hammons.david Posted February 2, 2015 Share Posted February 2, 2015 Hi, I have two clownfish and one of them won't come out of their sleeping den. It is still alive but it has been in there for two days. Does anybody know why it is like that. Thanks Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Timfish Posted February 3, 2015 Share Posted February 3, 2015 Sometimes a fish is shyer than a species reputation but if this is new behaviour It could have something wrong with it (and it can take months to years for some problems to present themselves). How long have you had them? If they've been together for a couple years and it's the smaller one of the pair you could be seeing a male trying to prove he's able to take care of eggs and is just keeping an area clean. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gig 'em @ NDstructible Posted February 3, 2015 Share Posted February 3, 2015 I would say he's still a bit shy at this point. If he continues not to come out for a couple weeks I would only start to worry then. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hammons.david Posted February 3, 2015 Author Share Posted February 3, 2015 I have had them as a pair for 1.5 years and he is the smaller one so could he be preparing for eggs? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FarmerTy Posted February 3, 2015 Share Posted February 3, 2015 Mine will hide behind the anemone in preparation for the eggs for a week or so. He'll come out and feed here and there but it seems like his focus is prep for the eggs. Usually when I see that however, the female is also prepping the area. If they both aren't doing it to some degree, I would suspect the male is ill. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hammons.david Posted February 3, 2015 Author Share Posted February 3, 2015 I got a few glances of him and I saw his mouth moving fast like he is gulping. At night they both go to their den to sleep, just the female comes out in the mourning. What does it look like when the male is preparing the area for eggs. All my fish and corals are doing fine. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FarmerTy Posted February 3, 2015 Share Posted February 3, 2015 Mine just keeps scraping at the rocks, clearing an area to lay eggs. Sometimes his mouth will be white from the activity. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hammons.david Posted February 3, 2015 Author Share Posted February 3, 2015 I think my clownfish might sick, do you know of any disease that involves the clown's mouth moving a lot. Thanks Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FarmerTy Posted February 3, 2015 Share Posted February 3, 2015 Ich, brooklynella, marine ich, and gill flukes are some of what I can think of that can cause rapid breathing. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hammons.david Posted February 3, 2015 Author Share Posted February 3, 2015 Does the brooklynella or the gill flukes require treatment or will he heal by himself. I don't see any spots but I do have a reef safe ick treatment so I could just do that in case. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FarmerTy Posted February 3, 2015 Share Posted February 3, 2015 I don't think either heal themselves and would need treatment, but I'll defer to others experiences as I am not an expert on fish diseases. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Timfish Posted February 3, 2015 Share Posted February 3, 2015 If you have any of the above mentioned parasites you'll need to research the treatment methods. But like Ty pointed out there are multiple things that can cause rapid breathing and it's not realistic to guess on just that one symptom. A really good look at the clown and A history of what you've added recently and your quarantine process would really be helpful. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hammons.david Posted February 3, 2015 Author Share Posted February 3, 2015 I added a diamond goby a month ago. for my quarantine process I put the bag in the fish tank to get the right temp. then I drip my tank water in the bag for 30 min them I put the organism in the tank. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FarmerTy Posted February 3, 2015 Share Posted February 3, 2015 David, that would be more of an acclimation process. You did a good job of acclimating the fish to the water so it isn't shocked by the change in water parameters. To quarantine a fish, you have to isolate in its own tank first and observe it for a couple days while trying to get it to eat. Treatment of any observed diseases can occur at this time as well since you will only be treating the tank it's in and not the whole display tank. This allows you to keep your fishes in the main display from picking up any new diseases from newly introduced fish. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gig 'em @ NDstructible Posted February 3, 2015 Share Posted February 3, 2015 If you can safely remove the clownfish from the tank without stressing it out or all the other fish, and QT him in a separate tank where you can monitor his health and potentially treat for a disease if you can diagnose, I would do that.Better to remove him now just in case than to let him potentially spread a disease to the other fish in the tank. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JCAB Posted February 3, 2015 Share Posted February 3, 2015 I looked online and one thing that came up frequently was lack of oxygen in the water (although it seems that more than the one fish would be affected)...but just in case, I thought I'd mention it. I'm not sure what your current set up is, but be sure that your power head is agitating the surface so there is sufficient gas exchange, or you have a skimmer running, or a trickle filter, etc. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hammons.david Posted February 3, 2015 Author Share Posted February 3, 2015 I have had the clownfish for 3 years, but I should have quarantined the diamond goby. I noticed yesterday that he was a little bigger than my other clownfish but I didn't pay any attention now today when I got home he is around .5 in wide. He is still in his sleeping den and swimming around but he got a lot wider. what does it look like when a clown is pregnant. thanks Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hammons.david Posted February 3, 2015 Author Share Posted February 3, 2015 Also for the time the two clownfish have been together sometimes they start twitching is that a sign of breeding? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
YeetPopper Posted February 4, 2015 Share Posted February 4, 2015 I'm sorry for your loss, David. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FarmerTy Posted February 4, 2015 Share Posted February 4, 2015 I don't any fish has died Yeetpopper. A picture is worth a 1,000 words David. Have one you can share? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hammons.david Posted February 4, 2015 Author Share Posted February 4, 2015 The clownfish did die yesterday ( sorry I didn't inform ) I think it died of the bloated clownfish disease. It finally came out of its den but it was too late. Next time ( if there is one ) I will know what is happening and I can feed the clownfish some peas. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FarmerTy Posted February 5, 2015 Share Posted February 5, 2015 Oops, sorry, didn't realize it had passed. Sorry for the loss David. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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