Sick Clownfish. Dropsy?

[nikkifro8994]

I think my female false perc clownfish has dropsy. She is staying on the bottom. She keeps trying to move but not going anywhere. Her head is on the ground and her back end keeps floating up. She was fine this morning when I fed her. I got home this afternoon and found her laying on he bottom struggling to move. No clamped fins, but she's breathing very heavily. The male clown and the hermit crab are fine. I check water stats. Ammonia .25, nitrite 0, nitrate over 80. I did a 20% water change. I'm mixing more water now and will do a 40% when it's done mixing. I'll post new test results after. I think she either has dropsy or nitrate poisoning. Most likely dropsy because the smaller clown isn't showing any signs of illness.

 

[ech0o]

You can certainly do more than 20% WC's when the occasion calls for it.   Loaches are fairly sensitive to water quality as they are scaleless fish, ANY amount of ammonia is terrible for them, and I suspect if you are seeing a small spike, there must be an underlying issue behind it.   How long has your tank been cycled?
 
When you do water changes are you using a gravel vacuum to remove any leftover waste or food as well?
 
Dropsy is not a condition, I have heard it referred to as a disease many times and it indeed is a symptom of another underlying issue.  If your fish has dropsy there is an underlying issue causing it, water conditions, bacterial infection, parasitic infection.   
 
NItrate poisoning does not usually occur at the levels in which your test indicates.  I would be more concerned about the signs of ammonia in the water, and if water quality returns to perfect, then I would exhaust other means of treatment, IE anti-parasitic or anti-biotic drugs.   Prazi and Metro are great for anti-parasitic treatments, and when given in the fishes food, has nearly no ill side effects even for healthy fish.   I now treat ALL of my new fish with a 7 day food regimen of anti-parasitics because the parasites are plentiful at my fish stores, and i've never had one fish react badly to the treatment.

 

[ech0o]

As a little test, do you happen to have any seachem prime around?  I would overdose the crap out of your tank with some Prime, and see if your fish responds at all, if you saw a positive response, then for sure its a water quality issue, otherwise it would surely be infection!

 

[Lillefishy]

Your nitrates are way too high, you need to get them as low as possible, that's probably the cause of your sick clown plus the ammonia

Do at least a 50% water change, larger if you can

As a little test, do you happen to have any seachem prime around?  I would overdose the crap out of your tank with some Prime, and see if your fish responds at all, if you saw a positive response, then for sure its a water quality issue, otherwise it would surely be infection!

This is a saltwater tank they have the problem with

 

[nikkifro8994]

It's a saltwater clownfish, not a loach. I did a 20% WC because that's all the water I had on hand. I did a 40% 10 minutes ago and I'm mixing more water for another 40%. That will total 100% and should bring the nitrate back down. I haven't tested the water from the second change yet.

 

[ech0o]

LOL what was i reading, hahaha... anyways it was in the freshwater/brackish forum which might explain my confusion!!!   Anyhow, some of that information is still prevalent!!! If your fish doesn't get better with nitrates lowered, it may be diseased!!

 

[nikkifro8994]

She is a little more active and trying to swim. She can get off the ground but can't stay balanced. She flips over like a dolphin would. I did a 20% and 2 40% changes. Nitrates are still above 40 but less than 80. I can't do another change until tomorrow afternoon. I ran out of salt. I'll do a 100% change and drip acclimate the fish tomorrow.

 

[nikkifro8994]

She died. I got home at 8:00 tonight and she was just sitting by the filter, breathing heavily. Her gills were swollen and she couldn't move. 10 minutes later she was gone and the snails were on her. When I left at 5:30 she looked ok, she was just swimming weird. I got home at 8 and she was trying to swim upside down. She was also covered in white mucus and lost almost all of her color.
 
The male clownfish seems perfectly fine. I will keep a close eye on him this week. Is there anything I should do to prevent the male from getting whatever the female had? I'll do a 100% water change tomorrow to get rid of the nitrate. Should I be fine with just that?

 

[nikkifro8994]

http/www.flickr.com/photos/72370440@N08/9233237281/