Clownfish maybe sick

[coolfish22]

My clownfish started acting a little different than usual. He always leaves his mouth open now and you can barely see it in the pic, but his right fin seems to be decaying a bit on the top of it. About a week ago he would need eat and did not leave his anemone for an entire day, but now he eats fine. He is spending a lot more time in the anemone than he used to. It also appears that his eyes are a bit foggy.
Also in the tank is a blue-eyed anthias, 4 blue-green chromis, a mandarin goby, a newer introduced sailfin tang, and some inverts, corals, etc., and everything else is doing perfectly fine.
I have had the clown for over 3 years. I do not have a quarantine tank. My main concern is that I do not want my whole tank to become diseased and crash. Should I just wait and see if problems worsen, or should I take him out and give him back to LFS? Any advice would be appreciated.

 

[beth]

How long have you had this fish? And what are you feeding him? If you got him recently, was a net used to transfer him at the LFS or at your tank?

 

[coolfish22]

I have had him for over 3 years. His main food source has been frozen brine shrimp with the occasional Formula 1 & 2 flake food.

 

[beth]

Sorry to say, a stable of brine is just not adequate nutritionally.
If he is still eating, then try to put together a home made food mixture [similiar to what I have posted in the FAQ]. Target feed your clown with this 3x a day using a turkey baster. Add zoecon to 1 feeding a day.
What are your water readings? Are you willing to setup a QT? Is that haze on eye, in just one eye? If you had that fish for 3 yrs, he would not be primary carrier of anything contagious. Have you added any other fish recently?

 

[byrnes]

beth, my perc seems to have the same thing. ive only had him 4 months. the female is getting bigger and always steals a majority of food. i normally only feed spectrm thera + pellots but i also feed him formula one every few days. will he get better if i just feed him more with formula one, or do i need to treat him with formalin, is it Brooklynella? he isnt eating pellots but im gonna try with some forumla one right now. are my other fish in danger of catching whatever he has?
i have a 10 gallon tank and an extra powerhead and heater. if i have to set up a QT can i just add half water from my tank and half new saltwater? what would you suggest?

 

[beth]

You have had the fish for 4 mos so you can rule out brooklynella.
Try to add more quality food to that diet, and perhaps also add zoecon supplement to food every other day. Try feeding the little clown with a turkey baster; he may just not be getting enough to eat.
Is his mouth always open? Is he breathing and gilling hard?

 

[byrnes]

not really breating hard, just swims around with his mouth opened. i fed some formula one and he seemed to eat the smaller pieces he could catch. i think the problem is that the female was just hording all the pellots, shes a little fatty and he's like the same size as when i got him but with a little gut to him. i do feed with a turkey baster, but when i feed frozen food all 3 fish i have seem to get enough. ill feed everyday with the frozen for a bit and see if he gets better

 

[beth]

How often are you feeding? Use a turkey baster for your fish food, and target feed the little guy to make sure he gets adequate nutrition. Many fish will suffer extended malnutrition in the aquaria, and the hobbyist assumes that the fish is sick from a disease process. By the time we get our fish from the LFS, most are already suffering malnutrition due to the capture process. Its up to use to feed adequately.

 

[byrnes]

i feed pellots a couple times a day everyday, but like i said the female HOGS the food like no other. i normally only did frozen food with the turkey baster a couple of times a week, i will do it much more often now. i was trying not to overfeed, and wasnt sure if i was underfeeding which it is now obvious to me i am.
so ill feed more now

 

[beth]

Pullet food just is not going to be good enough. You need to get a varieity of frozen foods and feed 2 times a day at least, more one meal food soaked in zoecon. What pellets are you using?
You may want to consider making your own fish food. Do you have a reef tank?

 

[byrnes]

yea reef tank. everything else appears to be flourishing
i feed spectrum thera + A by new life and formula one
i have a bi color blenny who eats the pellots and formula one and 2 percula clowns. what else would you suggest i get? i have shrooms, zoos, closed brain, xenia ricordia and a rbta
lighting and everything is cool ive got all that stuff taken care of just hit a road block wiht this guy and his open mouth. like i said i think he just gets robbed by his girlfriend too much
what other frozen food would be good?

 

[beth]

You can continue with what you are using, but don't make pellets the primary food. See what is avaiable at the LFS in frozen foods, and try out a few varieties. Varieity is good for fish, just as it is for humans. No single food source, no matter how good, is going to adequate adress all nutritional needs.

 

[byrnes]

thanks beth... been feeding everyday with formula one and he is looking better now, the female is super fat and he's getting a little fatter