Clowns are so skinny=/

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MHcblues119

MHcblues119

Peacock Bass
MFK Member
Mar 28, 2007
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Essex, New Jersey
So heres a long story short. about a year ago i took a break from fishkeeeping and kinda forgot about my fish=/ i cleaned the tanks avout once a month and never fed them. i had a school of 8 CL in my 55g tank and after the break there were only 3 left=/...so yeh...but now im fullsteam back into the hobby=D...im already looking for a new tank=D from the 150-300 range..depends on how generous my parents are lol.

so heres my question...how can i put some fat on these clowns? iv had them for about a year and there still only like 2 inches long and are crazy skinny...and i feed them a crazy amount of food...frozen bloodworms.pellets, they eat the krill untill my oscar or aro come steal it..once i can get a hang of them and make them nice and fat i plan on gettting a bunch more and create my shoal all over again=D so please help me get these cl fat! and big=P

sorry for the length of the thread..
 
Unfortunately they sound like they have have "skinny disease", caused by internal parasites. There aren't any really good resources to link you to, not a lot of info on it, but treating with an anti parasitic like metronidazole is recommended. Fish specific stores should carry it...Seachem's Metronidazole should do the trick, would call around your local stores for it.
 
Mussels I hear are uber good - I personally use baby shrimp + minced clams ~ put a can of each into a blender and mix well - I put them into the freezer and create a flat slab of the mix - when feeding time comes, just break off a chunk and de-thaw in hot water (similar to bloodworms/mices shrimp)

Em
 
Ooo - Also - feed cucumber - helps naturally fight internal diseases
Can also help with certain types of "skinny disease" (some forms of skinny can be caused be internal parasites)
 
How are they alive if you haven't fed them for a year? Did your parents feed em?

I wouldn't be sure if they actually have the skinny disease, I feel like they'd be long dead if they had internal parasites - skinny loaches that I couldnt treat died within a month. I'm just speaking from experience of course.

They could just be skinny from malnutrition...

Mussels, bloodworms, brine shrimp, snails (real easy to breed in a separate tank), etc. are good to fatten them up
 
I would have to agree with malnutrition versus wasting. The couple I picked up with wasting didnt make it a month. However, if you go to loachesonline.com and put wasting disease in the search box a really a good article comes up.
I always fed new loaches live black worms to put weight on them. Tubifex, if from a good source works well too. I also breed snails in a another tank and throw a bunch in there every other day to suppliment other foods.
 
Personally, I kind of feel like if you can neglect your fish that easily that you shouldn't get any more, but it's your call. If you do, I recently inherited a skinny loach. I put a clove of garlic in, and a zuchinni, he ate them, and within a week started to put on weight.
 
no i fed them..just not often..it was a bad time had family problems and i got into alot of trouble at school and blah blah blah...all thats behind me now..so dont worry about my fishes=D they are all very healthy now.i dont think they have skinny disease because i fed them cucumber 2 nights ago and they ate like no other and seem to be getting a little thiker...
 
If they are gaining weight its not wasting for sure. My little guy that had it ate and ate but never gained and then got so skinny he didnt have the strength to eat. . .
That is great news that yours are gaining. Try going to your LFS and see if they have any pest snails, snails fatten them up super quick.
 
the snails wont start breeding in my tank tho right?..and yeah they are getting a little bigger...but i see pictures of the beautiful clowns that are like round as can be...iv never been able to get mine to grow or get that fat=[ i want like 10 inchers one day lol
 
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