Clownfish not looking well

Alec Berger · May 22, 2020

Hello everyone,

About a week ago, my Davinci clownfish started acting funny. First, he would alternate between racing across the top of the tank and being super lethargic floating near the surface. He normally floats on his side when sleeping, but he started doing this all the time. Over the last two days he has moved to the bottom corner of the tank and does not move very much at all. He also has not been observed eating anything for at least a week.

About three weeks ago, I had to move my tank to a new house. During that time, I reduced the depth of the sandbed and replaced some of the sand with a new bag of live sand. I also added a couple courses of Fritz 9 to try to reduce the eventual mini-cycle that would happen. About a week later, I lost a hermit crab and nassarius snail and tested ammonia at 0.2. I added a second course of Fritz. Still at this time, there wasn't any abnormal behavior with the clown. After another week the clown started acting up. No new livestock has been added in several months and all of the tank mates have been in there for almost a year. I tried searching common diseases, but I have not noticed any white spots, slime, or other exterior symptoms. His breathing is not heavy or labored, but sometimes it seems as if he has no depth perception and he runs into things.

Other parameters:

Ammonia (currently): 0.0
Nitrate: 8
Phosphate: 0.0
Alk: 8.4
Calc: 430
Mag: 1320
Salinity: 0.025
Temp: 79.2

Other fish: McCosker's Wrasse, Royal Gramma

Videos of the strange behavior:

May 17: Also, May 17: Today, May 22:
I do have a Fluval 12 gallon I could set up as a quarantine tank, but I just have no idea on what to treat him with. Should I just wait it out and try to get him to eat?

AlkCalmist · May 22, 2020

First off, I know it's awful to see a pet go threw disease. My heart goes out to you. To me from your videos it looks like they are having swim bladder/lateral line issues. Most of the time when fish are having a hard time staying where they want in the water colum, it's a swim bladder issue. It's the part of their body that allows them to control their buoyancy. Sometimes when fish gets sick or stressed out they can acquire lateral line disease. Could have been anything from an infection to an actual genetic defect. ( Clownfish are heavily crossbred). Unfortunately there's really not much you can do for an issue such as this. From your story it sounds like stress is your key pin here. The move probably stressed him out too much. Could have ended up shedding his slime coat, which led to an infection in the swim bladder. I've seen people make little floaties for their fish. You can try this method, but in order to keep your fish healthy long-term with a disorder like this. Will require constant attention and supervision. He races around the top because he's swimming as fast as he can to get high in the column. And then when he's tired he has to sink to the bottom. When he's tired and on the bottom he'll be susceptible to pests. I have never attempted to make a float harness for a fish, if you want to go down that route I recommend digging around for people who have done such things. Google swim bladder issues. People more commonly do it with their freshwater fish. If you choose not to go to that direction, my advice is to keep an eye on him. Keep attempting to feed him, I've seen some fish continue to live even after having bladder issues. But be ready for, them not making it. If you start to see changes in his body like it's shriveling, you may want to consider euthanasia. I know that's not a pleasant thought or experience, if you end up having to do that you can direct message me. I can give you some tips and pointers for doing such a thing.

Alec Berger · May 30, 2020

AlkCalmist said:
First off, I know it's awful to see a pet go threw disease. My heart goes out to you. To me from your videos it looks like they are having swim bladder/lateral line issues. Most of the time when fish are having a hard time staying where they want in the water colum, it's a swim bladder issue. It's the part of their body that allows them to control their buoyancy. Sometimes when fish gets sick or stressed out they can acquire lateral line disease. Could have been anything from an infection to an actual genetic defect. ( Clownfish are heavily crossbred). Unfortunately there's really not much you can do for an issue such as this. From your story it sounds like stress is your key pin here. The move probably stressed him out too much. Could have ended up shedding his slime coat, which led to an infection in the swim bladder. I've seen people make little floaties for their fish. You can try this method, but in order to keep your fish healthy long-term with a disorder like this. Will require constant attention and supervision. He races around the top because he's swimming as fast as he can to get high in the column. And then when he's tired he has to sink to the bottom. When he's tired and on the bottom he'll be susceptible to pests. I have never attempted to make a float harness for a fish, if you want to go down that route I recommend digging around for people who have done such things. Google swim bladder issues. People more commonly do it with their freshwater fish. If you choose not to go to that direction, my advice is to keep an eye on him. Keep attempting to feed him, I've seen some fish continue to live even after having bladder issues. But be ready for, them not making it. If you start to see changes in his body like it's shriveling, you may want to consider euthanasia. I know that's not a pleasant thought or experience, if you end up having to do that you can direct message me. I can give you some tips and pointers for doing such a thing.

OK, update. My fish is doing okayish? He is still alive and has started expressing interest in food again. He mostly stays to the glass and still spends a lot of time at the bottom of the sand.

I did notice something else strange. He has two spots on his head behind his eyes that seem luminescent. Not sure what it is. If anyone can help identify that would be great. Sorry the video isn't the best, but he doesnt seem interested in cooperating with the camera after dark.

AlkCalmist · May 30, 2020

I can't really make out what that luminescent is. What I would be watching for is early signs of lateral Line disease (hole in head). We have a fish that has swim bladder issues, chances are it's a genetic and breeding thing. Which also means other aspects of his genetics could be messed up. I can make him susceptible to diseases like lateral line. Even being stressed out and not being able to swim right can open up a door for other diseases. The best thing to do at this point is to continue doing what you're doing, monitor feed and support.