clownfish rapid breathing

[vogtn]

Hey everyone,

*video attached

I recently have acquired two ocellaris clownfish, one smaller snowstorm and one regular(?) ORA from my LFS. Both were doing quite well upon introduction except the occasional fighting, which only until recently has caused some torn fins. This doesn't seem too bad in my opinion and they actually swim together the majority of the time quite peacefully, or just swim separate parts of the tank.

Since I've had the pair it seems the snowstorm has always had this rapid breathing. I first attributed it to being new, but it hasn't been swimming around the tank as much. It has been eating normally however.
The other factor is the other clownfish (once again larger so probably the dominant one) seems to be doing quite well, and I saw some of the classic signs of both of them doing the submission twitch/dance. So I'm almost wondering if the large clownfish has bullied the smaller one into a corner?

-Stats-
temp: 78F
salinity: 1.025 (hanna + refract)
Ammonia: 0
Nitrites: 0
Nitrates: 0.1
Phos: 0

Is this just something I should expect with a new clown? Is it damage from the clowns fighting?
Opinions welcome, thanks!

 

[vogtn]

Another thought:

Could it be stress? I turned off my lights as an experiment and he's at least no longer sticking to one spot. Still heavy breathing though.

 

[Reef AquaCult]

Are they eating? Breathing looks very rapid.

 

[vogtn]

Yes they seem to have been eating normally. I feed flakes or part of frozen mysis cube once a day.

 

[Reef AquaCult]

How much water flow in the tank? How long has this been going on? Are they getting worse with time?

 

[Big G]

Could be stress or could be parasites. You could consider giving it a freshwater dip to check for flukes.

 

[vogtn]

This is a biocube 16 gallon, with the standard pump, no extra power heads.
I've kinda felt like the heavy breathing has been there since I've gotten him... which is about 3 days. I think the worrisome part is he's mostly stationary now.. .

Yeah I was thinking freshwater dip maybe, going to do a water change first.

 

[Reef AquaCult]

Agree w Big G stress vs parasites. it is worrisome if he’s not moving much. Do you have any meds? If it’s stress, if will improve regardless. If it’s parasites brook vs velvet it needs treated promptly.

 

[vogtn]

Thanks for all the help. I did a freshwater bath, and picked up api fin and body cure. I'll dose for a few days and see what happens.

The fresh water bath didn't yield any flukes or flatworms. Also doesn't seem to affect breathing.