Taniwha Posted March 31, 2006 Report Share Posted March 31, 2006 I know the stories about Clowns lying on their side and scaring the bejesus out of their naive owners (been there, done that). I am still bothered by their vertical swimming habit, nose up, against the glass. They are spending the whole day like this and it just doesn't seem right when 2 weeks ago we were complaining that we never see them. They don't appear to be eating anything either. Previously when we lost 2 clowns a day after each other we dosed with Fluran and had miraculous results on the remaining clowns so we thought we would try that again but hasn't had the same effect. I know there are mixed opinions of the Fluran t/ment for Clowns but that is what my LFS suggested. Any experience of clown behaviour would be gratefully received. P.s. Water parameters are perfect. We have 200l tank and change the water 2 weekly (30%).....shud we look at weekly changes and more? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sharn Posted April 1, 2006 Report Share Posted April 1, 2006 you mean furan 2? clowns are scaleless so need half doses normally, but in saying that plecs are scaleless to and catfish experts have used double on them. but better to play safe i say you water changes seem fine, are you aging it first or using dechlorinator? do you mix it to the right temp or add any chemicals to adjust ph etc at that time? im not sure about the swimming sorry, i know they can be wierd but that doesnt sound right. what exactly were you treating them with furan for? hope more can be along to help you soon! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Luke* Posted April 1, 2006 Report Share Posted April 1, 2006 Mine often swim in the corner of the tank nose up like that, but not 'all' day. Do you have shrimp pellets to feed them with? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Taniwha Posted April 2, 2006 Author Report Share Posted April 2, 2006 The Furan was preventative. I use filtered water which removes the chlorine. They seem a little more elusive today which is more in keeping with their 'normal' habitat. It's nice to hear that someone else has clowns that adopt this posture from time to time. I will definitely try shrimp pellets because they don't seem terribly interested in the worms. Thanks, this has been most reassuring. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Luke* Posted April 2, 2006 Report Share Posted April 2, 2006 I would not treat if nothing is wrong, especially with sensitive clowns. Don't fix what ain't broke, sounds like it has cost you 2 clowns and 2 poor clowns their lives. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Taniwha Posted April 2, 2006 Author Report Share Posted April 2, 2006 Thanks for your bluntness....not. In my defence I did check with my local and she recommended the treatment. Both times I have done this was recommended to me and at no time was it mentioned to me that this stuff could be detrimental to my clowns....I only learnt that here, in the forum, after the 2nd dose. Luke you make it sound like I murdered my granny.... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sharn Posted April 2, 2006 Report Share Posted April 2, 2006 hey hey guys, dont get ya backs up! to be honest taniwha most pet shops dont know jack poop when it comes to fish and will just sell you what they can to get your money, its the way it goes and i often have to wait for people outside shops to tell them what they got told is pure bull poop (does that seem like im a stalker haha). any good shop assistant knows to ask if you have any 'scaleless' fish in a tank when treating with meds and its a shame they couldnt do that, plecos, clowns, khulis etc are all super sensitive to meds. not digging at ya and its good you found out for future reference aye as a rule you normally on do half dose on a tank with scaleless fish and if that wont effect the thing your treating for on the other fish you may need to remove them so you can use a full dose (that didnt make much sence did it lol) but like luke said, no need to treat if there isnt problems, its pretty stressful to fish. clowns are notorious for getting ich (white spot/ick), were you treating in preventitive for that, if not anything in particular? if it was white spot thats pretty easy to get rid of, up the temp to around 28C (if the other fish can handle that) and dose the tank with a 1tbsp per 40L of salt which kills the ich when it becomes free swimming, normally have to keep it like that for a week or two to kill anything ya missed. just got to remember- salt doesnt evaporate so dont keep dosing, the only way to remove it is via water changes and at that time you replace any you took out ie 20L is half a tbsp. this might not even be the prob lol but just a wee bit more for that brain to store away if you ever encounter it. you want to try keep your tank as med free as possible IMO, keep the water healthy and thatll keep the fish happy and give them a better chance of fighting off anything they may get Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Taniwha Posted April 2, 2006 Author Report Share Posted April 2, 2006 Okay, deep breath......the clowns looked (yes, 2 died) great, no irregularities. They were swimming irregularly, breathing rapidly and did not move at all when I approached them with a net. They havn't been eating either and the reading I did tonight suggested Tb? I have one surviving clown loach.....I am expecting him not to survive the night. I shall mention it next time to my local about the meds, see what they say...or drive further and try someone else. Time for a cuppa and light reflection.... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sharn Posted April 2, 2006 Report Share Posted April 2, 2006 with tb from what ive read (thought i had a neon with that) they get pretty deformed and can get sores on their bodies? they may have been badly affected by meds or maybe there is something wrong with them, im not sure. sorry i cant help you more, i hope you clown pulls thru! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LYNDYLOO Posted April 2, 2006 Report Share Posted April 2, 2006 Hi Taniwha, Really Sorry to hear you are having a bad run with your Clown Loaches, I have 4 Clown Loaches and they to every now and then swim up and down the side of the tank in just the same way that you are discribing yours to be doing. You could try doing more water changes, my clown loaches love the new water, makes them go quite nutty really, and as for meds, as Sharn and Luke have said PLEASE BE CAREFUL, as scaleless fishys in my opinion, can be Killed by dosing with meds that are to strong for them. I only use Meds as a very last resort. Anyways do hope your last surviving Loach will pull through. Please keep us posted on how he is doing. Lynda Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Caryl Posted April 3, 2006 Report Share Posted April 3, 2006 How long has the tank been set up Taniwha? Clown loaches also prefer a matured tank 6 months+. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
whetu Posted April 4, 2006 Report Share Posted April 4, 2006 Awww Taniwha, sorry to hear about the loss of your loaches Until I read that, I was going to say their swimming pattern was not unusual... I have a clown loach that I named 'Loopy' because it used to swim up and down the glass, round and round the thermometer. How is the last loach faring? Any other symptoms? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Taniwha Posted April 11, 2006 Author Report Share Posted April 11, 2006 Relatively new tank...approaching the 6 month mark. We have one remaining Clown I'm happy to say and displaying none of the erratic swimming that theothers did. My peppered cory was very quiet too but has resumed 'normalcy'. All is well except for the loss of the female fighter. She never did look wonderful and I wonder if she brought what was ever wrong with her....a friend who bought one from the same shop died as well. Thanks for asking....we'll keep everything stable for awhile and try purchasing fish elsewhere. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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