Clownfish swimming head down not eating

[iko2thdk]

I know this has been covered but since I'm a bit of a newbie..My tank is only about seven weeks old. Seeded the tank w Dr. Tim's and four small clownfish. All were doing well until one stopped eating, his respirations seemed to increase and I lost it last week. Now this week, one of the smaller clowns started swimming in one place, head down and stopped eating. The tank seems to have cycled, ammonia at 0 similar for nitirites. Planning a water change for tonite. any thoughts? thanks r2r..

 

[Dom]

I know this has been covered but since I'm a bit of a newbie..My tank is only about seven weeks old. Seeded the tank w Dr. Tim's and four small clownfish. All were doing well until one stopped eating, his respirations seemed to increase and I lost it last week. Now this week, one of the smaller clowns started swimming in one place, head down and stopped eating. The tank seems to have cycled, ammonia at 0 similar for nitirites. Planning a water change for tonite. any thoughts? thanks r2r..

Some questions:

1. Do you test your water? If so, could you please post your latest results, including salinity and temperature.

2. How long do you have the clown? Did you quarantine it and is it alone or is it part of a pair?

 

[iko2thdk]

Tamp 77-78. Have not used lighting yet since tank is just cycling. Ammonia 0, nitrites 0. Salinity 1.023. This clown is part of a pair. Never quarantined since the four were my first fish.

 

[iko2thdk]

sorry temp 77-78

 

[Dom]

Ammonia and Nitrites being at zero are a good indicator that your tank is cycled.

Clown fish can behave strangely. I like to think that its no accident they are called CLOWN fish!

Rapid breathing is a concern, as this could be and indication of some illness. If you notice it (or any other clown) is swimming into water flow ( for example the return to the tank or power head ), it may be something like Velvet.

When it swims with it's head down, is it constantly in motion or does it stop and float to the surface? If so, it maybe a swim bladder issue.

Finally, it could be that the clown is courting another.

Hoping that this information at least gives you some things to Google so that you can investigate further and possibly identify the problem.

Can you post a video of the clown behavior?

 

[iko2thdk]

Thanks and I will this evening

 

[vetteguy53081]

Sounds like Bladder issue

 

[Dom]

Sounds like Bladder issue

I agree. But I'd like to know what this fish does when stops swimming before I pick. Does he maintain buoyancy? Does he sink to the bottom? Float to the top?

 

[iko2thdk]

One clown has stopped eating. Floats head down near the surface in the corner of the tank. Now all three clowns seem to want to float head down but the other two are eating still. Water parameters are good. Tried frozen brine and mysis still no interest??

 

[Dom]

More than one exhibiting the same behavior? Plus no appetite? Sounds like illness.

There is a way to tag disease experts on the form. If someone knows how, please do so we can alert them to this post.

 

[LesPoissons]

That swimming behavior looks completely normal to me. My clowns did that all the time as the corner was thier territory until they found the nem. Make sure you have enough turbulence and 02 in the tank though. Either way, that clown on the right is a dead fish regardless, (unless the smaller one on the left dies first.) The 2 that seem paired on the left will eventually kill it. You cant have more than 2 clowns in that tank. Rehome or return or move it if you have another tank asap.

 

[LesPoissons]

(* that may be what happened to your other one too. If the pair is stressing out the other fish or picking on them when you arent around, that might be why they're not eating. ) if your LFS told you you can have 4 clowns in a tank, I wouldn't go back there.

 

[iko2thdk]

Thanks. No illness evident. The four together seemed fine for about 5 weeks. When I lost one the one on the right lost its appetite. Heartbreaking definitely

 

[LesPoissons]

Yeah that sucks, I'm sorry. I love clowns. When they are juveniles they can live easily in a group (like you see in LFS tanks for sale) but the turnover is fast and they are constantly disturbed and territories dont get set up. If LFS have several that dont get sold for a while, they get split into different tanks unles a pair has formed if the LFS wants to sell them that way. As soon as they are in a home tank and mature enough to pair off, that's it. You can start with 4 or 24, you'll eventually end up with 2. It's rare to hear long term success stories of keeping more than that unless its a very very large tank or luck.