Flukes?

[atlantean]

I have some younger tank-raised clownfish in my tank. They're the only fish currently in my tank. They've been hanging out at the surface and have sometimes been flashing against the corner of the tank. Last night, it looked like they were gulping air so I pointed the return to the surface to increase oxygen levels. Been dosing vibrant and turning off my powerhead at night because of a new anemone, so low oxygen levels seemed plausible. They still have an appetite and spend a lot of time hunting copepods in the top corners of the tank.

Do you think this is early signs of flukes or are they just being weird and hosting the top corner?

 

[Jay Hemdal Verified Community Expert]

I keep hearing vague references to using Vibrant and tanks with oxygen issues.

The ingredients listed are really odd:

95% Cultured Bacteria Blend.
1% Amino Acids (Aspartic Acid)
0.5% Vinegar.
3.5% RO/DI Water

The 95% bacteria MUST be mostly water, else the product would pour like molasses.

I think the issue is the Aspartic acid and the vinegar - both of these are broken down by heterotrophic bacteria and that sucks oxygen out of the water.

I understand the need to keep the anemone from the powerhead, and thus turning it off at night, but I would drop an air stone in the tank 24/7 and see if that helps. Does the tank have a good protein skimmer on it?

The clowns could have flukes of course. You need to avoid dosing Vibrant and Prazipro at the same time though - prazipro also contains an organic that bacteria use as food, taking up even more oxygen.

Jay

 

[atlantean]

No skimmer. Also my ATO overfilled after I fixed some low flow through my media basket so there also wasn't any aeration from an overflow trickle. I had done my second dose of vibrant for the week the day before (recommendations on here for bryopsis were 2x per week). They are not gulping today so I think there indeed was low oxygen levels.

Doesn't mean they don't have flukes, but going to hold off on jumping to conclusions for now. I'm curious how much O2/CO2 issues explain these mysterious occasional die-offs from vibrant.