Fish real skinny

Chrisreefer · Mar 8, 2013

New to this forum. So sorry if posted wrong area.

Notices my male clown becoming skinny for The last two weeks, thought it was because the female Clown was picking at him so separated her"holding tank" last friday. The male still eats like a pig but doesn't look any fatter? Could be a parasite? But female as well as the rest of fish look perfect. Confused....

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ritter6788 · Mar 8, 2013

Welcome to R2R! Sorry I'm not much help with your problem but I'm sure someone will chime in soon with some good advice.

Otter_rs · Mar 8, 2013

Watch to see what it's poop looks like. If it is whitish and stringy, it is most likely an internal parasite.

Brent \><{{{{*>
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Chrisreefer · Mar 9, 2013

Thanks and ok I will watch for it. If so whats the best parasitic meds?

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Chrisreefer · Mar 9, 2013

And ritter thanks for the acceptance

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chort55 · Mar 9, 2013

Welcome..... If everything checks out health wise you may want to consider simply feeding more if your filtration/ system can handle it. I have always had aggressive eaters that would dart infront of other fish but kept everyone fat and healthy by doing 2 or 3 feedings through the day. They don't have to be huge amounts of food, but if you have a dominate fish the odds improve with more food going into the system that everyone will eat. Goodluck!

Chrisreefer · Mar 9, 2013

Ok sounds good, I did notice before he was getting skinny he would get the blood worms and bring them to my torches or frogspawns. Also the female started bullying him a lot. Swim across tank just to beat him up. Could feeding be an issue if the rest of fish our fat except the male? Possible jigh metabolism?

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chort55 · Mar 9, 2013

Is the female chasing after other fish and bullying them? If she is letting the others eat, but bullying the other clown (are you sure its actually a male?) and not letting it eat much then I would say yeah feeding could definitely be the issue.

Chrisreefer · Mar 9, 2013

Well bought them from lfs as apair. Was told one was a male and one was a female. Female is twice the size of the male. So assume is each. Also jist chases after the other clowm leaves the rest alone. They had been best lover or friends hosting in an anemone. But the anemone wasn't happy not sure reason and died. So got a new anemone today

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mike007 · Mar 9, 2013

Them females are always causing us problems.

Chrisreefer · Mar 9, 2013

Yes! Lol

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joejoe1055 · Mar 10, 2013

if it is flukes or something else internal u can use prazipro on them, its one of the few meds that can be used in reef tanks

fragmatic · Mar 10, 2013

chort55 said:
Is the female chasing after other fish and bullying them? If she is letting the others eat, but bullying the other clown (are you sure its actually a male?) and not letting it eat much then I would say yeah feeding could definitely be the issue.

Clowns are A sexual. The smaller becomes the male and the larger becomes the female. LOL... thank you for the good nature giggle...

it happens a lot about clowns.

Chrisreefer · Mar 10, 2013

Joejoe do i have to put him in sick tank to treat? Or can I just treat in main display? Cause if he does have a parasite cant the others catch it as well?

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ShannPeach · Mar 11, 2013

Chrisreefer said:
Joejoe do i have to put him in sick tank to treat? Or can I just treat in main display? Cause if he does have a parasite cant the others catch it as well?

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You can mix the prazipro into the food if you would rather; I've done that in the past. But then you have to make sure your target fish is eating. If he is really that thin I would consider moving him to another tank to treat with prazipro and to fatten him up before re-introducing him to the female. This will give him the best chance. The others could catch it, but if he is stressed (and possibly starved) then he would be the most susceptible. Stressed fish tend to get sick more than fat and healthy fish...

Good luck!

Chrisreefer · Mar 11, 2013

Ok thank you!

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ShannPeach · Mar 11, 2013

You could also just put him in a mesh breeder basket in your tank for awhile to fatten him up and give him some protection from the female's harrassment. This would allow them to remain in sight of one another and could help lessen aggression once he is fat and ready to be released.