My clownfish doesn't look good

[barry769]

I purchased a pair of ocellaris clownfish on Friday and they seemed to be doing quite well when I put them in. They swam around very actively and explored the entire tank. A few hours after I put them in, I fed them some prime reef and they ate it all quickly. Late Saturday night however, they started acting strangely. The two just hid in the back corner behind all of the rocks and never moved from a 2" radius. Now, on Monday, they are still back behind the rocks. For the first time since Saturday night, they came out and swam for a short amount of time, but the bigger of the two seemed to almost be struggling to swim. Her back end kind of hung and she almost seemed to just sink down to the bottom. The smaller of the two was swimming fine. They quickly moved back behind the rocks and the large one is now leaning to her side and occasionly just laying on the bottom, never moving much at all. They haven't eaten since saturday afternoon and show no interest at all when I put food in the tank. I can't see anything like white spots or anything abnormal on them.
Amm - Possibly a very slight trace, but I'm pretty sure it is 0
Nitrite - 0
Nitrate - 2.5
S.G. - 1.023
Ph - 8.2

 

[beth]

Any trace of ammonia will have an adverse effect on the fish. I'd suggest doing a water change.
Do you see any rapid breathing? Skin discoloration?

 

[barry769]

I'm almost positive that there isn't any ammonia, I am just really bad with colors so I'm just saying that there might be a chance. I had the LFS test my water before I purchased the fish and they said that it was 0.
Their color looks normal I think. These are my first fish ever so I'm not absolutely sure, but it looks good to me.
The breathing does look rapid to me. once again, i'm not really sure what normal breathing is since I've only had them a few days. They are constantly leaving their mouths open, which I didn't notice when I first got them, I don't know if that is of significance or not.

 

[barry769]

also, how much water do you think I should change? I don't have any mixed up, should I let it aerate first, or do it now.

 

[beth]

Aerate first.
Is that skimmer all you have in the tank for water movement?? What about powerheads, other filters??

 

[barry769]

I have 2 aquaclear 201 powerheads and an aquaclear300 filter

 

[barry769]

Well the smaller of my two fish now seems to be doing fine. It comes out and eats happily. The larger however has retreated even further into the rock and will not come out for anything. Its been quite a few days now with her not eating anything. Any suggestions about what i can do? I can barely even see her now that she is practically hiding underneat a large rock in the back of the tank.

 

[beth]

There really is not anything you can do without removing the fish. You can't treat you main tank with meds.