Sick Clown...HELP!

fishman7663

fishman7663

Member
Hello to all. I came home today to a sick clown
. It appears there are several white raised spots around his mouth and gills and a few on his body on only one side of his body. On the same side, his one eye is cloudy and popped out. I do not have a QT set up but I can get one set up quickly.
He is in one of those Kreisel tanks with 3 jellyfish and some hermits. No other fish. Let me state, there has been no attacks on him in this tank, the jellyfish leave him alone. I do a 25-40% water change every weekend. I feed him marine flakes, mysis shrimp, and cyclopeeze, which he is still eating like crazy.
My tank parameters:
Ammonia .25 ppm
Nitrate .20 ppm
Nitrite 0 ppm
Salinity 33.5 (1.025)
Alkalinity 300 ppm
PH 7.8
Temp 76.3*
What could this be and what kind of medication would be the best? Any help is greatly appreciated.
 
jaodissa

jaodissa

Member
brand new tank?? Ammonia .25 ppm is not good..... I've never heard of a jelly fish tank with tank mates either.
 
fishman7663

fishman7663

Member
Quote:
Originally Posted by Jaodissa http:///t/392130/sick-clown-help#post_3480319
brand new tank?? Ammonia .25 ppm is not good..... I've never heard of a jelly fish tank with tank mates either.
Hi Jaodissa, it is new, but it has been up and running for approximately a month now. Tank was fully cycled within 2 weeks. I added the clown after the complete cycle. Yes, a jellyfish tank works with just a few tankmates....clowns, gobies, and blennies. Many have done it with great success.
I am aware that ammonia of .25 is not good, but I am working on getting it down to 0.
 
beth

beth

Administrator
Staff member
Fishman, no tank is fully cycled in two weeks, let alone cycled enough to accommodate animals. If your tank was fully cycled, you would not have ammonia.
It sounds like your fish have ich.
Jellyfish are supposed to have a dedicated tank (not shared with other animals.)
 
fishman7663

fishman7663

Member
Quote:
Originally Posted by Beth http:///t/392130/sick-clown-help#post_3480388
Fishman, no tank is fully cycled in two weeks, let alone cycled enough to accommodate animals. If your tank was fully cycled, you would not have ammonia.
It sounds like your fish have ich.
Jellyfish are supposed to have a dedicated tank (not shared with other animals.)
I was under the impression once the Nitrite is down to O ppm that the tank is cycled. Am I incorrect?
This is a special tank that was constructed for the jellyfish, I just added 1 clown fish. Like I had mentioned, everyone that I spoke to that has experience with this jellyfish tank and have even more than 1 clown fish in there have had success. I plan on keeping just the one clown and nothing else.
One other thing, I came home from work today and noticed my clown looks much better than yesterday. The cloudy eye does not seem as popped and cloudy and the spots are not as pronounced. He is still eating like crazy...his appetite never quit. Is it possible that Clowns can just get better without medications?
 
fishman7663

fishman7663

Member
WOW! I'm shocked by the lack of advice. 2 people did respond but with little advice. Thank god the situation worked itself out or I would have to put my trust in some LFS. Frankly, the responders appeared kind of short with me. Guess this is not a very welcome forum for newbies
 
beth

beth

Administrator
Staff member
While your tank did begin the process of cycling, it is not fully established. The more load (animals) you put into the tank, the higher demand on the bio-filter. If the bio-filter can not keep up with the demand, then you will get the ammonia which means that your tank was not prepared for live animals or so many at once. Usually a tank is allowed to cycle for at least 6 weeks, while you feed the live rock and sand developing the bio-filter.
If the clown did have ich, then the problem is not over. Check out this link for further info on ich.
https://forums.saltwaterfish.com/a/ich-cryptocaryon-irritans
Also, myself I have never kept jellyfish. However, I do know that their needs in captivity are not so easily met, especially by a beginner aquarist. They require specialized food. Are you providing the jellies with food? Also, some require high intensity lighting to maintain the jellyfish's symbiotic algae.
 
fishman7663

fishman7663

Member
Quote:
Originally Posted by Beth http:///t/392130/sick-clown-help#post_3480701
While your tank did begin the process of cycling, it is not fully established. The more load (animals) you put into the tank, the higher demand on the bio-filter. If the bio-filter can not keep up with the demand, then you will get the ammonia which means that your tank was not prepared for live animals or so many at once. Usually a tank is allowed to cycle for at least 6 weeks, while you feed the live rock and sand developing the bio-filter.
If the clown did have ich, then the problem is not over. Check out this link for further info on ich.
https://forums.saltwaterfish.com/a/ich-cryptocaryon-irritans
Also, myself I have never kept jellyfish. However, I do know that their needs in captivity are not so easily met, especially by a beginner aquarist. They require specialized food. Are you providing the jellies with food? Also, some require high intensity lighting to maintain the jellyfish's symbiotic algae.
Hi Beth,
Cycling- In that case, I guess I did put the clown in a little too soon. My fault and I assumed incorrectly. Thank god I did a lot of water changes. I will not make that mistake again.
Clown fish- I have been keeping a sharp eye on my clown and I noticed him getting better. I have seen ich on freshwater fish and I am not sure if it looks the same on Saltwater, but it did not look like ich if that is the case. Today, absolutely no white spots anywhere on him and his cloudy, protruding eye is no longer cloudy or protruding, as if nothing happened. But of course, I will maintain the sharp eye. One thing to add, the clown never lost his appetite and he is still active and eating very well.
Jellyfish- I purchased a specific tank for the jellyfish that meets their needs. With this tank, included was live rock, gravel, 6 months worth of jellyfish food (frozen cyclopeeze). This was purchased from a company that deals specifically with jellyfish and their tanks for years successfully. There is a website, but to avoid trouble, I will not mention the site here...just Google jellyfish tank and take a look at the Kreisel tank. While this tank is designed for jellyfish, it also works, according to many I have asked that have experience, with a few other tank mates, such as clowns, gobies, and blennies...but that is it.
Thanks for your advice Beth
Greg
 
fishman7663

fishman7663

Member
Oh, and by the way, I checked out the website you gave, and if it was ich, it did not get anywhere nearly as bad as those in the pics. Still not sure if that was it though.
 
jaodissa

jaodissa

Member
I didnt mean to come of as short or mean I just didn't have an answer for you and wanted to provide at least the little help I could.
 
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