Is it related to reduced surface area on the fish due to all the damage?

A fish's blood has a specific gravity of about 1.017. Lowering the tank's SG to nearer that point allows the fish to strike a better balance with the water even if its skin is damaged. It is not a perfect remedy, because it isn't just the total SG that needs to be balanced, but also the ratio of one salt over another....so with severe skin damage, the fish just cannot keep a proper balance and they die anyway.

Jay

 

[SDReefer77]

Poor guy, I have a pair that recently broke down. They were perfectly normal...until one day they weren't. The male was always passive/defensive but the female just started coming at him more aggressively than what I felt like was normal "courtship" one day. I let it go for about a week then separated them because I got tired of them bashing into my corals. He was also starting to take rests and I was seeing some tearing in his fins.

Separated them 3 times. The last re-introduction went smooth, in their new 10 gal home. She would still dart at him a lot of the time or somewhat dominate him but I never felt like he was threated. he wasn't hiding or taking breaks, she wasn't tearing him up, and they were displaying to each other a lot more. I ended up naming them Kermit & Ms. Piggy.

Anyway, found him on the floor last week. My fault for not using the back-strip for the canopy to leave small gaps for a little more air exchange. Hopefully your guy makes it through the beating, I would be wary on trying to re-pair them though.

 

[Dom]

A fish's blood has a specific gravity of about 1.017. Lowering the tank's SG to nearer that point allows the fish to strike a better balance with the water even if its skin is damaged. It is not a perfect remedy, because it isn't just the total SG that needs to be balanced, but also the ratio of one salt over another....so with severe skin damage, the fish just cannot keep a proper balance and they die anyway.

Jay

And I would think that dropping the specific gravity would have to be done in QT if the fish is in a reef tank as corals don't take kindly to hypo salinity.

 

[kevgib67]

I had this exact thing happen with my clown pair that had been together for over a year and a half. Unfortunately it started while I was away on vacation and the little male didn’t last 48 hours after I returned.