Clown Fish Issue

[LabNGliderMom]

We got 2 Oscellaris clown fish on February 11th

They both refused to eat until February 17th or so (all we had been told to feed was OSI Spirulina flake - they would bump it with their noses but refused to eat it)

they were neutotic - mainly the female - fromt he start (up-down-up-down in a corner or on their sides at the surface and didn't seem to want to explore or host to anything.

We found out they had been in someone's tank for a while and that person started college, felt the tank was too much of a burden, tore it down and gave the fish to the LFS we bought from - so we thought maybe they fed something different and the fish needed a change - went back to the LFS and bought Pemysis frozen, Hakiari Marine A pellets, and the tiny pellets they are "given as babies" were given to us in sample form to try as well.

Have since seen male eat but still not seen female eat - she may have, but not in front of us.

Female is currently listing to the right, floating or lying on the bottom on her side, appears to be "gasping" and tries to swim but always seems too tired and floats back down, often (as stated) listing to the right. The CBS attack her when she gets too close and sometimes ahe ends up under a rock shelf for awhile before making it back out. The current just grabs her if she gets too close and blows her about like a leaf int he wind.

All other life in the aquarium is fine - the other clown, the hippo, etc are all eating and swimming with no issues... though the male clown still doesn't seem all that interested in the food, he does eat some (hippo eats like a pig the minute ANY food hits the tank) and he is not acting like the female at all.

Could this be a swim bladder issue? Could this have been something wrong before we got her (int he store they were doing the corner thing also and would go nowhere else int he tank)? Is something else wrong? What can I do about it?

Tank details:

• 55 gallon tempered glass
• Deep Blue Solarmax Xtreme 48" light system with acintics and LEDs (white: 7 hours, acintics: 9 hours, LEDs on constant)
• we use sea water with R/O refills as needed
• PSK-75 Protein skimmer
• Koralia 425 gph and 750 evolution pumps
• carbon in nylon filter bag
• Eshopps overflow box and other piping and equip.
• 5 pieces Florida live rock covered in various small soft corals and sponges
• 3 pieces base rock
• 2 feather dusters
• 1 hippo tang
• 2 oscellaris clowns
• 2 different open brain soft coral species, 1 toadstool leather, 1 green star polyp, and various other soft coral frags
• 5 blue leg hermits
• 15 Atlantic Astrea snails
• 1 mated pair of coral banded snails

And yes - we are new to this - tank only about a month or so old - we know we need more cleaner crew members but have not gone to pick them up yet - our LFS is almost 2 hours from us as we are in BFE so we only go to the LFS on the weekends
here is a link to pics of us from start to finish - the last several are today and the female clown's issue - and I will try to post a video if it ever uploads to photobucket properly

http://photos1.walmart.com/walmart/t..._NAME=walmart/

[leebca]

I'm surprised to read that this tank, with all this life in it, is a month old. Was it setup and running before you acquired it? Did you start this tank from 'scratch?'

Who is providing you with or where are you getting guidance on the hobby?

I don't see any water chemistry tests. I'd like to know:
ammonia
nitrite
pH
salinity
temperature range
alkalinity
calcium
magnesium
phosphate

What kind of acclimation procedure do you use? By your description of them at some point being 'babies' does this mean they were tank bred or tank raised? What kind of maintenance do you do for the tank? Water changes? Clean up? etc. What kind of filtration do you have on the tank? chemical? biological? mechanical?

If the fish had issues at the store, then it was on you to have discovered this. This is a good guide on how to acquire new fish: Is The Fish Healthy?

I wouldn't venture into a diagnosis without additional information. I appreciate what you have provided, but I'm unsure about the age of the tank question, the water test results and whether or not the fish were ill when you acquired them. The latter is a possibility considering your observation of them at the LFS.

Regarding food: Not pellets and flakes are about the worse choice. For information regarding pellet, flake, and disc foods, check under the heading of Flake, Pellet, Stick, and Disk Foods in the post: Fish Health through Proper Nutrition. The rest of that post is worth reading.

There are many topics I am unsure you may or may not know about, so I need to learn more about just what you do know. Look at this post of links: Table/Contents - Link List Do you know about those kinds of things?

For now, the best is to remove the female fish with the problems and put her in a hospital tank. This may be hard to do. In this hobby, the most successful hobbyists use a quarantine system. The fish you acquired would not be put into the display until they were eating and found to be healthy and ready for 'meeting' the other fishes.

It may well be a bladder or more generally, an internal infection. In this case, she would need a treatment with an antibiotic that goes through the skin. I would treat her with a double dose (double the recommended dosage) of Maracyn Two for Saltwater fishes. Maracyn Two for freshwater fishes can also be used of the other can't be found.

For more help or guidance, a lot more information is needed. Good luck!