Sick clown. Nitrate poisoning?

nikkifro8994

nikkifro8994

Member
I think my female false perc. has dropsy. She is staying on the bottom. She keeps trying to move but not going anywhere. Her head is on the ground and her back end keeps floating up. She was fine this morning when I fed her. I got home this afternoon and found her laying on he bottom struggling to move. No clamped fins, but she's breathing very heavily. The male clown and the hermit crab are fine. I check water stats. Ammonia .25, nitrite 0, nitrate over 80. I did a 20% water change. I'm mixing more water now and will do a 40% when it's done mixing. I'll post new test results after. I think she either has dropsy or nitrate poisoning. Most likely dropsy because the smaller clown isn't showing any signs of illness.
 
nikkifro8994

nikkifro8994

Member
She died. I got home at 8:00 tonight and she was just sitting by the filter, breathing heavily. Her gills were swollen and she couldn't move. 10 minutes later she was gone and the snails were on her. When I left at 5:30 she looked ok, she was just swimming weird. I got home at 8 and she was trying to swim upside down. She was also covered in white mucus and lost almost all of her color.
The male clownfish seems perfectly fine. I will keep a close eye on him this week. Is there anything I should do to prevent the male from getting whatever the female had? I'll do a 100% water change tomorrow to get rid of the nitrate. Should I be fine with just that?
 
mohawkninja

mohawkninja

Member
It might be a swim bladder problem. Why do you have any Ammonia? How old is the tank? And with your nitrates that high, water changes every other (or every if you can) day is the way to go. Also how big is the tank?
.
 
nikkifro8994

nikkifro8994

Member
The tank has been set up for a little less than a year. It previously housed a dwarf puffer. I have no idea where the ammonia or nitrates came from. the tank is 10 gallons. Small, I know. But I am very strict with testing and water changes. I was out of town for a bit so it didn't get changed like it should have.
 
mohawkninja

mohawkninja

Member
Is the clown the only fish in the tank? A ten gallon is really skirting the boundary for a clown, and if anything goes wrong, it can't recover very well.
 
nikkifro8994

nikkifro8994

Member
I have 5 large pieces of LR. My power head is on the way. It should be here this week. I did a 20% and 2 40% water changes yesterday. I need to go to the LFS before I can do another.
 
nikkifro8994

nikkifro8994

Member
I have 5 large pieces of LR. My power head is on the way. It should be here this week. I did a 20% and 2 40% water changes yesterday. I need to go to the LFS before I can do another.
 
nikkifro8994

nikkifro8994

Member
The LFS told me that my filter would create enough flow and id isn't need a power head. I bought this one so go in my water change bucket. I have a 5 gallon bucket with new salt water that has a airstone to mix it. The power head will work better.
 
dmanatee

dmanatee

Member
Hey just throwing ideas out here, but in your other thread I noted that the tank has only been running as a saltwater system for about 2 months now. Is it possible that your tank never finished cycling or that with the death of the clown, that your tank is re-cycling. In such a small environment it it easy to tip the balance.
As for your fish, its more likely that she had a swim bladder infection, in conjunction with having stress from water quality.
Good luck and happy fishing!
 
nikkifro8994

nikkifro8994

Member
I made sure the tank was fully cycled before I added the fish. I used live rock from my lfs that was already cured. I also used filter media from tanks that have been established for 2 years. I added some ammonia like you would for a fish less cycle. On the first day it was processed in less than 12 hours. I did that for a week, just to be sure. Each time it was fully processed into nitrate in under 12 hours. Then I did a large water change and added the first fish and a crab. I tested water daily. I added the second fish a week after. The snails were added a week after that.
 
flower

flower

Well-Known Member
Hi,
Sorry for your loss. First rule for success...DO NOT ASK THE LFS FOR ANY ADVICE EVER! go to the LFS knowing exactly what you want, or need.
I just kind of skimmed over the entire thread...nitrates don't really bother fish, even into the 100s. Nitrates affect inverts (over 40) and corals (1 to 20, depending on the type of coral).
You should quarantine every new fish for at least 4 weeks, so you can be sure it isn't carrying parasites and it's free of disease. You ABSULTELY DO need a power head, I can't believe the fish store told you differently. The wave is the life of the ocean, and your SW tank. SW has less oxygen then FW, so (for a larger tank) point a power head to the surface so it makes it look like it's boiling....that creates good gas exchange.
Ideally a PH that disperses the water in a wide wave like motion, the Maxijets for example, only create a jet stream. The Koralia type (looks like a fan in front) are much better to do the job of creating a wave motion. In your case, with a 10g ... A simple air line (NO STONE) attached to a rock via a rubberband, would allow for enough surface movement and create the needed good gas exchange for you.
You should only do a 3% water change unless there is a serious problem.
Any tank under 29g is really best left to the experts. There is no wiggle room for error on a 10g, and to be honest a 55g to a 75g is the best size for a starter tank. If you can afford it...get a larger tank, and use the 10g for a quarantine. Fish are stressed when placed in a tiny tank, the clowns need at least a 20g tank, and 30g is preferred. So as to why your fish was stressed, and you think that's why it developed "dropsy" ...blame the tiny 10g tank.
 
mohawkninja

mohawkninja

Member
Quote:Originally Posted by Flower http:///t/395880/sick-clown-nitrate-poisoning#post_3525838
Hi,
Sorry for your loss. First rule for success...DO NOT ASK THE LFS FOR ANY ADVICE EVER! go to the LFS knowing exactly what you want, or need.
I just kind of skimmed over the entire thread...nitrates don't really bother fish, even into the 100s. Nitrates affect inverts (over 40) and corals (1 to 20, depending on the type of coral).
You should quarantine every new fish for at least 4 weeks, so you can be sure it isn't carrying parasites and it's free of disease. You ABSULTELY DO need a power head, I can't believe the fish store told you differently. The wave is the life of the ocean, and your SW tank. SW has less oxygen then FW, so (for a larger tank) point a power head to the surface so it makes it look like it's boiling....that creates good gas exchange.
Ideally a PH that disperses the water in a wide wave like motion, the Maxijets for example, only create a jet stream. The Koralia type (looks like a fan in front) are much better to do the job of creating a wave motion. In your case, with a 10g ... A simple air line (NO STONE) attached to a rock via a rubberband, would allow for enough surface movement and create the needed good gas exchange for you.
You should only do a 3% water change unless there is a serious problem.
Any tank under 29g is really best left to the experts. There is no wiggle room for error on a 10g, and to be honest a 55g to a 75g is the best size for a starter tank. If you can afford it...get a larger tank, and use the 10g for a quarantine. Fish are stressed when placed in a tiny tank, the clowns need at least a 20g tank, and 30g is preferred. So as to why your fish was stressed, and you think that's why it developed "dropsy" ...blame the tiny 10g tank.

I think that you can do a larger than 3% water change, I think that 15-20% would be the max. I do around 10% 2 times a week.
 
mr llimpid

mr llimpid

Member
Flower is correct in so many ways. The thing I would like to stress is the 10gal tank, this size tank would safely house 1 small fish like a goby. You have 2 medium fish, this will add to environment changes, depending on there release of No. 1 and No. 2. I have a 20gal coral tank with 1 yellow tail damsel. I check salinity twice a day and PH every other day, all other test once a week. My tank has been running for 22 years, not bragging just saying you need to stay on top of a small tank. In my opinion two house 2 clowns you would need a 30gal long, this would provide more surface area and fish swim back and fourth more than up and down.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Top