sick clown fish, need ideas quick

Steverino · 06/19/2007, 07:17 AM

I rescued a clown, I am pretty sure it is a false Perc, from a friend who is shutting down a tank. I am guessing the removal of rock and other fish, stirring it up, whatever has made things bad for this fish. Maybe the water was getting bad. My friend could not catch him until towards the end of the shutdown (3+ days) as he sold off the contents.
He has part of his caudal tail fin looks like a semi-circle has been chuncked out of it. One eye is clouded over white. The tail fin is not red on the edges, it is clean, except I thought it had one white bump on the edge, but it looks gone this AM. So I have it in a little 15 gallon tank. I have a 25 gallon tank with just live rock and a couple coral frags, so I put a couple pieces of live rock and caulerpa and live sand/crushed coral in the 15 gallon as a hospital tank. So now I am wondering what meds does this guy need?

Idlemind · 06/19/2007, 06:58 PM

Might be brook?

Slakker · 06/19/2007, 07:51 PM

Do NOT use rock, sand, or algae in a hospital tank. It messes up any treatment you could possibly use and will kill all of the life on the rock. Clear that stuff out of the tank and buy some larger diameter PVC joints to put in there. It will give the clown places to hide without harboring parasites or absorbing meds.

For now just give the little guy good water quality, make sure he's eating well (Cyclopeeze, Mysis, Spirulina Enriched Brine are all good choices) and watch him. It does NOT sound like Brooklynella to me, but if you see heavy slime coat, white spots, or any other visible signs of illness, you'll need to take action.

Steverino · 06/28/2007, 10:52 AM

I've got the tank stripped down, just a skimmer and a circulating powerhead. and some pipes to hide in. The water is pristine as far as I can tell, pH is at 8.3, temp is hovering around 80, no signs of ammonia, Nitrates, nitrites. His caudal fin appears to have stopped deteriorating, the edge is clean although it has the initial chunk missing. His eye is a little better, still has a cloudy white cover to it. I can see a little white edge to his dorsal fin. What can I treat him with? He seems happy and is swimming around, eats well, veggie flake and mysis and brine shrimp. The only outward symptom are the white edge of possible deterioration caudal, and white clouding on one eye. No ich spots on the body, nothing on the gills. Any ideas?

MarinaP · 06/28/2007, 02:55 PM

Your friend injured the clown trying to catch it. I bet you he used a net. The clown should heal on its' own in a couple of weeks.

Cloudy eye might turn into a popeye, but that problem will resolve itself.

Fins might or might not grow back.

Steverino · 06/28/2007, 04:11 PM

What has me concerned is that I did not see this white edge on the dorsal fin until yesterday. That appears to be a new symptom. I have had this fish about 10 days now.
I change the water with Instant Ocean salt, and have been keeping it at about 1.024 to 1.025. I was planning to change about 1/4 of it every week from here on out, unless I see some sort of parameter change.

06/19/2007, 07:17 AM	#1
Steverino Registered Member Join Date: Sep 2006 Location: western Chicagoland, IL Posts: 1,114	sick clown fish, need ideas quick I rescued a clown, I am pretty sure it is a false Perc, from a friend who is shutting down a tank. I am guessing the removal of rock and other fish, stirring it up, whatever has made things bad for this fish. Maybe the water was getting bad. My friend could not catch him until towards the end of the shutdown (3+ days) as he sold off the contents. He has part of his caudal tail fin looks like a semi-circle has been chuncked out of it. One eye is clouded over white. The tail fin is not red on the edges, it is clean, except I thought it had one white bump on the edge, but it looks gone this AM. So I have it in a little 15 gallon tank. I have a 25 gallon tank with just live rock and a couple coral frags, so I put a couple pieces of live rock and caulerpa and live sand/crushed coral in the 15 gallon as a hospital tank. So now I am wondering what meds does this guy need?

06/19/2007, 07:51 PM	#3
Slakker Premium Member Join Date: Dec 2006 Location: Southeastern Wisconsin Posts: 4,521	Do NOT use rock, sand, or algae in a hospital tank. It messes up any treatment you could possibly use and will kill all of the life on the rock. Clear that stuff out of the tank and buy some larger diameter PVC joints to put in there. It will give the clown places to hide without harboring parasites or absorbing meds. For now just give the little guy good water quality, make sure he's eating well (Cyclopeeze, Mysis, Spirulina Enriched Brine are all good choices) and watch him. It does NOT sound like Brooklynella to me, but if you see heavy slime coat, white spots, or any other visible signs of illness, you'll need to take action. __________________ -Tyler Oceanic 58RR display/20H sump/fuge thread...follow the red house. Current Tank Info: Oceanic 58g, 20H sump, AquaC EV-150, 175w Hamilton 14k + 2x39w T5HO Actinics

06/28/2007, 02:55 PM	#5
MarinaP Registered Member Join Date: Oct 2002 Location: Northern VA Posts: 3,489	Your friend injured the clown trying to catch it. I bet you he used a net. The clown should heal on its' own in a couple of weeks. Cloudy eye might turn into a popeye, but that problem will resolve itself. Fins might or might not grow back. __________________ Marina

06/19/2007, 06:58 PM	#2
Idlemind Registered Member Join Date: May 2007 Location: Glasgow, Scotland Posts: 37	Might be brook?

06/28/2007, 10:52 AM	#4
Steverino Registered Member Join Date: Sep 2006 Location: western Chicagoland, IL Posts: 1,114	I've got the tank stripped down, just a skimmer and a circulating powerhead. and some pipes to hide in. The water is pristine as far as I can tell, pH is at 8.3, temp is hovering around 80, no signs of ammonia, Nitrates, nitrites. His caudal fin appears to have stopped deteriorating, the edge is clean although it has the initial chunk missing. His eye is a little better, still has a cloudy white cover to it. I can see a little white edge to his dorsal fin. What can I treat him with? He seems happy and is swimming around, eats well, veggie flake and mysis and brine shrimp. The only outward symptom are the white edge of possible deterioration caudal, and white clouding on one eye. No ich spots on the body, nothing on the gills. Any ideas?

06/28/2007, 04:11 PM	#6
Steverino Registered Member Join Date: Sep 2006 Location: western Chicagoland, IL Posts: 1,114	What has me concerned is that I did not see this white edge on the dorsal fin until yesterday. That appears to be a new symptom. I have had this fish about 10 days now. I change the water with Instant Ocean salt, and have been keeping it at about 1.024 to 1.025. I was planning to change about 1/4 of it every week from here on out, unless I see some sort of parameter change.