Clownfish tail rot =(

[yheartsp]

I just purchase a claarki clownfish with a tail rot yesterday! it just arrived at the shop ( haven't mixed with other fishes yet ) so i thought i would buy it as it would have less risk of bacteria..
After i found out it has tail rot the next day i went to the LFS and they suggested some herbal anti fungus treatment. This fish is not very active , swims around but likes to stay at the bottom corner of the tank. the breathing rate is normal and it seems to be looking for food .

i did a partial water change 25 percent before i introduced the fish to my newly cycled tank with a damsel inside.
current water parameters are
ammonia 0.2
nitrite 0
nitrate 0.2
sg 1.022

i have added stress zyme after the water change yesterday so i expect the ammonia to decrease.. i haven't tried feeding it yet. is there anything else i can do for my fish? ( i have melafix and interpet anti bacteria )

update : the tail looks abit worse now..but ammonia has dropped to 0 - 0.1.. somebody help!

[yheartsp]

this is the updated picture take around 8 hours after the first ones
and if i'm not wrong , it seems to be scrapping it's body against hard objects!

[leebca]

Well, to begin with, marine fish don't go into aquarium systems that show even a trace of ammonia and/or nitrites. The system is not matured enough to hold fish. I think you should read this closely:
Setting Up a FOWLR Aquarium

The chemical/additive you're using is not very good at controlling or eliminating ammonia. It is an attempt to bandage a problem, rather than solve it and that is usually a waste of time and money.

The fish needs to be put into absolutely pristine and high quality water with no trace of ammonia nor nitrite.

The fin rot is caused by bacteria as you suspect. The fish however can usually handle such bacteria when it is both properly nourished and in proper quality of water. So get the water quality right first.

Then, get the fish eating the proper foods. Put the fish into quarantine and treat with an antibiotic. I don't know the medications you have there in your country. Here we would use Maracyn Two for Saltwater fishes for this problem. The treatment must be done in a quarantine tank.

If you detect ANY ammonia, perform a very large (over 80%) water change. This you may have to do two or three times every day. Follow guidelines here for those large water changes: How to Make a Successful Water Change

Follow the directions on the medication. Stop putting other additives into the system. Let your aquarium repair itself and mature. Follow the setting up process in the above referenced post before you put any fish into that system again.

If you don't have a quarantine place, then return the fish to the LFS and let your tank get old.

[yheartsp]

omg thank god you replied! lol
the ammonia and nitrite both dropped to zero few hours after i tested and the fish is eating very well actually. i've added some vitamins to his pellets too.
i have put him in a separate tank and added some herbal anti fungus + anti bacteria by oceanfree which is recommended by the shopkeeper. she mentioned that maracyn and melafix is very strong. can i add melafix instead if the tail is not getting better by tomorrow?

[yheartsp]

omg thank god you replied! lol
the ammonia and nitrite both dropped to zero few hours after i tested and the fish is eating very well actually. i've added some vitamins to his pellets too.
i have put him in a separate tank and added some herbal anti fungus + anti bacteria by oceanfree which is recommended by the shopkeeper. she mentioned that maracyn and melafix is very strong. can i add melafix instead if the tail is not getting better by tomorrow?

i'm feeding him spectrum thera pellets soaked in vitamin, is that okay? is the tail going to heal? he seems to have a hard time balancing because the tail tends to go up..

[leebca]

Hard to say about recovery. You wrote that the fish came into the shop like this. This is a fish you should not have taken home to your aquarium until it was absolutely healthy -- at the LFS.

There could be other things wrong with the fish, so it is also hard to say what all may be going on. For the time, treat for the fin rot which is a bacterial infection. Avoid using Melafix or Pimafix. (Read this: Melafix and Pimafix - How They Work and Don't Work).

You must use an antibiotic formulated specifically for marine fishes.

Don't feed pellets nor flakes. Feed prepared frozen foods containing marine algae and whole marine animals. Other raw foods include: chopped squid; chopped shrimp tail, chopped scallop meat; mysis shrimp; brine shrimp gut loaded with spirulina (feed this no more than once out of every 7 feedings); and marine plankton (chopped if too large for the fish).

Read this post and take its recommendations for feeding an omnivore fish: Feeding Marine Fish and Fish Nutrition Remember, this fish needs to eat meaty foods AND macro algae.

[yheartsp]

oh no the only frozen thing i have is blood worms.. i saw some frozen krills and frozen brine shrimps at the LFS just now. they should be fine right? i'll get them the first thing tmrw as it is night here. so as long as the immune system in the fish is strong enough, the fish can heal without the need of maracyn 2?

[leebca]

When the bacteria has progressed far enough to display fin/tail rot, the fish can't recover without medication.

You might consider making your own food. I know in some places it is hard to find frozen prepared foods. However, if you are serious about keeping marine fishes, making your own food may be something you'll have to do. A diet of just brine shrimp, flakes, and/or pellets will not provide enough nutrition to the fish for a long captive life.

Bloodworms are land animals. Marine fish are on a strict seafood diet. However, one feeding of bloodworms for every 14 meals is okay.

Are there any places that can ship frozen marine fish foods to you? It will be very expensive, I imagine. It must be shipped so it will stay frozen and still be frozen when it arrives.

[yheartsp]

yeah i think most LFS here have frozen marine food. i'll go check out the stores tomorrow. have you heard of ocean free an bacteria? i am contemplating whether or not to change it to maracyn 2. and regarding the chopped shrimp tail. do u mean the part of the meat that is close to the tail ? also, i have to remove the exoskeleton of the shrimp first before feeding it to the fish if i intend to prepare the food myself right?

[leebca]

Not heard of "Ocean Free an Bacteria."

Just the raw meat portion of the shrimp tail -- the part most humans eat cooked in a shrimp cocktail. No skeleton, no head.

You may wish to read more on making your own food:
Melevsreef.com - Make your own fish food

[yheartsp]

Thanks alot for the information lee i've been reading alot on clownfish nutrition lately. sadly the fish passed away this morning.. based on the symptoms its 99 percent brooklynella