Clownfish looks bruised

chele

chele

Member
Hope someone can help identify what is wrong with my clown buddy. I have a fish only tank with minimal live rock. Don't have corals. I noticed 2 days ago that my clown fish is dark on the top half of his body. He's acting normal, swimming fine and eating OK. I haven't made any changes to the tank. Had the fish for 2+ years.
My water parameters have been constant, but my salinity stays low and my nitrates run high. I did a 50% water change to reduce the nitrates yesterday, but I don't know what to do to help my clown. Any advice?
 
kazarko

kazarko

Member
pictures are useful here. I would have more live rock. LR do most of the filtering in SW tanks. I think the ratio is 1.5lb:1gallon? That would help make water quality better/more stable
 
chele

chele

Member
Yeah, I figured that one out after I did it. I posted it on photobucket. Can you get to it now?
 
kazarko

kazarko

Member
not entirely sure how much of the gray is from salt or dirt on teh outside of the tank. The pictures aren't that clear.
Do you have any powerheads that would accidentally suck the fish onto it and cause the bruising?
 
chele

chele

Member
I have a powerhead on my biowheel, but I didn't it was that powerful. I have a larger tank with only a couple damsels. I thought about moving him to get him away from the larger fish, but if it's something he can transmit, I don't need more sick fish. Let me see if I can get better pictures, he's a fast swimmer.
 
sepulatian

sepulatian

Moderator
What is the SG and how long has it been low? What exactly is your nitrate reading? It sounds like stress from poor conditions to me. Improving the water quality will greatly help him. It is not a disease.
 
chele

chele

Member
SG is 1.018. Nitrates floats between 40 - 80, although I think it spiked when my cleaner clams died. I might try putting him in the other tank and see if he improves. I've never seen dark spots like that, glad to know it's not something my other fish may pickup.
 
kazarko

kazarko

Member
Ouch... nitrates seem high... very high. If it is fish only, you want approx 10ppm for nitrates. Even less if you have corals or inverts. Why did your clams die? usually inverts are more sensitive to poor water conditions, so if they are getting sick you may want to change the water and do water testing
 
chele

chele

Member
I won't do corals or inverts because I can't get a handle on the nitrates. The cleaner clams were supposed to help, but I didn't detect a difference. They lived for several months, then I started finding open empty shells on the surface. The wrasse was eating well :)
I can't put a protein skimmer on because of the way the lid is constructed so I'm looking for alternatives to keep down the nitrates. There's a new hood/filter/light in my future methinks.
 
sepulatian

sepulatian

Moderator
Originally Posted by Chele
http:///forum/post/2459214
SG is 1.018. Nitrates floats between 40 - 80, although I think it spiked when my cleaner clams died. I might try putting him in the other tank and see if he improves. I've never seen dark spots like that, glad to know it's not something my other fish may pickup.
The low SG is the likely reason why your clown is stressing. The nitrates are high, but not intolerable for a clown. Prolonged SG under 1.019 will cause severe stress and kidney failure. Bring it up slowly. Mix some water for a small change at 1.022. Do a small change, then a few days later do it again until the display water reaches 1.022. Then mix the water to 1.024, repeat the procedure. If you have no coral or inverts then 1.024 is acceptable for fish only. In the process the nitrates will drop. Nitrates do not float. They climb, but do not bounce back and forth. Bring a sample to your LFS and have them test it. Your tesk kit may be false.
 
sepulatian

sepulatian

Moderator
Originally Posted by Chele
http:///forum/post/2459288
I won't do corals or inverts because I can't get a handle on the nitrates. The cleaner clams were supposed to help, but I didn't detect a difference. They lived for several months, then I started finding open empty shells on the surface. The wrasse was eating well :)
I can't put a protein skimmer on because of the way the lid is constructed so I'm looking for alternatives to keep down the nitrates. There's a new hood/filter/light in my future methinks.
I still have not figured out the multi-quote function. If you do not have a protein skimmer then that is more stress on the fish with all of the disolved organics in the tank. Skimmers do not remove nitrates, well maybe trace amounts, but they do not make an impact on nitrate levels. What kind of lights do you have? Can you install an HOB fuge? That would help. What is your water change schedule?
 
chele

chele

Member
I'll do that to bring up the SG and get my water tested somewhere. My chemicals are pretty old. And I used to test the nitrates before and after I would do a water change to make sure my well water wasn't adding to the problem.
 
chele

chele

Member
I thought organics did add to nitrates? It's a 37G with a Marineland Eclipse hood, so I've got flourescent lighting and a wet/dry filter. The hood only has 2" access ports in the rear, so unless it's narrow, I can't hang much on it. I top off the tank as needed and change out about 4 gallons of water each month.
 
kazarko

kazarko

Member
protein skimmers are a must, even if you are on a budget because it removes dissolved organics. This doesn't mean if you have a protein skimmer you won't need water changes, just less things that cause nitrates to build up.
Make sure you dissolve the salt for a while before you add it to the tank, even if you are in a hurry.
 
kazarko

kazarko

Member
I would change the tank hood, those tanks that seem to come with everything in a closed system really suck for necessary additions like a protein skimmer.
 
sepulatian

sepulatian

Moderator
Originally Posted by Chele
http:///forum/post/2459318
I thought organics did add to nitrates? It's a 37G with a Marineland Eclipse hood, so I've got flourescent lighting and a wet/dry filter. The hood only has 2" access ports in the rear, so unless it's narrow, I can't hang much on it. I top off the tank as needed and change out about 4 gallons of water each month.
Skimmers remove organics BEFORE they break down into ammonia and, ultimately, into nitrates. Adding a skimmer will not reduce the nitrates that are already there. Most hoods only leave a 2" gap in the back. The skimmer goes in a sump, you can get an in the tank skimmer where the intake is in the tank and the rest is out as well. There are hang on the back skimmers too. Just google protein skimmer and see what you find. As far as the nitrates, you need to do some descent water changes to get them lower. Add a hang in refugium. It is a basket with two clips on it. You hang it right in the tank. You can add macro algae that will feed on the nitrates. You have to get them below 20ppm though first. 4 gallons a month is nothing. Bump it up to seven gallons every four days with water that has been mixing for at least 24hrs with a powerhead, until the nitrates are lower. You can slowly spread the changes out to once a week. Once they are below 20 then you can go to once every three weeks.
 
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