This Clown's Not Making Me Laugh

davidkonicek

davidkonicek

Member
I got a Percula Clownfish on May 24. I noticed these things yesterday -
5 Tiny white spots (bubbles or ich?)
Swimming in place, hovering right over the sand.
Breathing quite heavily for 2 or 3 days.
Eyes are not black around the edges.
Colors aren't as vibrant as they could be.
He was pretty much like that when I bought him except for maybe the white spots (they're very hard to see)
Today there are only a couple small white spots, so maybe it's not ich?
But then why is he not swimming around happily, and breathing so heavily?
He was acclimated well, water is in great condition, he eats ok, another percula has been happy in there for a month. Unfortunately, he seems scared of the cleaner shrimp.
Well, any ideas of what's wrong with just a heavily-breathing clown?
 
beth

beth

Administrator
Staff member
Take a look at the pictures of fish with ich, including clowns, in the Diseased Fish Thread at the top of the Disease Forum, to see if you can identify the problem.
 
davidkonicek

davidkonicek

Member
Yea, I took a look at that. They're helpful, but I'm a beginner and I'm not sure if this could be ich in the early stages...?
As for his color - could he just naturally be light? Because my other clown is darker than him. (The pic makes him just a little darker than he actually is)
Also, see how his white chin stripe on his left doesn't go all the way down - do you think he brushed into some rock at some point?
I found my camera - What do you think - Give it to me straight, Doc. Will he make it to Christmas?
 
davidkonicek

davidkonicek

Member
Man, now that I see it in a picture, it looks more like ich. uh oh
If it is ich should I pull him out of the tank as quick as I can?
I was thinking of just replacing him at the fish store because I would be completely new to treating a sick fish (if he is sick), and I wouldn't want to have him die.
 
sepulatian

sepulatian

Moderator
The picture does look like ich. Unfortunately, your entire tank is now infected and all of your fish have been exposed. Please read the information on hyposalinity in the Common Treatments FAQ. If you do not have much LR and LS it may be easier to remove that and your inverts into a tub and just hypo the display. It is not as hard as it may seem and we will walk you through the whole process. You said he is breathing fast. Can you please post your water parameters for us for ammonia, nitrite, nitrate, ph, SG, and temp? Is the fish eating?
 
davidkonicek

davidkonicek

Member
He died today. But yesterday he actually didn't have the white spots anymore. He never stopped eating, didn't look like there was anything wrong with him besides fast breathing. We took him to the fish store and they said he didn't have ich yesterday. We thought he might have been dying still and he was like that when we bought him a few days earlier, but they still wouldn't let us return or replace him...jerks
Water is -
Nitrites - 0
Nitrates - 0
Ammonia - 0
Temp - 78
SG - 1.023
pH - 8.2
 
clown boy

clown boy

Active Member
This is a poem in the remembrance of David's clown.
A colorful life he lived before he lay down,
And because he died, David Konicek
Will forever keep his problems in check.
~ Clown Boy
 
sepulatian

sepulatian

Moderator
Originally Posted by davidkonicek
He died today. But yesterday he actually didn't have the white spots anymore. He never stopped eating, didn't look like there was anything wrong with him besides fast breathing. We took him to the fish store and they said he didn't have ich yesterday. We thought he might have been dying still and he was like that when we bought him a few days earlier, but they still wouldn't let us return or replace him...jerks
Water is -
Nitrites - 0
Nitrates - 0
Ammonia - 0
Temp - 78
SG - 1.023
pH - 8.2
They are not jerks. You have a responsibility as an aquarist to quarantine your fish. I would not have given a refund either. Being there were no spots on the fish, that means that the ich have fed off of your fish that died and are now at the bottom of your tank, in the sand bed, about to reproduce in a week or less. You absolutely MUST either pull out your rocks and inverts or move your fish to treat them with hyposalinity.
 
clown boy

clown boy

Active Member
Originally Posted by davidkonicek
wow, you must actually know how to pronounce konicek
ha alright i'll have that put on his gravestone
Send me a picture of it when it is done!!!
 
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