clownfish suddenly stopped eating

kevsqn · Mar 6, 2018

ive had him since november last year. hes together with an achilles tang in a 20 gallon tank. the big tank is almost finished cycling.
the tang has been eating healthily. no signs of disease since they have gone through coppersafe 30 days and prazipro before. but just last week the clown suddenly stopped eating. he would normally devour the pellets in seconds. ive tried pellets and flakes and hes still not eating.

hes still swimming around and shows interest whenever i dropped the pellets. but hes not even eating it. he would just swim like hes going to eat it and then not.

doesnt have white stringy poo. hes at his usual place at the PVC staying there just like before.
ive checked ammonia,nitrite. they are zero. and nitrate is around 20-30.

should i do metroplex and kanaplex. even though im not seeing any signs?

thanks! @Humblefish @4FordFamily @melypr1985 @Maritimer

kevsqn · Mar 6, 2018

Update
I just saw stringy poo
I just dosed metroplex and planning to do it for at least 10 days.
Should i medicate any other?

Logan A. · Mar 6, 2018

Just a humble opinion QUARANTINE that fish!

4FordFamily · Mar 6, 2018

kevsqn said:
Update
I just saw stringy poo
I just dosed metroplex and planning to do it for at least 10 days.
Should i medicate any other?

Was it white stringy poop? If not, it’s probably fine. It’s tough to tell why fish stop eating sometimes, but if it’s white stringy poop, since it isn’t eating you’ll need to treat the QT with metro. Make sure your powerhead is aimed up and/or you have a bubbler as metroplex reduces oxygen in the water. Dose metro every 2 days with a 25% water change with each dose.

If the fish was eating, you’d soak it in foods with focus and metro together to bind the meds to the food.

miyags · Mar 6, 2018

Clownfish and tang in QT for 4 months,my first thought is ammonia. I'm not sure but after 4 months, how would it pick up an internal parasites?

Big G · Mar 6, 2018

Has anything new that's "wet" been added to the tank in the last 30 days or so?

Humblefish · Mar 6, 2018

4FordFamily said:
Was it white stringy poop?

^^ Need to know this

kevsqn · Mar 7, 2018

4FordFamily said:
Was it white stringy poop? If not, it’s probably fine. It’s tough to tell why fish stop eating sometimes, but if it’s white stringy poop, since it isn’t eating you’ll need to treat the QT with metro. Make sure your powerhead is aimed up and/or you have a bubbler as metroplex reduces oxygen in the water. Dose metro every 2 days with a 25% water change with each dose.

If the fish was eating, you’d soak it in foods with focus and metro together to bind the meds to the food.

im not sure if its white. but definitely stringy . he was inside the pvc so was not able to clearly see. and i needed to rush somewhere else so didnt wait for him to go out of the pvc. but i still dosed metroplex nonetheless.

kevsqn · Mar 7, 2018

miyags said:
Clownfish and tang in QT for 4 months,my first thought is ammonia. I'm not sure but after 4 months, how would it pick up an internal parasites?

tested ammonia and its 0. not sure either how it got the stringy poo.

kevsqn · Mar 7, 2018

Big G said:
Has anything new that's "wet" been added to the tank in the last 30 days or so?

nope i didnt add anything to it.

kevsqn · Mar 7, 2018

Humblefish said:
^^ Need to know this

its definitely stringy poo. but not sure if its white because he was resting in his usual place in the pvc. gonna check again tomorrow. but i still did my first dose of metroplex nonetheless.

Maritimer · Mar 7, 2018

Are you only feeding flakes and pellets?

You might consider trying some frozen food - mysis, LRS, something more natural. It might just be what's needed to break through his reluctance.

~Bruce

Big G · Mar 7, 2018

Maritimer said:
You might consider trying some frozen food - mysis, LRS, something more natural. It might just be what's needed to break through his reluctance.

+1 on Maritimer's suggestion.
Make your fish a "smoothie". Get an assortment of frozen cubes. Take one of each flavor, and place into your refrigerator in a tupperware of some sort. Let them thaw. Pour off the watery liquid. Blend together. Consider adding a few drops of Selcon (vitamins). Mix together. It will last for a few days in your fridge. Feed the fish small amounts.

FYI. You can use this same "smoothie" mixed with Metro + Focus to feed sick fish directly which works great on stubborn intestinal parasites. Hope this helps.

kevsqn · Mar 14, 2018

update.
clown still isnt eating but still swimming quite actively. there is also white stringy poo.
tried mixing metro with the food. but since hes not eating. its useless.
is there othery way to treat white stringy poo other than mixing metro with the food?

hes breathing heavy also. not showing signs of ich , or brook.
if there is ich or velvet. the achilles tang definitely would have contracted it by now. but tang is as black as it can get.

im really at lost here. should i try prazi?
but they have been through prazi before.

Humblefish · Mar 14, 2018

kevsqn said:
im really at lost here. should i try prazi?
but they have been through prazi before.

Have you FW dipped him? To check for flukes? There are prazi resistant strains.

https://www.reef2reef.com/threads/freshwater-dip.248898/

kevsqn · Mar 14, 2018

Humblefish said:
Have you FW dipped him? To check for flukes? There are prazi resistant strains.

https://www.reef2reef.com/threads/freshwater-dip.248898/

i havent tried fw-dipping him. but from november till about 2 weeks ago he was just fine. suddenly he jsut became like this. ive added nothing. another qt tank is at least 15 feet away. and im sure i havent cross-contaminated anything because each qt has their own equipments.

nonetheless, im trying fw dip tomorrow. if nothing comes out. should i try api general cure?

ngoodermuth · Mar 14, 2018

If he’s in a QT tank and you aren’t able to get him to eat and he has white-stringy poop, then yes I would dose the water. General cure or metroplex would be fine. And continue to try to feed there metro-laced food. If he can get enough relief from the medicine in the water to start eating, that will be his best chance. But, he really does need to eat it to recover...otherwise it might be too far gone.

Big G · Mar 14, 2018

kevsqn said:
i havent tried fw-dipping him. but from november till about 2 weeks ago he was just fine. suddenly he jsut became like this. ive added nothing. another qt tank is at least 15 feet away. and im sure i havent cross-contaminated anything because each qt has their own equipments.

nonetheless, im trying fw dip tomorrow. if nothing comes out. should i try api general cure?

Big fan of GC. Use a brine shrimp net to disperse the powder. Pour the powder into the net. Lower the net halfway into the water. Massage the net which will express the GC into the water column. Some will remain in the net. Dump remains from the net into the tank. Make sure to add a good oxygen supply into the tank. Air stones or foam bubbler will work. 1 packet treats 10.5 gallons of tank water.