Clownfish Not Swimming

FriendoFish · Dec 18, 2022

Hi. I came home from walking my dogs today to find my clownfish pressed up against the fish guard of my AI Nero. I turned off my wavemakers and lights and lowered my return pump because it seemed he was having trouble swimming (video attached). I added stress guard and am working on setting up a quarantine for him but I have no clue what’s wrong or what to do. He seemed fine yesterday. Apologies for the dirty glass. Any help is appreciated. Thanks.

Cichlid Dad · Dec 18, 2022

FriendoFish said:
Hi. I came home from walking my dogs today to find my clownfish pressed up against the fish guard of my AI Nero. I turned off my wavemakers and lights and lowered my return pump because it seemed he was having trouble swimming (video attached). I added stress guard and am working on setting up a quarantine for him but I have no clue what’s wrong or what to do. He seemed fine yesterday. Apologies for the dirty glass. Any help is appreciated. Thanks.

I didn't see a video

FriendoFish · Dec 18, 2022

Cichlid Dad said:
I didn't see a video

Sorry. It should be there now

vetteguy53081 · Dec 18, 2022

FriendoFish said:
Sorry. It should be there now

Cant see clearly with reflections and low light but wondering if fish shows signs of tail and fin nipping damage. If not, could have crashed into glass or object but sad to say fish is moribund which is similar to coma state and will likely not make it.
You can add air stone for added oxygen which may help but dont have high hopes. Its past distress point

FriendoFish · Dec 18, 2022

vetteguy53081 said:
Cant see clearly with reflections and low light but wondering if fish shows signs of tail and fin nipping damage. If not, could have crashed into glass or object but sad to say fish is moribund which is similar to coma state and will likely not make it.
You can add air stone for added oxygen which may help but dont have high hopes. Its past distress point

Thank you. This is super helpful. He disappeared somewhere in the tank before I could finish getting the quarantine set up and honestly I can only hope my CUC has (hopefully) put him out of his misery. He did not look good. I know it’s hard to tell but do you think I should be worried for my other fish (aside from an ammonia spike)? They all seem perfectly normal and healthy. My params are all in their normal ranges too.

Jay Hemdal · Dec 18, 2022

FriendoFish said:
Thank you. This is super helpful. He disappeared somewhere in the tank before I could finish getting the quarantine set up and honestly I can only hope my CUC has (hopefully) put him out of his misery. He did not look good. I know it’s hard to tell but do you think I should be worried for my other fish (aside from an ammonia spike)? They all seem perfectly normal and healthy. My params are all in their normal ranges too.

Agreed, the fish is moribund and can’t be saved. The cause could be disease (the clown is breathing fast), water quality issues or injury (less likely).
Damage control - are there other fish in the tank? How does everything else look?
Jay

MnFish1 · Dec 18, 2022

When a fish is sucked up against something it usually signifies that a significant issue has occurred - whether injury or illness. It's likely something else is going on. I.e. I would be concerned about the rest (if any) fish in your tank

EDIT - I didn't see @Jay Hemdal 's post. Totally agree

FriendoFish · Dec 18, 2022

Jay Hemdal said:
Agreed, the fish is moribund and can’t be saved. The cause could be disease (the clown is breathing fast), water quality issues or injury (less likely).
Damage control - are there other fish in the tank? How does everything else look?
Jay

Thanks! That is what I have heard but I truly have no clue what could be going on or how to fix it. The other fish are acting perfectly normal, look normal, and are eating properly. I was somewhat worried a week or two ago because I noticed stringy white poop from my clown, but after asking on here and keeping an eye on them, I thought it was because I was feeding too much mysis, so I started incorporating in pellets and reef Frenzy more frequently. Do you think I should treat my tank with something?

My PO4 is nearly undetectable and NO3 is somewhere between 5-12ppm (which is normal for me). I didn’t test ammonia yet bc I added Stressguard so I figured that would mess with the numbers.

Jay Hemdal · Dec 18, 2022

FriendoFish said:
Thanks! That is what I have heard but I truly have no clue what could be going on or how to fix it. The other fish are acting perfectly normal, look normal, and are eating properly. I was somewhat worried a week or two ago because I noticed stringy white poop from my clown, but after asking on here and keeping an eye on them, I thought it was because I was feeding too much mysis, so I started incorporating in pellets and reef Frenzy more frequently. Do you think I should treat my tank with something?

My PO4 is nearly undetectable and NO3 is somewhere between 5-12ppm (which is normal for me). I didn’t test ammonia yet bc I added Stressguard so I figured that would mess with the numbers.

What other fish are in the tank?

Jay

FriendoFish · Dec 18, 2022

Jay Hemdal said:
What other fish are in the tank?

Jay

A second clown, purple firefish, and tail spot blenny

MnFish1 · Dec 18, 2022

Probably the other clown bullying the diseased one?

FriendoFish · Dec 18, 2022

MnFish1 said:
Probably the other clown bullying the diseased one?

Definitely possible. The one that died was the male. I’ve had them for about 3 years and they’ve never been overly aggressive though.

MnFish1 · Dec 18, 2022

FriendoFish said:
Definitely possible. The one that died was the male. I’ve had them for about 3 years and they’ve never been overly aggressive though.

I would watch carefully the other fish - etc - have you added anything else recently?

FriendoFish · Dec 18, 2022

MnFish1 said:
I would watch carefully the other fish - etc - have you added anything else recently?

Ooooh you know what? I did add some cerith snails but 3 out of 10 of them were DOA and I didn’t realize until I put them in the tank. I took them out right away but do you think that could’ve caused something?