Dieing Clownfish (Gasping, frayed fins) HELP!!

[smith6ar]

Ahh!! I just bought a clownfish yesterday (been in my tank about 30 hours) and today it is displaying a badly frayed tailfin and is gasping. The fish is also swimming in a vertical position in the same spot in a bottom corner of my tank. When I got back from the pet store I noticed that the fish's dorsal fin was damaged (didn't notice it in the store, but noticed it immediately after acclimation)
The fish looks like it is in bad shape and I'm worried it may die. The only other creatures in the tank is a cleaner shrimp that looks fine and a small black damselfish with a yellow tail (not sure of the species name) and they both look healthy.
This clown cost me $30 and furthermore, I don't want to kill a fish. I'm not sure what is causing the problem, but I had a Domino Damsel that had frayed fins that slowly got worse for about 3 months before it died.
I tested my tank and my ammonia, nitrate, and nitrite levels are fine, as is my pH. It's possible my salinity is high, but I can't seem to get all the bubbles off my hydrometer needle to get an accurate reading (I am fairly sure the salinity is too high though)
Would high salinity cause gasping and frayed fins on a clown?
HELP! What do i do?

 

[sepulatian]

How did you acclimate him? The more saline the water is, the less disolved oxygen it has itself. What is your water movement? How was this fish acting at the store? If you have a damsel in there he is likely to pick on a sick and/or injured fish which will stress him out even more.

 

[beth]

If you are using a plastic swing arm hydrometer, then you might as well be tasting water for salinity testing...that is how ineffective the swing-arm hydrometer is.
Could it be that the fish started being harassed as soon as he was released into your tank?

 

[smith6ar]

Originally Posted by sepulatian
How did you acclimate him? The more saline the water is, the less disolved oxygen it has itself. What is your water movement? How was this fish acting at the store? If you have a damsel in there he is likely to pick on a sick and/or injured fish which will stress him out even more.

I acclimated via drip acclimation over two hours (along with a cleaner shrimp which is doing fine). My water movement isn't excellent, the return pump from the wet/dry filter is pointed toward the bottom of the tank instead of across the tank. The fish was acting fine in the store (though his color was not excellent)
Also, the damsel is not bothering him at all, I haven't even seen the damsel even get close to the clown, as the damsel seems to be rather timid, that is not the problem.
Would high salinity cause frayed fins and gasping? The fish is not near the top of the tank, so it doesn't seem to be a DO problem (or if it is, the clown can't get to the top with its frayed fins)

 

[smith6ar]

About an hour ago, I took four gallons out of the tank (a 50 gallon bow-front) and dripped 4 gallons of fresh water into the wet/dry sump so as to not quickly change the salinity.
I'm hoping this helps with the salinity if that is truly the problem

 

[sepulatian]

You should definately think about getting a refractometer. This site sells a great one for $39.99 The high salinity would cause the gasping, but not the freyed fins. Freyed fins are from fin rot (he hasn't been there long enough for this to be the reason if he didn't have it at the store) or from aggression. I have yet to meet a truely timid damsel, especially to a new fish that is already in poor shape. Do you have a qt that you can move him into so he can recover without being picked on?

 

[smith6ar]

I had a domino damsel and this black damsel with a yellow tail in my tank for about 3 months. The domino damsel was dominant, often attacking the other fish. The 2nd damsel spent all its time in hiding except during feeding when it would dart to the top as fast as it could. I have been watching the fish adn the damsel is staying clear of the clown and not bothering it. I don't understand why the fins are frayed.
The dorsal fin was frayed after acclimation (but i didn't notice it in the store)
Now the clown's rtight pectoral fin is being held to his right side and he is swimming at an angle
I have no quarantine tank, but I don' thtink the damsel is the problem

 

[smith6ar]

I just turned off the aquarium light to chill out the damsel (just in case he really was the problem)
This damsel was a

[hr]
. It was always hiding from the Domino damsel and has never showed aggression toward any fish, and despite watching my fish closely, I haven' tseen the damsel bite him.
That said, I saw the damsel swim close to the clown and the clown seemed to freak out a bit...
I'm wondering If I could just take my damsel out of the tank and throw him in a 5 gallon bucket with the tank water... Do you think the clown could recover?
The clown was 30 bucks and hte damsel was 6. I would much prefer the damsel to die, but not both.

 

[sepulatian]

This damsel didn't go near the domino because domino's are mean little suckers. Any damsel is going to want to be the top dog, and if there is a weaker fish he is going to want to kep him down. It is just the way wild animals are. You have a sump right? Can you put the damsel in there?

 

[smith6ar]

I do have a sump, would I have to worry about the damsel being so close to the two pumps? (one return and one for my skimmer)

 

[sepulatian]

Originally Posted by smith6ar
I do have a sump, would I have to worry about the damsel being so close to the two pumps? (one return and one for my skimmer)
Do they have covers on them? Any moving parts he may get hurt on in there?

 

[smith6ar]

they're both covered, i tried to get him in the sump but he kept hiding in my rock
i pulled out most of my rock but still couldn't get him, so I'm hoping the change of landscape (no territory) and the lack of light will calm him down enough until tomorrow morning when i'll take out all my rock. The clown is looking a bit better now than he was a few hours ago, so that's good...
If i move my damsel to the sump, can I eventually reintroduce him, or would that cause the same problem to happen again?

 

[sepulatian]

Yes, once the clown is comfortable he will not be easily bullied. The damsel can go back in when your clown is swimming normally and accepting food. Just give him a chance to get comfortable. I hope he feels better soon!!!

 

[smith6ar]

The clown looks a lot better this morning. I woke up at about 10:30 AM and the damsel was starting to mess with the clown again, so I took out all the rocks (that damsel is a fast little

[hr]
), tired it out and finally got it into my sump.
The clown looks a LOT healthier than he did yesterday. I think the 4 gallon freshwater change, the changed rock scene last night,a nd the lack of light helped out a lot, but I finally have hte damsel out, and out he is staying for a while
The clown isn't out of the dark yet, his fins still need to heal successfully, but I'm hoping

 

[smith6ar]

The clown seems to be doing better, but I've noticed that the damsel bit off almost ALL of the clown's tail and that he is having trouble moving around...
Any idea if I can do anything to speed up the healing process? Is the clown f*cked? The clown basically has no tail fin...

 

[sepulatian]

Originally Posted by smith6ar
The clown seems to be doing better, but I've noticed that the damsel bit off almost ALL of the clown's tail and that he is having trouble moving around...
Any idea if I can do anything to speed up the healing process? Is the clown f*cked? The clown basically has no tail fin...
He should still be ok if you can keep his stress down and his immune system high. I am not sure if his tail will grow back fully, but as with a dog that loses a limb, he will adjust. I saw that happen with an african cichlid before. His tail was completely gone and there was a chunk missing out of his butt as well. The tail never grew back, but the flesh wound healed and he was fine.

 

[smith6ar]

Update: The clown never died. It is swimming around happily without his tail (though just today I finally noticed the beginnings of a growing tail) and he's been eating for a few days now.
I'm planning on putting the damsel back in within a couple days
Thanks for the help

 

[catawaba]

I wouldn't reunite the two.
The damsel, IMO, will go after the clown again.

 

[sepulatian]

Originally Posted by smith6ar
Update: The clown never died. It is swimming around happily without his tail (though just today I finally noticed the beginnings of a growing tail) and he's been eating for a few days now.
I'm planning on putting the damsel back in within a couple days
Thanks for the help
That is wonderfull to hear!!! I wouldn't add that damsel back yet though. A clown and damsel can get along fine, but if the clown is still swimming a little funny and still trying to recover he will be an easy target.

 

[smith6ar]

I added the damsel and the clown definitely asserted his authority in the tank, even though his tail fin was still heavily damaged. I decided to remove the damsel after about a week because he chased my Cleaner shrimp out of his favorite spot (a really cool ledge right in the front of hte aquarium and very visible)
I removed him and the shrimp went right back to the cool spot. Nibbles (the damsel) is in my roommates 38 gallon tank now