Clown fish in Trouble!

OMG!!!

I added my first two clownfish in my 38 gallon today and one of the clownfish is not swimming and is just laying at the bottom breathing heavily.....I dont know what is wrong. Please advise!

Parameters

Salinity: 1024
PH: 8.2
Nitrite 0
Ammonia 0
Nitrate 15

 

how did you acclimate them? get them from an lfs?

 

yep I got them from a lfs.
I acclimated them by letting the bag float for 15 minutes.
Then I opened the bag a bit and slowly let the water from tank go into the bag.

This is was the instructions on the big al bag but I got them from another lfs.

 

which lfs did you get them from? did you do that often? also did you then pour all the water in your tank?

 

I waited for 5 minutes after the bag was full and then I poured them in. I got them at Sea U Marine. One seems to be doing okay but the other was like..lying on the ground. the one that was lying on the ground, I put into a bucket with just saltwater and it is swimming around okay (atleast its what it looks like)

 

I think I see two possible issues:

1 - 15 minutes is not very much time to acclimate. Personally I acclimated my pair of clowns for 75 minutes(I pour a 1/2 cup of water into the bag every 5 mins while it sits in the tank, but the drip method is the best) and gave them a quick freshwater dip for 30ish seconds. I also make sure to clean the bag off before putting it into my tank.

2 - This probably has no affect on the clown's health but letting the water from the tank seep into your bag will most likely result in some water mixing into the tank from the bag which is very bad. You could end up introducing parasites or diseases into your tank by doing so. I use a measuring cup to do my acclimation, but again the drip method if you can set it up works great.

good luck, I hope the clownie is ok!

 

1st, dont pour the other tanks water in your tank. dont know whats in there. i find the drip acclimation is the best, usually about half hour to 45 mins. did you pick the fish out yourself? inspect it? get them to feed it? for it to go that fast , its either the quick acclimation or coulda been a bad fish to begin with , and your tank params are ok .especially since the other one is fine.. do you have good water circulation?

also, wheres sea u marine? i havent heard of it.

 

Sea U Marine - Marine Aquariums Is the site for it. Well, the store looks very professional and they were having a sale on ocel for 9.99 each so I didnt get to pick. They looked quite healthy though, without any sign of illness. And it is starting to twitch in the bucket without moving now. I have 2x Koriala 1s but it looked like they were struggling to swim so I turned off 1 and left the other one on.

Here is a video of the two fish. I put the one twitching on the sandbed into a bucket with just saltwater.: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xTGte3LI1iM

Here is a picture of the clownfish that is twitching on the sandbed.

 

thnx flazky , never knew of that store. will go check them out. clowns are usually very hardy, hopefully it pulls through. youve got it seperated now? if its just in a bucket, you will have to watch the temp doesnt drop too much, and will have to oxygenate the water too.

 

Oh my goodness now its twitching in the bucket....@_@...