I have a 46 gallon saltwater tank.The clownfish has been sitting at the bottom of the tank, not eating.?

Question

I have had the tank for about 1 month and he has been normal..his tank mates are a larger clown (Oscellaris), longnose hawk, a royal gramma and a milk sleeper goby. The little clownfish hasn't eaten all day,doesn't seem interested and is resting on the bottom. He seems to be breathing rapidly. Any suggestions. Tank chemical all checked normal and all the other fish appear normal.

Answer 1

Were ammonia and nitrates among the water tests? Were you using a kit made specifically for saltwater?

Another possibility is that the larger clownfish is being a bully. Were these introduced at the same time? Once, I made the mistake of getting a new ocellaris after the male in my pair died. The female picked on the new fish so much, I had to keep them in separate tanks.

Answer 2

Freshwater or saltwater, it doesn't matter. Anytime a fish is not swimming normally and seems to be breathing rapidly, there is something wrong with the fish or the water. Sounds like he is the first one to be affected by water quality going bad.

Do you do regular weekly partial water changes? If not, then your water quality is probably pretty bad even though it is a large tank.

What tests do you do? How is your salinity? 1.025 is normal for a marine tank. Any variance will cause problems. Saltwater must be kept absolutely perfect as far as water quality because the fish are so much more delicate than freshwater fish.

Remember, saltwater is easy to get started, but VERY hard to maintain. Freshwater is HARD to get started, but easy to maintain (just regular partial water changes).