new clowns "rapid breathing" isolated behavior

[flyingfish]

new clowns Saturday are acting weird. they were doing ok for the first night, but not eating. I acclimated them and they were only in the bag for about 2 hours total. Since last night they have been isolated in this corner and breathing heavy and still not eating. Other fish and corals are fine. No fish are bothering them. I traded my perfectly healthy clowns for them. I did not do a FW dip. They are tank raised. not sure how to post video of them.

 

[Humblefish]

Can you describe your acclimation process in detail?

Any white spots on their skin? Or skin peeling?

 

[flyingfish]

drip acclimation, till double the water volume and a half

 

[flyingfish]

i am seeing tiny white spots now, the fish is young. the other is mostly white

 

[njtiger aquariums]

If you have a QT tank I would pull them out and put them in there.

 

[Humblefish]

Would you describe the white spots you are seeing as salt grain sized (ich) or smaller sugar sprinkle sized (velvet)? It's also possible what you are seeing is the onset of Brooklynella.

 

[njtiger aquariums]

Would you describe the white spots you are seeing as salt grain sized (ich) or smaller sugar sprinkle sized (velvet)? It's also possible what you are seeing is the onset of Brooklynella.

I was just reading about Brooklynellosis and I don't (but not saying it's not) think it's Brooklynellosis. Brooklynellosis commonly affect wild-caught clowns and these were states to be tank raise. Also Brooklynellosis tends to have folded fins.

I'm thinking Cryptocaryon (ich) or Amyloodinium (marine velvet) but again still learning

 

[njtiger aquariums]

What other fish do you have?

 

[flyingfish]

the spots are extremely small. I have a hippo tang, a small reef chromi, and a blue chromi, as well as the mandarin I got with the clowns. not many fish for a 90, but i like to take care of the ones i have

 

[Humblefish]

I was just reading about Brooklynellosis and I don't (but not saying it's not) think it's Brooklynellosis. Brooklynellosis commonly affect wild-caught clowns and these were states to be tank raise. Also Brooklynellosis tends to have folded fins.

The thing is tank raised clowns are so common these days that they sometimes wind up at a wholesale facility before being sold to a LFS. Even worse, a LFS I advise has gotten clowns infested with brook direct from ORA. My best guess is one of their hatcheries somehow got cross contaminated due to human error.

This could very well just be ich or velvet, but sometimes brook will start out looking like just ich before progressing.

 

[njtiger aquariums]

The thing is tank raised clowns are so common these days that they sometimes wind up at a wholesale facility before being sold to a LFS. Even worse, a LFS I advise has gotten clowns infested with brook direct from ORA. My best guess is one of their hatcheries somehow got cross contaminated due to human error.

This could very well just be ich or velvet, but sometimes brook will start out looking like just ich before progressing.

Good to know that. As I stated I'm still learning so it's good to add this information to what I was reading.

 

[Humblefish]

the spots are extremely small. I have a hippo tang, a small reef chromi, and a blue chromi, as well as the mandarin I got with the clowns. not many fish for a 90, but i like to take care of the ones i have

Any possibility it could just be sand stuck to their mucous coat? If so, it should dangle off the fish. Ich or velvet will appear under the epithelium (outer skin layer).

"Extremely small" white spots could be a very bad thing, as that suggests velvet over ich. More info below and also this thread: https://www.reef2reef.com/threads/defeating-marine-velvet-disease.217570/

Velvet (Amyloodinium):

Symptoms - Because velvet can be such a fast killer, key behavioral symptoms will often prelude visible ones. A fish with velvet may breathe heavy, seek relief by swimming into the flow of a powerhead and act reclusive (velvet makes them sensitive to light).

If visible symptoms do manifest; velvet appears the same as ich, except the fish will usually be covered in “dust.” This dust may look gold colored if viewed at the right angle and under the right spectrum of light. Velvet is often misdiagnosed as ich and is the main “tank killer” in our hobby. It can wipe out all your fish in less than 72 hours and cannot usually be “managed” as ich sometimes is.

Treatment options - Chloroquine phosphate is the treatment of choice for velvet, but copper also works if symptoms are caught early on. Tank transfer and hypo does notwork with velvet. A freshwater dip or formalin bath is recommended before treatment begins, due to the severity of this disease; however these would only provide temporary relief and will not eradicate velvet.

 

[Humblefish]

For comparison purposes, below is a PT and LNB with velvet:



And below is a clownfish with brook:

 

[flyingfish]

oh boy, I did a fw dip, and will isolate in QT, I have only a bucket and a heater. SHould I use a airstone type for circulation? I am worried about a powerhead

 

[flyingfish]

I am afraid to put them together as one is worse, but since they are both showing I have to treat both I am guessing

 

[Humblefish]

oh boy, I did a fw dip, and will isolate in QT, I have only a bucket and a heater. SHould I use a airstone type for circulation? I am worried about a powerhead

Yes, an airstone is required for gas exchange.

I am afraid to put them together as one is worse, but since they are both showing I have to treat both I am guessing

Yes, both need to be treated, and it's entirely possible all your fish will need to be treated before this is all over with. Especially if this is velvet.

 

[flyingfish]

ok, they are in QT. I cannot say it is velvet yet as there are only a peppering of spots. the behavior is there though.

 

[flyingfish]

i found a tiny powerhead but will add the airstone too

 

[flyingfish]

I have on hand instant ocean lifeguard tablets, these ok to use?

 

[Humblefish]

I hate to tell you to do this without being absolutely sure this is velvet, but if you got all your fish out now, put them in QT and treated with copper there is a very good chance you could save them all. However if you wait, and this turns out to be velvet, it can be very difficult to save them once they become infested. I purposely look for fish with velvet to experiment on and even my success rate hovers right around 50%. This thread explains in detail how I go about saving fish with velvet: https://www.reef2reef.com/threads/defeating-marine-velvet-disease.217570/