Please help! My clown fish is going to die!

[Sammich81812]

PLEASE HELP!

I just took a look at my fish tank, I have a 10 gal reef tank, with a couple different Ricordia's, Mushrooms, Pavoma, Toadstool, Zooanthia's, Buttons, Star Polyps Green Nepthia, Devils Hand, Bullseye, etc.
Also have in the tank One Blue Damsel, 3 Blue Claw Hermit Crabs, and Two Snails.

My clown fish is a Percula/Picasso mix, he was swimming around erratically and i noticed that hes trying to swim to the bottom very hard, actually struggling to swim to the bottom, hes trying to swim fast almost looks like hes trying to nose-dive to the bottom. I also saw his stomach looks like its bloated or he ate something that he shouldn't have eaten. I'm not sure what he could have eaten because there's nothing foreign in the tank floating around, and almost everything would be way to big to fit into his little mouth (he's only about 1-1/2 inches maybe 2. It seems like whatever he ate is making the bottom of his stomach float (that's why he is trying to swim down to stop him from floating up.) I don't know what to do about it. Right now he finally went under my top rock in the tank and is pushed up against the top of the rock so he could take a break from swimming so hard.
I had some type of regular red very very tiny mushroom on top of some rubble rock trying to get him to attach to it, and about 2-3 hours ago I noticed that the mushroom wasn't where I had left it. I looked all around the tank and couldn't find the mushroom ANYWHERE. Could he have eaten the mushroom and its making him float now. (i know sounds dumb, but i can't think of any other thing he could have eaten.) Even though I personally think the mushroom is too big for him to fit in his mouth, it was around the size of a pencil eraser(the clowns mouth is way smaller than that.) Also i have heard that clowns can "throw up" could he throw up whatever he ate?

IS THERE ANYTHING I CAN DO TO HELP HIM? OR IS HE JUST TOAST?
IF YOU KNOW ANYTHING OR THE SAME THING HAS HAPPENED TO YOU PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE LET ME KNOW!

 

[BarbH]

How long have you had your clown fish for? Have you seen him defecate at all, if so what does the feces look like? Also what are the parameters of your water?

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[rhino56]

unless you can get him to eat some peas i doubt there is much you can do but wait. probably best to change nothing at all in the tank as he is used to it. Kinda like when someone loses their vision and you try to help them by moving their furniture making clear pathways, not always the best answer. I would say wait a couple days to see if it passes. That is if he looks completely fine in all other aspects. Not cleared itself after a day or 2 you may need to QT and treat for parasites or a bacterial infection.

 

[crush240]

bump..."rhino56. Not cleared itself after a day or 2 you may need to QT and treat for parasites or a bacterial infection.".....They are called clown fish for a reason:dance: ...my circus mutt use to do that from time to time...what was his demise was a faulty water heater that pushed upper limits

 

[Eienna]

I don't know how well this works with SW fish, but with FW fish you can use a bath in epsom salt (magnesium sulfate) as a laxative. You'd have to look up the exact concentration.

 

[Reefing Madness]

Sounds like swim bladder disease, and can be treated with spectrum antibiotic.

 

[Connie]

I am not saying to do this to your clown, because they are probably nothing like a goldfish, but it is a memory I have. My father-in-law had a goldfish for years. It started swimming upside down and it's belly was huge. He sterilized a needle and pierced the fish's abdomen just deep enough to get to the air pocket. It worked. The air escaped, the fish was fine and lived another 5 years.

 

[Sammich81812]

Reefing Maddness: I had my fiance call his boss this afternnoon, and that's what he said it is and that he'll just end up dying. I would really prefur if I could save him because the right side of him looks like a Percula clown and the left side is totally different and looks like a Picasso. Whats a spectrum antibiotic???

 

[akabryanhall]

I used crushed peas to fix my clown but i noticed the swelling way before he showed signs of distress.

 

[akabryanhall]

Boiled and pulped.

 

[Reefing Madness]

Broad Spectrum Antibiotics.
Bacteria & Fungus Medications: Aquarium Pharmaceuticals T.C. Tetracycline and E.M. Erythromycin

 

[MelissaKathryn]

Random side note: Many vets also use long term, low-dose antibiotics like minocycline and tetracycline for Arthritis treatment in animals because most owners can't afford expensive pain medications or it damages their livers too much. It was used for a very long time very successfully in humans, pioneered by a former Johns Hopkins University Medical Research Center President and head of National Institute of Health, Dr. Thomas McPhearson Brown, MD (he has since passed). I was literally given a death sentence for an auto-immune disease called scleroderma and, within the first year of being on the antibiotics and being on a completely liquid diet for a few weeks, everything went into remission

I think it is always worth it to try There is still so much we have yet to learn about our own biology and that of the other organisms we live amongst. If there is a bacterial infection, despite it looking better, there can still be other things you don't notice going on with your fishy. Plus, I think it is always good to have them on hand anyway, just in case you need it. You may want to get a few extra doses and make sure you have your fish in a QT tank with some of your old water so the little guy isn't too shocked on top of the stress from being sick, caught, and moved.

Best of luck with the little guy!

 

[ionix]

Broad Spectrum Antibiotics.
Bacteria & Fungus Medications: Aquarium Pharmaceuticals T.C. Tetracycline and E.M. Erythromycin

This, +1. Take it and run with it. Treat the fish in another tank tho lol, in-case it wasn't apparent.

Lead doctors state homeopathy is great, but not a replacement for real medicine. Peas would be perfect if he is constipated, but at the same time, if he is constipated that would also means something caused him to have digestive problems (i.e. bacterial infection).