New juvenile clowns, swim bladder?

[preecy]

I purchased a pair of fancy juvenile perc clowns online earlier this week. They arrived safely the following morning and appeared to be in good health. As with all new fish i floated the bag in my tank for 30 minutes to slowly raise the bag water temperature. I then drip acclimatising them into a aerated bucket over a 45 minute period. After this I medicated them with a 45 minute Formalin dip followed by a 45 minute Methylene Blue dip (both buckets had a heater and air stone). They were then placed into breeder box within my tank so my other fish could get use to them. After a couple of hours they appeared settled so i released them into my tank. All seemed well, however, after 48 hours i noticed one of the clowns swimming erratically. It looks like a buoyancy problem. The other is also showing milder symptoms and i suspect both have a swim bladder issue. Assuming it is a swim bladder problem, i am not sure if this is an infection or if it's been caused by the stress from shipping, medication, etc. Both clowns are very small, only 1.5" in size. They're eating well and are active but spend all their time at the surface in the corner of the tank. When they eventually stop swimming they usually end up on their side, almost floating at the surface. I've dialled the flow down in the tank and placed them back in the breeder box in a quite corner of the tank.

As mentioned they're small juvenile clowns so perhaps this normal/common. I've not had clownfish this young before. Any suggestions, tips or advice?

 

[preecy]

 

[Zionas]

Regarding shipping- Where did you get your Clowns from and how long was the transit time?

 

[SMSREEF]

I purchased a pair of fancy juvenile perc clowns online earlier this week. They arrived safely the following morning and appeared to be in good health. As with all new fish i floated the bag in my tank for 30 minutes to slowly raise the bag water temperature. I then drip acclimatising them into a aerated bucket over a 45 minute period. After this I medicated them with a 45 minute Formalin dip followed by a 45 minute Methylene Blue dip (both buckets had a heater and air stone). They were then placed into breeder box within my tank so my other fish could get use to them. After a couple of hours they appeared settled so i released them into my tank. All seemed well, however, after 48 hours i noticed one of the clowns swimming erratically. It looks like a buoyancy problem. The other is also showing milder symptoms and i suspect both have a swim bladder issue. Assuming it is a swim bladder problem, i am not sure if this is an infection or if it's been caused by the stress from shipping, medication, etc. Both clowns are very small, only 1.5" in size. They're eating well and are active but spend all their time at the surface in the corner of the tank. When they eventually stop swimming they usually end up on their side, almost floating at the surface. I've dialled the flow down in the tank and placed them back in the breeder box in a quite corner of the tank.

As mentioned they're small juvenile clowns so perhaps this normal/common. I've not had clownfish this young before. Any suggestions, tips or advice?

I just went through this with my clown. When I took him out of quarantine and put in my display my angel beat him up bad and his swim bladder burst. He could no longer swim right side up. He did not eat for 3 days and was mainly head down in tank.

He is now fully recovered. Yours is starting in a good place if they are still eating and on their side.

With guidance from @Big G I did methylene blue dips for 30 minutes every other day until he was right side up.
You may want to add some beta glucan to their food to help their immunity. Another trick from Big G.

They do heal from this, but just need some protection from your other fish like you already are doing. Also watch for secondary bacterial infection.

here is the thread for mine.

...

edited out

www.reef2reef.com

 

[preecy]

Regarding shipping- Where did you get your Clowns from and how long was the transit time?

I am in the UK and the clowns came from a UK store. They were picked up from the LFS midday and delivered the next morning so they were in transit less than 24 hours.

 

[preecy]

I am in the UK and the clowns came from a UK store. They were picked up from the LFS midday and delivered the next morning so they were in transit less than 24 hours.

Thanks, thats reassuring and very helpful.
I'll take a read through your post