sick clownfish?

[dethsight]

hello. i have 2 misbar false percula clown fish. the female is acting very odd. she is just swimming at the corner of the tank, up towards the top. she just started doing this today. i also noticed she has a bit of green around her eyes, especially on the lower half of them. she does still respond to the male when he comes around.
hopefully this video will help with a determination of what could be wrong.
http://youtu.be/kpN_5PBO07I
thanks for any help

 

[btldreef]

Welcome to the site.
I'm not quite sure what's going on with her. This is definitely the female of the pair? Do they ever hang out over here at all? It almost looks like she's cleaning the glass and getting ready to spawn, at least this is similar behavior to what mine does before she lays her eggs. Again, this is just a guess. If you can give us some more info, we might be able to figure it out:
How long have you had these fish?
How old is your tank?
What are your tank parameters? (size, water tests, salinity, temperature, etc)
What do you run on your tank?
What else inhabits the tank?

 

[dethsight]

yes, this is definitely the female. she is about .5 X bigger than the male. they dont usually hang out over there, but i have seen them there together, just not frequently.
i have had the clownfish for 1 year and 3 months
my tank is 1 year and 4.5 months old
size: 55 gallon
water tests: my nitrates are very high right now. everything else is low. ammonia is at 0ppm, nitrite is at 0ppm, PH is at 8.0, and nitrate is at 80.
salinity: 1.022
temp: 78-80
filtration: a Rena Filstar Xp 2
other inhabitants: Porcupine Puffer, leopard spotted puffer (still very small), Lawnmower blenny, midas blenny, small yellow-tailed damsel, small blue damsel, red-spotted hawkfish. they have all be living peacefully together for a while. the newest would be the Midas Blenny. the clown fish did get very aggressive at the Midas Blenny when i first got him, but dont bother him at all now.
EDIT: added the test results.

 

[btldreef]

That's a crazy mix, and a lot of fish for a 55, and that alone could be the reason why your nitrates are so high. How often are you doing water changes? Watch that midas with the lawnmower, you're really not supposed to mix the two, so definitely keep an eye on that.
Is the male going over to this corner as well? With nitrates that high, it's unlikely that they'll spawn, so scratch that idea. I'd definitely keep an eye on this. A fish going up to the top of the water column like that usually suggests something is off in the water (more than just high nitrates). What test kits are you using? I'd do a water change to see if that helps at all.
Also, for the nitrate issue, having a canister filter can aid nitrate. Might be time to clean that sucker out as well.

 

[dethsight]

the Midas Blenny and Lawnmower Blenny have never chased each other or anything like that. the test kits are from API i believe. had them since last year. i did switch out 1 gallon of the tanks water with 2 gallons of R/O water a little bit ago. i would have done a 5-gallon change, but my funds are a bit low at the moment. should be able to get a 5 gallon water change tomorrow night. i have been neglecting the water changes for a while. i was just letting the water evaporate and re-filling it with R/O water. it just strikes me odd that the only fish that acts weird is the female clownfish. everyone else is breathing normally (which i always monitor since that was my first problem in my first 20 gallon SW tank.) of course, the Porcupine Puffer is always happy and shooting water at me cause he thinks i have shrimp for him. lol.
i will be cleaning out the filter tonight/tomorrow as well.

 

[dethsight]

well, the female clownfish is dead. went to check on her and she was prety much floating around and was badly banged up...i will be taking the 2 damsel's, midas blenny, and hawkfish down to the LFS.

 

[btldreef]

Quote:
Originally Posted by dethsight http:///forum/thread/386097/sick-clownfish#post_3389217
well, the female clownfish is dead. went to check on her and she was prety much floating around and was badly banged up...i will be taking the 2 damsel's, midas blenny, and hawkfish down to the LFS.
Probably a smart move. If the kits are a year old, they're no good, so definitely pick up new kits while you're there.
Sucks about the clownfish. I wish we could have figured out what was wrong.....

 

[dethsight]

well, i took a water sample in to the LFS and the nitrates were down to 36. still high, but not as bad as it was yesterday. but, since the tests were probably not accurate due to the age of the test kits...its a bit of a crap shoot..
i did get a chance to put a payment plan on a 150 gallon tank with a sump and the filtration media that goes into a sump. a 5 gallon bucket of bio-balls was in there too. i asked to make sure it had everything i would need besides the water and sand. it has everything but a pump, which he will put into the payment plan when i need to pick it up.
the tank is made of decently thick glass (much thicker than my 55 gallons glass, which is whatever the standard thickness is now-a-days), comes with a nice wooden stand, glass canopy and 2 sets of standard lights(i think). i think this should be much easier on the fish i have right now (midas blenny decided to hide in his rock when i was catching the hawkfish and 2 damsels, so he got to stay). so, my current fish are:
Porcupine Puffer
Leopard Puffer (small still)
Lawnmower Blenny
male clown fish
Midas Blenny.

 

[tangs rule]

Quote:
Originally Posted by dethsight http:///forum/thread/386097/sick-clownfish#post_3389214
the Midas Blenny and Lawnmower Blenny have never chased each other or anything like that. the test kits are from API i believe. had them since last year. i did switch out 1 gallon of the tanks water with 2 gallons of R/O water a little bit ago. i would have done a 5-gallon change, but my funds are a bit low at the moment. should be able to get a 5 gallon water change tomorrow night. i have been neglecting the water changes for a while. i was just letting the water evaporate and re-filling it with R/O water. it just strikes me odd that the only fish that acts weird is the female clownfish. everyone else is breathing normally (which i always monitor since that was my first problem in my first 20 gallon SW tank.) of course, the Porcupine Puffer is always happy and shooting water at me cause he thinks i have shrimp for him. lol.
i will be cleaning out the filter tonight/tomorrow as well.
FYI - the API nitrate kits are nortorious for reading quite high - like several times high, even when new. I've heard the salifert nitrate test is no good either. just about all the red sea kits are junk for saltwater. The seachem nitrate are supposedly okay. Sorry about the loss, but the 150 will be a BIG step up!

 

[dethsight]

Quote:
Originally Posted by tangs rule http:///forum/thread/386097/sick-clownfish#post_3389604
FYI - the API nitrate kits are nortorious for reading quite high - like several times high, even when new. I've heard the salifert nitrate test is no good either. just about all the red sea kits are junk for saltwater. The seachem nitrate are supposedly okay. Sorry about the loss, but the 150 will be a BIG step up!
yes, and a BIG dent in my wallet for the next 10 months lol. but, i knew that before hand. its for a good cause so i can live with myself

 

[tangs rule]

Quote:
Originally Posted by dethsight http:///forum/thread/386097/sick-clownfish#post_3389610
yes, and a BIG dent in my wallet for the next 10 months lol. but, i knew that before hand. its for a good cause so i can live with myself
LOL - that's what I tell myself about the 475g I just setup - word for word! ! talk about a BIG dent - about an $8000 dollar one. But its for a good cause so i can live with myself

I may end up all tied up in a little white room - writing obscene words in crayon with my feet before it's all over.

 

[dethsight]

Quote:
Originally Posted by tangs rule http:///forum/thread/386097/sick-clownfish#post_3389617
LOL - that's what I tell myself about the 475g I just setup - word for word! ! talk about a BIG dent - about an $8000 dollar one. But its for a good cause so i can live with myself

I may end up all tied up in a little white room - writing obscene words in crayon with my feet before it's all over.
haha. just got a 1400 dollar PC too. so now, tack on around 1100 for the whole kit and kabudle of the tank...thank goodness my dad has a credit line with dell that enabled me to get my new PC and pay him back as i go. still amazes me that if i didn't have a 55 tank set up before hand, it would have cost me MORE to get a tank set up than it would to get a new PC...just doesn't seem right lol.

 

[btldreef]

Quote:
Originally Posted by tangs rule http:///forum/thread/386097/sick-clownfish#post_3389604
FYI - the API nitrate kits are nortorious for reading quite high - like several times high, even when new. I've heard the salifert nitrate test is no good either. just about all the red sea kits are junk for saltwater. The seachem nitrate are supposedly okay. Sorry about the loss, but the 150 will be a BIG step up!
+1 I HATE the API Nitrate and Salifert Nitrate kits. HORRIBLE!
The SeaChem Nitrate/Nitrite combo test is the most accurate one I've come across. We've tested against the digital readers that Atlantis marine World uses and they're very accurate.

 

[dethsight]

i have some pics of the 150 gallon tank i am picking up tomorrow. i know this kinda strays from the "sick fish" topic, but if it needs to be moved to a different forum, thats fine