PJ Cardinal stopped eating

[Krad]

Hi R2R,

1 out of 3 of my PJ cardinals stopped eating for the past 2 days and it seems like he's having issues with his mouth? I got all 3 of them 3 weeks ago, the other 2 are eating fine as well as the rest of the tank inhabitance. Below is a video, seems the mouth is sealed tight compared to the other 2 and does some sort of a cough?:


My concern is one of my clownfish died yesterday as well. It stopped eating for about 3 days and I noticed yesterday it was struggling to swim and breathing very fast.

I know these signs are pretty bad so as a last ditch effort I did a 3 minute FW dip, did not see anything in the container after the dip, however unfortunately the clown died shorty afterwards.

Tank was stood up a month ago with rocks I've cycled in a brute for over a year:

temp 77
salinity 1.024
alk 8.5
nitrate 4-5ppm
po4 0.1
ammonia/nitrite 0

Other tank mates that are eating great and no symptoms/issues

clown
scissortail dartfish
orange shoulder tang
purple firefish

Inverts and 1 candy cane coral seem unaffected.

Thanks!

 

[vetteguy53081]

Hi R2R,

1 out of 3 of my PJ cardinals stopped eating for the past 2 days and it seems like he's having issues with his mouth? I got all 3 of them 3 weeks ago, the other 2 are eating fine as well as the rest of the tank inhabitance. Below is a video, seems the mouth is sealed tight compared to the other 2 and does some sort of a cough?:


My concern is one of my clownfish died yesterday as well. It stopped eating for about 3 days and I noticed yesterday it was struggling to swim and breathing very fast.

I know these signs are pretty bad so as a last ditch effort I did a 3 minute FW dip, did not see anything in the container after the dip, however unfortunately the clown died shorty afterwards.

Tank was stood up a month ago with rocks I've cycled in a brute for over a year:

temp 77
salinity 1.024
alk 8.5
nitrate 4-5ppm
po4 0.1
ammonia/nitrite 0

Other tank mates that are eating great and no symptoms/issues

clown
scissortail dartfish
orange shoulder tang
purple firefish

Inverts and 1 candy cane coral seem unaffected.

Thanks!

I could be wrong but this fish appears to be carrying eggs in its mouth. I also see what I believe are dots around face (lighting is somewhat dark) which could be parasitical. Please post longer video under brighter white lighting.

 

[Krad]

I could be wrong but this fish appears to be carrying eggs in its mouth. I also see what I believe are dots around face (lighting is somewhat dark) which could be parasitical. Please post longer video under brighter white lighting.

I'm trying but now it's being stubborn...turned the tank white and everyone hid
Would that make the fish more aggressive? Lately I noticed the bigger one chasing the smaller ones away.

Ill try to get a better video with a filter.

Another thing I see now is that it's chin is bulger then the other two. Funny things you start seeing when you really look.

 

[vetteguy53081]

I'm trying but now it's being stubborn...turned the tank white and everyone hid
Would that make the fish more aggressive? Lately I noticed the bigger one chasing the smaller ones away.

Ill try to get a better video with a filter.

Another thing I see now is that it's chin is bulger then the other two. Funny things you start seeing when you really look.

Bulgy may again be due to eggs- if eggs. White often startles fish but just suggested white for clearer pics and you can then resume normal light schedule

 

[Krad]

Bulgy may again be due to eggs- if eggs. White often startles fish but just suggested white for clearer pics and you can then resume normal light schedule

Will do, got a few videos that have better clarity and have the other cardinals in the frame to compare.

Will upload a white light one when I can! Thanks for the help!

Feeding with tank mates:


Side profile view:

 

[vetteguy53081]

Will do, got a few videos that have better clarity and have the other cardinals in the frame to compare.

Will upload a white light one when I can! Thanks for the help!

Feeding with tank mates:


Side profile view:

The lighting still low but the mouth looks like one with a male carrying eggs.
Will get a second opinion - @Jay Hemdal

 

[Krad]

OK wasn't able to get him to open his mouth but got good video of all sides of the body:

 

[Jay Hemdal Verified Community Expert]

The lighting still low but the mouth looks like one with a male carrying eggs.
Will get a second opinion - @Jay Hemdal

I agree - all the other fish look really good, and in the side view, the cardinal is carrying eggs.

My one concern is the clownfish that died - why, and is it something contagious?

 

[Krad]

I agree - all the other fish look really good, and in the side view, the cardinal is carrying eggs.

My one concern is the clownfish that died - why, and is it something contagious?

Thank you both, as far as the clown I don’t know. It was relatively young and looked good otherwise before it stopped eating.

I don’t know if it’s related but I did capture a video that was strange to me. Everytime I would turn the pumps off to feed that clownfish would seek out the cleaner shrimp.

The rest of the time it would be swimming along with his friend. Video was taken Oct 5th clown stopped eating probably on the 10th and passed yesterday.

I thought it was clowns just being clowns but maybe it was a warning? :

 

[Jay Hemdal Verified Community Expert]

Thank you both, as far as the clown I don’t know. It was relatively young and looked good otherwise before it stopped eating.

I don’t know if it’s related but I did capture a video that was strange to me. Everytime I would turn the pumps off to feed that clownfish would seek out the cleaner shrimp.

The rest of the time it would be swimming along with his friend. Video was taken Oct 5th clown stopped eating probably on the 10th and passed yesterday.

I thought it was clowns just being clowns but maybe it was a warning? :

Seeking out cleaner shrimp is a sign of fish parasites, but I can't clearly see anything on the fish....

 

[Krad]

Me either and I checked the freshwater dip and the clown after it passed and didn’t see anything.

Should I ire on the side of cation and medicate the tank? I have prazipro on hand.

 

[vetteguy53081]

Me either and I checked the freshwater dip and the clown after it passed and didn’t see anything.

Should I ire on the side of cation and medicate the tank? I have prazipro on hand.

I was just going to say with the presence of eggs, use Ruby Rally Pro and maintain Good water quality. In the event eggs hatch, have available a couple of fake/plastic urchins which are a safe haven for cardinal fry/babies

 

[Jay Hemdal Verified Community Expert]

Me either and I checked the freshwater dip and the clown after it passed and didn’t see anything.

Should I ire on the side of cation and medicate the tank? I have prazipro on hand.

I wouldn't treat with prazipro unless other fish show up with similar symptoms.

 

[Krad]

Ok I’ll just keep an eye out on everyone for the next few weeks.

Hopefully I can catch when the fry hatch and take some video, I wonder if my old pod haven could work as a little haven for them?

Thank you for the help everyone glad this turned out to be a happy story!