Help! swim bladder disease possibly?

[Coxey81]

Hi hoping for some help from @Jay Hemdal or anyone else that knows. I came home and found my clown fish swimming sideways at the top of the tank. I've had him and the other clown he is paired with for over a year now. I haven't added anything new to the tank in almost a year (corals etc.) This is the first time he has behaved this way and is not eating.

He seems to being having trouble diving/swimming upright as if he has a gas/bubble internal issue.

Any help on treatment would be appreciated. I'm mixing up saltwater for my QT tank now. I have prazipro, but that's about it on hand. Thanks for any help.

 

[fishguy242]

#fishmedic

 

[vetteguy53081]

Hi hoping for some help from @Jay Hemdal or anyone else that knows. I came home and found my clown fish swimming sideways at the top of the tank. I've had him and the other clown he is paired with for over a year now. I haven't added anything new to the tank in almost a year (corals etc.) This is the first time he has behaved this way and is not eating.

He seems to being having trouble diving/swimming upright as if he has a gas/bubble internal issue.

Any help on treatment would be appreciated. I'm mixing up saltwater for my QT tank now. I have prazipro, but that's about it on hand. Thanks for any help.

Im not convinced that this is a bladder issue as there would be buoyancy issue/behavior. Fish is quite thin and may have been slowly weakening. I also see a while blemish above mouth which May suggest fish crashed into an object (just a theory)
The tail appears to be bitten/aggression damage which suggest a tankmate may have played a role in this sudden change.
What other fish are in tank with it?

 

[Coxey81]

Im not convinced that this is a bladder issue as there would be buoyancy issue/behavior. Fish is quite thin and may have been slowly weakening. I also see a while blemish above mouth which May suggest fish crashed into an object (just a theory)
The tail appears to be bitten/aggression damage which suggest a tankmate may have played a role in this sudden change.
What other fish are in tank with it?

Well he does seem to have a buoyancy issue in a way at least, too buoyant, trouble diving it seems. He doesn't seem any thinner than normal to me and is usually very active when I feed. Always coming right to the top and would probably eat out of my hand if I tried.

Could be aN injury. He seems to have some slight discoloration below dorsal and he is the beta of the pair. Only aggression I have ever seen comes from the alpha female partner, but I haven't seen anything major since they were first paring up and establishing dominance.

Other tank mates are flame angel, coral beauty, yellowtail blue damsel, six line wrasse, diamond goby, his clown partner, and coral banded shrimp.

All of them have been together for over a year. The clowns were my last addition. Outside of aggression from the past from the partner I've never witnessed any from the others towards him. The angel will get after the beauty sometimes over territory.

The coral banded will sometimes jab at fish that get in his bubble, so that's a possibility.

He was fine yesterday, so definite possibility of injury.

 

[fishguy242]

do I see slime ,mucus layer in video ? #fishmedic

 

[Coxey81]

Im not convinced that this is a bladder issue as there would be buoyancy issue/behavior. Fish is quite thin and may have been slowly weakening. I also see a while blemish above mouth which May suggest fish crashed into an object (just a theory)
The tail appears to be bitten/aggression damage which suggest a tankmate may have played a role in this sudden change.
What other fish are in tank with it?

Here is another video.

 

[vetteguy53081]

Well he does seem to have a buoyancy issue in a way at least, too buoyant, trouble diving it seems. He doesn't seem any thinner than normal to me and is usually very active when I feed. Always coming right to the top and would probably eat out of my hand if I tried.

Could be aN injury. He seems to have some slight discoloration below dorsal and he is the beta of the pair. Only aggression I have ever seen comes from the alpha female partner, but I haven't seen anything major since they were first paring up and establishing dominance.

Other tank mates are flame angel, coral beauty, yellowtail blue damsel, six line wrasse, diamond goby, his clown partner, and coral banded shrimp.

All of them have been together for over a year. The clowns were my last addition. Outside of aggression from the past from the partner I've never witnessed any from the others towards him. The angel will get after the beauty sometimes over territory.

The coral banded will sometimes jab at fish that get in his bubble, so that's a possibility.

He was fine yesterday, so definite possibility of injury.

The mark you mention below dorsal looks like mechanical or bite injury and suspects would be damsel, six line and even other clown. Often fish are on their best behavior in your presence. A wyze camera would disclose what may be going on in your absence or you could set your cell phone on video mode for about 30 mins and drop a little food and walk away - YOU MUST walk away as they know youre there. Often the aggressor is a bully at feeding time. Review the video and see who it may be

 

[vetteguy53081]

Here is another video.

I do indeed see aggression damage to fish which looks thin compared to many clowns I see

 

[Coxey81]

do I see slime ,mucus layer in video ? #fishmedic

On him, no. My glass is due to be cleaned though, lol.

 

[Coxey81]

I do indeed see aggression damage to fish which looks thin compared to many clowns I see

Think QT and give him time to rest and hopefully heal and bulk up?

 

[vetteguy53081]

Think QT and give him time to rest and hopefully heal and bulk up?

It may or may not help but fresh tank with air stone and isolated from any potential bully should help. You can safely add ruby rally pro which will address and bacterial, fin rot and light disease issues

 

[Coxey81]

The mark you mention below dorsal looks like mechanical or bite injury and suspects would be damsel, six line and even other clown. Often fish are on their best behavior in your presence. A wyze camera would disclose what may be going on in your absence or you could set your cell phone on video mode for about 30 mins and drop a little food and walk away - YOU MUST walk away as they know youre there. Often the aggressor is a bully at feeding time. Review the video and see who it may be

If I had to guess it's the other clown. She is the only one that has ever messed with him. Very possible she got after him over food, etc cause she is definite way more dominant. They all have there own established territories in the tank and the clowns usually stick near the top half while everyone else sticks more to certain areas of the bottom.

 

[vetteguy53081]

If I had to guess it's the other clown. She is the only one that has ever messed with him. Very possible she got after him over food, etc cause she is definite way more dominant. They all have there own established territories in the tank and the clowns usually stick near the top half while everyone else sticks more to certain areas of the bottom.

She's my main suspect and its part of a term known as Hierarchy where the female is aggressive towards other clown, will chase it, bite it and hog a certain area of the tank and even steal all the food it can

 

[Coxey81]

She's my main suspect and its part of a term known as Hierarchy where the female is aggressive towards other clown, will chase it, bite it and hog a certain area of the tank and even steal all the food it can

K, thanks, have water mixing and heating. Going to get off here and get the QT set up.

 

[Jay Hemdal Verified Community Expert]

Well he does seem to have a buoyancy issue in a way at least, too buoyant, trouble diving it seems. He doesn't seem any thinner than normal to me and is usually very active when I feed. Always coming right to the top and would probably eat out of my hand if I tried.

Could be aN injury. He seems to have some slight discoloration below dorsal and he is the beta of the pair. Only aggression I have ever seen comes from the alpha female partner, but I haven't seen anything major since they were first paring up and establishing dominance.

Other tank mates are flame angel, coral beauty, yellowtail blue damsel, six line wrasse, diamond goby, his clown partner, and coral banded shrimp.

All of them have been together for over a year. The clowns were my last addition. Outside of aggression from the past from the partner I've never witnessed any from the others towards him. The angel will get after the beauty sometimes over territory.

The coral banded will sometimes jab at fish that get in his bubble, so that's a possibility.

He was fine yesterday, so definite possibility of injury.

I agree - the fish seems a bit thin, and has abrasions on its mouth and sides, and minor shredding to its caudal fin. I'd say tankmate aggression, and it is swimming near the surface to avoid issues, or at least be able to keep one side facing the aggressor. I'd say it was the female clown, pair binds do break down sometimes with clowns.

 

[Coxey81]

I agree - the fish seems a bit thin, and has abrasions on its mouth and sides, and minor shredding to its caudal fin. I'd say tankmate aggression, and it is swimming near the surface to avoid issues, or at least be able to keep one side facing the aggressor. I'd say it was the female clown, pair binds do break down sometimes with clowns.

K thanks, I moved him to the QT and he was much more active and swimming down to the bottom. Fed him and he was eating good late last night off the bottom. This morning he was swim/sleeping vertically in a corner about mid water level (which is normal for clowns as I'm sure yall know). So looking much better with his activity, personality, and eating habits. We will see how he's doing when I get home.