Clown fish illness???

Greenstarfish03 · Oct 27, 2019

I have a pair of Snowflake Ocellaris clown fish that I've had for several years. They have always been two pees in a pod until recently. The larger of the two started to drift away from the other to the point where it seems lost now. It also seems that its coloring is darker now then it used to be. It has had a definite change in its personality the last few weeks. It doesnt socilize anymore with its mate, it does seem to reconize me at feeding time. It seems to me that its going blind. When i put food in it swims around wanting to eat but it doesnt seem to know where it is. It gets a little food but not much. After a few weeks of this its definitely getting thin. Its obvious now. Does anyone know what this is and if there us anythi g I can do to gelp it?

Thanks

Humblefish · Oct 27, 2019

If it is going blind, a 30 min MB bath may help: https://www.reef2reef.com/threads/methylene-blue.257467/

I recently got in a "blind" Purple Tang, which I theorize had it's optic nerves damaged due to ammonia in-take in the bag water. I gave it a MB bath every few days for a month, and the fish's vision slowly returned. Of course, I cannot say for sure that the MB bath helped but I see no downside to trying (other than the time it takes.)

Greenstarfish03 · Oct 28, 2019

Thanks @Humblefish. It cant hurt to try this. Its the oddest thing. I havent add a new fish in forever probably a couple years and out of the blue she just started acting silly. I read people that said clown fish were just odd at times, but i had this fish for a while and new somerhing was off. All of the other fish including her mate are healthy. She always stays on one side of the tank now near the glass and when i make hand gestures i get no response so that is why it seems like a vision issue in one eye or its at least worse in one eye. I cant visualy see anything wrong though except its color is darkening and she looks skinny. Thanks for the feedback..

Greenstarfish03 · Nov 1, 2019

I've placed my fish in a 1ml mb bath w approximately a gallon of water. Plan to let him sit for an hour then return him to the main tank. He is in a large bowl do i have to worry about air or heat during this tims.

Greenstarfish03 · Dec 13, 2019

@Humblefish Just a quick update. The MB bath certainly helped. He doesn't seem to be 100%, but he sure is better. Back to eating and trying to hang out with his mate. Thanks for the recommendation.

Greenstarfish03 · Jan 27, 2020

An update on my clown fish. She is still hanging in there, but she seems to go up and down. I dip her in mb and shortly after she seems to be better and earing better, but after a week or two she starts to act lethargic again and just off. You can tell she is a little beat up too. I think the other fish are beating on her a little. So thr MB helps, but it doesnt resolve the issue. Ive been foing through this routine of a MB bath at first every few days and lately every couple weeks for about three months. Anyone have any ideas on what may be going on or another option for treating her?

Greenstarfish03 · Jan 27, 2020

Is it possible this is a fluke? I have no issues with a y other fish, but the symptoms seem to fit.

ccombs · Jan 27, 2020

This is how my clown started acting before visible signs of Uronema. Not saying this is what it has, but might be good to do treatments if the clown keeps going back to this state.

Greenstarfish03 · Jan 27, 2020

ccombs said:
This is how my clown started acting before visible signs of Uronema. Not saying this is what it has, but might be good to do treatments if the clown keeps going back to this state.

I looked through your post but it was really long

First my tank has been stable for many years, and there has been no recent additions, all other fish are healthy, this has been going on for a few months this way if any of that matters. I don't think its Uronema from what I read, but I'm not 100% sure. She definitely doesn't have any red marks. I do need to start trying some new treatments though for sure b/c the MB seems to help, but definitely isn't resolving the issue. Maybe I will pull her out when I dip her again and try to get a good clear picture for everyone. Anything else I can do to help diagnose this?

Greenstarfish03 · Jan 27, 2020

Here is a video of my clown ine day after the MB treatment. I know its hard to tell, but she is really skinny and her color is very dark. She used to be the same bright orange as her mate. Today she acts decent. She eats but she still has a somewhat hard time competing for food so she does alot of scrounge around the bottom.of the tank for scraps. When i gave her the MB treatment I also fed her before i placed her back in the tank. I have been through this before though in a week or two she will regress again. Any ideas what else I should treat her with? @Humblefish