JLynn
Active Member
I have a little 5g FOWLR with 1 clownfish in it on my desk. A couple days ago I noticed my clownfish, who usually swims all around the tank, was now sticking to one of the bottom rear corners of it. I'd slacked off on water changes for the previous couple weeks, so I went ahead and did a big one (40-50%). I figured the nitrates must have gotten high because I'd neglected those water changes, and cutting them in half with a big WC would fix the issue. It seemed like it had, for a day. And then this morning, my clownfish not only was still sticking to that corner, but was also not rising to the surface to get her breakfast! She looked like she was struggling to swim upwards. This is incredibly worrying behavior for a fish that is usually an absolute pig who rockets to the surface the moment I put in pellets.
A google search suggested that perhaps the flow in my tank was too strong and she was too lazy to keep swimming around in it a bunch. Weird theory, but easy to test: I unplugged my HOB filter (the only source of circulation in the tank), and she did, at least for a few minutes, swim around like she used to. Obviously I couldn't leave the tank without surface agitation for the entire day, so I put in a small air stone and left for the day. Now I've come back, and it's clear to me that that was not the problem (or at least the only problem). She did come up to the surface for her pellets, which is an improvement, but she went straight back down to a different corner of the tank. And for a minute, it almost looked like she was rubbing her side against the silicon seam? But that could just be the effect of the normal clownfish up-and-down wiggling swimming pattern - I'm not sure how purposeful it was. And it still seems like she struggles to swim upwards. I don't know what to make of this.
A google search suggested that perhaps the flow in my tank was too strong and she was too lazy to keep swimming around in it a bunch. Weird theory, but easy to test: I unplugged my HOB filter (the only source of circulation in the tank), and she did, at least for a few minutes, swim around like she used to. Obviously I couldn't leave the tank without surface agitation for the entire day, so I put in a small air stone and left for the day. Now I've come back, and it's clear to me that that was not the problem (or at least the only problem). She did come up to the surface for her pellets, which is an improvement, but she went straight back down to a different corner of the tank. And for a minute, it almost looked like she was rubbing her side against the silicon seam? But that could just be the effect of the normal clownfish up-and-down wiggling swimming pattern - I'm not sure how purposeful it was. And it still seems like she struggles to swim upwards. I don't know what to make of this.
