Help...clownfish gulping..looks stressed

[lisa g]

I have a new clown that has been in my 12 gal dx for about 5 days. He was gulping when first added to tank but by next day he was playing in my bubble coral and acting normal. Today I found the ammonia is up to .25, the nitrates are 10ppm, the nitrites are 0ppm, the ph is 8.3 and the salinity is 1.024. He is eating and still trying to host in my bubble coral but he is gulping alot like he is having problems and darting to me when I go to the tank. I don't want to feed him again because I will oerfeed the tank. Any ideas? I just did a 2.5 gal water change yesterday. Don't want to lose my new guy.

 

[jacksdad]

What are you feeding? If he is attracted to you when you are at the tank it seems as though he is hungry. Try to spot feed him. My mated pair eat out of my hand so hardly anything is wasted.
Bob

 

[unleashed]

along with above suggestions do a water change ASAP if the levels have not dropped to 0-5

 

[lisa g]

I am feeding him frozen brine shrimp (which he doesn't seem to like), Formula two flake food which he has eaten and Spectrum pelets which he seems to like as well. He only eats what comes close to him, he doesn't go after it. I did water change yesterday but will do another today. About 3 gallons which is about 25%. Think that will help? He does follow me when I come up to tank. Maybe he isn't gettting enough to eat. I added Caulerpa two days ago to help with the Nitrates.

 

[ohioguy06]

Originally Posted by Lisa G
I am feeding him frozen brine shrimp (which he doesn't seem to like), Formula two flake food which he has eaten and Spectrum pelets which he seems to like as well. He only eats what comes close to him, he doesn't go after it. I did water change yesterday but will do another today. About 3 gallons which is about 25%. Think that will help? He does follow me when I come up to tank. Maybe he isn't gettting enough to eat. I added Caulerpa two days ago to help with the Nitrates.
Like said above lisa do another water change and get the ammo and trate down to almost nothing and continue monitoring...... also it does sound like he is hungry soo...... also as stated above try spot feeding him. Hth Keep us updated and if you have anymore ?'s feel free to ask.
Rich

 

[unleashed]

dont bother with the brine it has little to no nutritional value for sw fish the other foods your using are fine.just feed 2 -3 times per day very small amounts thats fine what he will eat in 3 min-5 min. fish like to check out our surroundings too so just because he running amuck watching you doesnt mean anything is wrong or that hes starving.hes adjusting to his new home now too

 

[lisa g]

Well I canged the water and the ammonia went down to oppm. I checked the Nitrate and they were still at 20ppm. But my clown looked fine and he was back to normal. WEll as normal as clown fish are . Today I found him freaking out again, darting and gulping really fast. I checked the water and found all was at 0 but the nitrates were still at 20ppm. I just did another water change so we shall see. I have no other problems with the corals. Xenias are pulsing nicely and my bubble seems to be normal so who knows. I think I will watch it for a few days and see what happens. Why won't the nitrates go down? Any ideas? I have done 2 water changes in two days and still the same.
:happyfish

 

[nanomantis]

Nitrates are used by many of the algae, bacteria, and inverts in the marine aquarium. Your xenia actually pulls nitrates out of the water and uses it. It can actually be harmful to an aquarium if the nitrates reach 0 as these benefical bacteria and creatures will not have anything to eat. The optimal range for nitrates is about 10ppm to 25ppm and in normal aquarium conditions (without overfeeding, or a fish dying, or other water pollution) it normally stays inside these parameters.

 

[lbaskball]

Your going to loose your Bubble Tip Anemone if your Ammonia levels go up. Dont overfeed. Make sure there is air circulating in the tank. Maybe he doesnt have enough oxygen in the tank which makes him gulp alot. ???

 

[lisa g]

This morning I got up and checked him and he was gulping real fast again but within an hour of turning on the light he was fine. I think he is afraid of the dark ....

Well I checked my water and the ammonia is at 0 so it seems okay. I will check the levels again tomorrow. He is making holes in the sand at the base of my bubble and the rock next to it with the yello polyps on it. Don't know I guess that is why they are called clowns. They do wierd stuff.