Help Diagnose false perc please

[koolaid]

My clown was fine last week. The clown is a false perc. He started breathing heavy and not eating about 3 days ago. He slowly started being less active and started hiding this morning. Now I came in to see how he was doing and he seems to be worse. He is pale and still beathing heavy. I do not see any spots or redness around his gills. The mouth area seems very pale color of white. He is not scratching surfaces either. I do not see excess slime either. The fins seem fine, and eyes are not cloudy. I really need help diagnosing to know how to treat. I am fixing to do a freshwater dip. Readings are fine. temp 79, ph 8.1, ammonia 0, nitrite 0, and nitrate 0, sg 1.023. He is now in a QT.

 

[beth]

Do you have a magnifying glass? If so give the fish a good look with it, particularly the gills to see if they are swollen, or even if one is more swollen than the other.
I would begin to treat with Maracyn Two for SW fish and do hyposalinity.
Is this fish still eating? How long have you had him? Any new fish additions lately? What are you feeding him?

 

[koolaid]

I do not have a magnifying glass. The gills look white in the front and they may be a little swollen.
I have him him/her for 3 weeks now.
No new fish additions.
I feed frozen krill, brine, mysis, and omega one flake. I feed 1 time a day.
I use RO/DI. I perform 5% water changes every 3 days with aerated (minimum 48 hours) IO water.
I went to the LFS and they told me the PH should be at 8.3 and that that may be the problem. I told him my PH stays between 8.0 and 8.2. He gave me some buffer and told to try that. They did not have any Maracyn, so I puchased some formalin. I have not used it yet. I do not want to cause more harm than good. He is still alive, still pale, not eating, and breathing heavy.
Should I perform freshwater dips? If so, how do I get the PH of the freshwater to 8.2?
Should I drop the salinity to 1.10? I know to do it slowly, but how slow?
Should I add the Formalin to the QT?

 

[beth]

koolaid, formalin is a parasite treatment and would not be useful in this case. You're pH is fine. Seems to me like your LFS is quick to be offering help that results in sales for them. Buffer, which you don't need, meds that are inappropriate, etc.
Do you have another LFS? Maracyn Two for SW fish is an antibiotic, and I believe that a bacterial infection may be your problem. However, give us some more details. There is a fish disease called brooklynella that is common to clownfish. The symptoms are a whitish covering over the skin that will peal off, swollen red gills, rapid gilling. In this case, formalin would be a viable treatment. However, this disease pretty much kills fish rapidly, which does not seem to be the case with your clown.
Here is a pic of brooklynella:

 

[koolaid]

Just let me know what kind of info you need. I have a canon powershot G2 digi camera but the pics I am taking are not that clear, I do not think the pics will show much. The body looks pale, the mouth is open breathing rapidly. The gills do not look red, maybe a little swollen. What else can I do?
Oh and the LFS gave me some buffer in a baggy to try for free and said if it worked I can buy some tomorrow. The med I grabbed cuz someone else suggested it. I do feel it is a good LFS. Anyway, I want to thank you for your help and hope you can offer your assistance again. I am really afraid the fish is just going to die if I dont do something.

 

[koolaid]

Oh and my clown does not look like the picture of brooklynella.

 

[beth]

You need to get the medication that I recommended. Is this place the only LFS in town? You can't shop around for it? You could also try Furacyn. Call the store and see if they have that. Call other stores and see if they have it.
In the meantime we could try the formalin but NOT in your QT. The procedure for formalin bathes is to prepare a separate "bathe" container that is dedicated to the fish hobby [a bucket will do]. Aerate the water using an airstone and keep the aeration going during the procedure. Use 20 drops of formalin per gallon. The dip should last 45 minutes. The procedure should be repeated every other day for 3 to 5 treatments. Throw out treatment water after each bath. Be sure to keep the treatment water the same temp as the tank water during the procedure. Use tank water for the bathe.
8.1 pH is not out of range. Was the fish fine with tank environment until now?
Is your camera digital?

 

[koolaid]

I Will get the Maracyn Two today. The LFS does not open for 3 more hours.
8.1 pH is not out of range. Was the fish fine with tank environment until now? [yes] and other false perc is fine, no symptoms.
You said 20 drops per gallon with the formalin, The instructions on the bottle say 2 drops per gallon. Am I just increasing the dose because it is only a 45 minute dip?
What exactly do I do with the Maracyn Two?
The camera is digital. This is clearest picture I have taken so far.
Thank You Very Much Beth

 

[beth]

Do you have a macro option for that camera, so we can get a close up shot of that perc?

 

[beth]

What hiding spots do you have for this fish? You need to at least get some PVC in there so that the fish can hid. Bare tanks are pretty stressful for fish.
Take a look at the 3rd subject in the FAQ thread above. There is a link there to formalin baths that Terry wrote.

 

[koolaid]

The glass is a little dirty, but how about this. He seems to be getting his color back and he is not as white around his mouth. He is still breathing heavily. Very fast. I tried to count, it is around 150 per minute. I also finished the first formalin dip for 45 minutes. I have pvc scattered throughout the tank for hiding but he preferes to stay close to the top, about 2-3 inches below the surface.

 

[koolaid]

Here is the pic

 

[beth]

Yes, he does look better there. What about hiding spots in the QT??
I'm going to suggest offering this clown some fresh seafoods. You can add zoecon to the mix, or, if you can get beta glucan from your health food store, you can try that. You can get a bag of frozen seafood which are sold to make seafood salads, oriental foods, etc., at the grocery store [ask the attendant at the seafood counter] or you can see what is available that he can put together for you right at the seafood counter. Stuff like: octopus, scallops, shrimp, squid, clams, etc. No oily fish. [Though, if you have a fish with HLLE, you may try some direct feeding of salmon.] Food process this mix until it is pretty much a "mush" then roll it out on a flat pan in a square shape. Freeze it until it is solid, but not frozen like a block. Depending on how much seafood you got, you may be able to cut this up in a few 4" sq blocks [the size that brine shrimp in pkged in--the non-cube variety]. Do the cutting then place each "block" into a small freezer ziplock for storage [each having their own bag]. You can cut off chunks as needed for feeding. Believe me clowns love this mix and it is very nutritious. If you can get the zoecon or the beta glucan then add some directly into the seafood as you food process. If you are also feeding your fish veggies, like seaweed selects, you can, as well, mix this right into the food processor with the sea food.
As far as I'm concerned home made foods made specific for your type of fish is the way to go, particularly fish that are obviously not healthy. It is easy and cheaper than the watered down foods that are sold for the hobby. Look at the ingredients of any frozen foods sold for the hobby. What is the primary ingredient----?