Clownfish refusing larger food with stringy poo

[Resilient]

Hi everyone,
I have a new reef tank with 3 occupants, 2 clown fish and an algae blenny.

One of the clowns only likes to eat frozen copepods that I got from algaebarn. It will put other food in its mouth, but spits it back out. It also has some unusual looking droppings, but I understand that is sometimes normal for clowns, but sometimes not.

The other clown is a similar size and is happy to eat small flakes and pellets.

Here is a photo of the fish in question, it is very active and is often the aggressor during occasional territorial bouts between the clowns.

I assume moving it to a QT tank is probably the right move. But wasn't sure what to medicate with or how. I do have a 40x microscope if that would be useful in diagnosing the problem.

 

[vetteguy53081]

Hi everyone,
I have a new reef tank with 3 occupants, 2 clown fish and an algae blenny.

One of the clowns only likes to eat frozen copepods that I got from algaebarn. It will put other food in its mouth, but spits it back out. It also has some unusual looking droppings, but I understand that is sometimes normal for clowns, but sometimes not.

The other clown is a similar size and is happy to eat small flakes and pellets.

Here is a photo of the fish in question, it is very active and is often the aggressor during occasional territorial bouts between the clowns.

I assume moving it to a QT tank is probably the right move. But wasn't sure what to medicate with or how. I do have a 40x microscope if that would be useful in diagnosing the problem.

The feces appear to have excess mucus from the frozen pods which likely have bonders in the food. While flakes and pellets are accepted by these fish, offer more variety such a LRS fish frenzy, plankton, Marine cuisine and formula 1 flake and frozen

 

[MnFish1]

If I had a pet - and if the pet were healthy and acting normal -and I had Quarantined that animal - I would not wonder. BTW - Its probs diet

 

[southeastfishaddict]

I would treat it with general cure.

 

[vetteguy53081]

I would treat him with general cure.

Why?
This is not a disease issue

 

[Resilient]

Thanks for the advice. Ill try a couple of the other mentioned foods and see if they are more palatable to it.

 

[Jay Hemdal Verified Community Expert]

Hi everyone,
I have a new reef tank with 3 occupants, 2 clown fish and an algae blenny.

One of the clowns only likes to eat frozen copepods that I got from algaebarn. It will put other food in its mouth, but spits it back out. It also has some unusual looking droppings, but I understand that is sometimes normal for clowns, but sometimes not.

The other clown is a similar size and is happy to eat small flakes and pellets.

Here is a photo of the fish in question, it is very active and is often the aggressor during occasional territorial bouts between the clowns.

I assume moving it to a QT tank is probably the right move. But wasn't sure what to medicate with or how. I do have a 40x microscope if that would be useful in diagnosing the problem.

Welcome to Reef2Reef!

This does sound diet related. You could try some frozen brine shrimp. That’s not a good sole diet, but fish like it and it helps clear out constipation if that’s the issue.

Jay