Clownfish acting strange

[gongshow1988]

one of my clownfish is acting a little lethargic. Still eating but not as excitedly. I’ve had her for about 5 months now. 0 ammonia. 0 nitrite. 0 nitrate. 1.022 salinity. She also has some long stringy white/greenish feces. I will attach a picture. Any help would be appreciated.

 

[Katrina71]

Are you feeding a varied frozen diet?

 

[vetteguy53081]

one of my clownfish is acting a little lethargic. Still eating but not as excitedly. I’ve had her for about 5 months now. 0 ammonia. 0 nitrite. 0 nitrate. 1.022 salinity. She also has some long stringy white/greenish feces. I will attach a picture. Any help would be appreciated.

Im not seeing anything that jumps out in the way of disease, I do see tail nipping which may suggest aggression from another clown or even the puffer.
Your salinity is low and should come up to 1.024-1.025
I would also when opportunity allows it to take a water sample to a store that does NOT use Api kits and have them test your ammonia and nitrates and compare readings- then you'll know where your levels truly are at and assure you are not getting false readings. Assure also temperature has not become elevated
As for feces, there may excess mucus in the stomach from foods fed especially fatty foods such as mysis shrimp. There is no signs suggesting internal issues

 

[gongshow1988]

Are you feeding a varied frozen diet?

Yes. I have a wide variety of frozen foods I feed with. Rods, LRS, formula one, Pygmy Angel blend to name a few.

 

[gongshow1988]

Im not seeing anything that jumps out in the way of disease, I do see tail nipping which may suggest aggression from another clown or even the puffer.
Your salinity is low and should come up to 1.024-1.025
I would also when opportunity allows it to take a water sample to a store that does NOT use Api kits and have them test your ammonia and nitrates and compare readings- then you'll know where your levels truly are at and assure you are not getting false readings. Assure also temperature has not become elevated
As for feces, there may excess mucus in the stomach from foods fed especially fatty foods such as mysis shrimp. There is no signs suggesting internal issues

I keep my temperature at 78 which is monitored with a INKBIRD controller. A lot of the foods I feed do have my sis blended in. I will take a water sample to the LFS. Thank you for the reply

 

[Jay Hemdal Verified Community Expert]

one of my clownfish is acting a little lethargic. Still eating but not as excitedly. I’ve had her for about 5 months now. 0 ammonia. 0 nitrite. 0 nitrate. 1.022 salinity. She also has some long stringy white/greenish feces. I will attach a picture. Any help would be appreciated.

The stringy feces catches my eye. This can be caused by a number of factors, some benign, some serious. However, when combined with another symptom, in this case lethargy, it is concerning.
Any recent diet changes?
If not, it could be an overgrowth of bacteria or protozoans in the gut.
You could mix metronidazole in the food at 0.50%, but you would need an accurate gram scale to dose that.
Jay

 

[gongshow1988]

The stringy feces catches my eye. This can be caused by a number of factors, some benign, some serious. However, when combined with another symptom, in this case lethargy, it is concerning.
Any recent diet changes?
If not, it could be an overgrowth of bacteria or protozoans in the gut.
You could mix metronidazole in the food at 0.50%, but you would need an accurate gram scale to dose that.
Jay

No diet changes. I do feed a wide variety of fry/frozen. Maybe something just didn’t sit right with her?

 

[Jay Hemdal Verified Community Expert]

No diet changes. I do feed a wide variety of fry/frozen. Maybe something just didn’t sit right with her?

Maybe, but the lethargy isn’t a good sign. Is the fish breathing faster than normal
Jay

 

[ReeferMadnessTX]

Typically the stringy poop is going to be internal parasites. Metroplex would work for that. Anything new added in the past couple weeks? Might want to QT and monitor/ treat. Slime coat looks fine?

 

[gongshow1988]

Maybe, but the lethargy isn’t a good sign. Is the fish breathing faster than normal
Jay

I would say very slightly faster than normal.

 

[gongshow1988]

Typically the stringy poop is going to be internal parasites. Metroplex would work for that. Anything new added in the past couple weeks? Might want to QT and monitor/ treat. Slime coat looks fine?

Nope. Nothing new. I’ll be honest I’m not sure how I check the slime coat…

Typically the stringy poop is going to be internal parasites. Metroplex would work for that. Anything new added in the past couple weeks? Might want to QT and monitor/ treat. Slime coat looks f

Typically the stringy poop is going to be internal parasites. Metroplex would work for that. Anything new added in the past couple weeks? Might want to QT and monitor/ treat. Slime coat looks fine?

 

[Jay Hemdal Verified Community Expert]

I would say very slightly faster than normal.

If it worsens, it may stop eating. You can still dose metronidazole, but would need to do that in a treatment tank, in the water.
Hopefully, this was a transient issue and the fish improves today.
Jay

 

[gongshow1988]

If it worsens, it may stop eating. You can still dose metronidazole, but would need to do that in a treatment tank, in the water.
Hopefully, this was a transient issue and the fish improves today.
Jay

I hope so as well. I will monitor and if need be move the fish to a treatment tank. I appreciate the help!