Clown having spasums

[mcbdz]

Ok, I know this sounds crazy, but my sons clown is having something that looks like spasums. Anyone have any ideas?

We set up and cycled his tank a couple of weeks ago. He was so excited about his clowns coming in that we got them Sat. A pair of orange skunk clowns. Just to be safe we also added the Bio-spira marine nitriying bacteria, just to make sure this new tank could handle 2 fish instead of 1. Acclimated slowly over a couple hours. They both started eating the first day. I don't know the personality of these fish, but they stay in one spot and swim into the current. Continued to eat good, then yesterday my son fed them some mystis and only the large female ate. She came out And seeked out her food like she should, but the smaller male just kept swimming and not eating. Even let the food float right accross his face without any interest. I set down infront of the tank this morning to see how everything looks. Both fish look very healthy, thick, bright color, no visable signs of parisites or disease, but I noticed that the smaller one keeps having spasums? I don't know what else to call them. They are swimming together in their normal place againts the current and every few seconds he just starts this little jerky movement(kind-of like when you get a chill) maybe a shiver. The female doesn't do this. It isn't natural like when they go up to another fish and shake or in their host. This is while he is just swimming alone and in the open. Is this any kind of sign of something wrong or do we just have a spastic clown?

Any ideas would be helpful. His levels have all been stable but I"ll go recheck them again. Tank 25gal hex. Only fish, 4 snails, 2 hermits. HOB filter and 1 180gph power head. 14lbs lr, 1" live sand. Plain floresent lights.

Looking for any insite on this one.

 

[earlybird]

Stress is a common factor in a fish not eating. My clowns will playfully nip at each other and spasm in the process but they are eating and are happy. I dunno?

 

[integral9]

It sounds like the clown fish mating dance. I have a pair of black percs. The male does the what I call "The Twitch" and the female mostly ignores him. Sometimes (rarely) she does it back which makes the male freak out and do The Twitch all over their territory. Funny as hell to watch, but totally normal.
I'm not sure about the not eating part. He might be showing submission to the female by allowing her to eat in peace. My male usually waits until his female has several bites before he gets into the feeding frenzy.

 

[mcbdz]

Here are para.
Salinity-1.027(need to topoff)
Amm.-0
NO2-0
NO3_>5
pH-8.0
Just cause I just got this test. Phos.->1 that his one hard test to read.
I have a pair of false percs and this shiver isn't like that. It is like he doesn't know he is doing it. And he isn't doing it to the female. I could be wrong. I'm going to keep an eye on him and hopefully he eats tonight. The tank is 2 new for me to feed extra so I
ll have to wait for dillon to feed tonight and watch. I would be sad if something happened to him. They look so comfortable together.

 

[earlybird]

You don't have to feed every day. I feed my pair every other or every third day. If you have frozen cyclops try feeding a little bit of that. I've never seen any food cause such a frenzy like cyclops. It's saltwater "crack."

 

[sepulatian]

Originally Posted by mcbdz
Ok, I know this sounds crazy, but my sons clown is having something that looks like spasums. Anyone have any ideas?

We set up and cycled his tank a couple of weeks ago. He was so excited about his clowns coming in that we got them Sat. A pair of orange skunk clowns. Just to be safe we also added the Bio-spira marine nitriying bacteria, just to make sure this new tank could handle 2 fish instead of 1. Acclimated slowly over a couple hours. They both started eating the first day. I don't know the personality of these fish, but they stay in one spot and swim into the current. Continued to eat good, then yesterday my son fed them some mystis and only the large female ate. She came out And seeked out her food like she should, but the smaller male just kept swimming and not eating. Even let the food float right accross his face without any interest. I set down infront of the tank this morning to see how everything looks. Both fish look very healthy, thick, bright color, no visable signs of parisites or disease, but I noticed that the smaller one keeps having spasums? I don't know what else to call them. They are swimming together in their normal place againts the current and every few seconds he just starts this little jerky movement(kind-of like when you get a chill) maybe a shiver. The female doesn't do this. It isn't natural like when they go up to another fish and shake or in their host. This is while he is just swimming alone and in the open. Is this any kind of sign of something wrong or do we just have a spastic clown?

Any ideas would be helpful. His levels have all been stable but I"ll go recheck them again. Tank 25gal hex. Only fish, 4 snails, 2 hermits. HOB filter and 1 180gph power head. 14lbs lr, 1" live sand. Plain floresent lights.

Looking for any insite on this one.

Please check your ammonia, nitrite, nitrate, ph, kh, sg, and temp, then post them all. You just set this tank up a few weeks ago. How did you cycle it? You said that the readings have been stable. Was the rock cured when you got it?