Poorly Clownfish. ID and recommendations please.

[Yro]

Hi all, one of my clowns has been acting strange for a week or so and today has stringy poop (second time) and seems bloated/swollen.
I’ve been looking through possible issues but behaviour is inconsistent and is confusing me. Fluctuates between swimming tail up, tail down, horizontally and in different areas of the tank.

The fish has been in the tank for approx 2 months and the tank has been running about 3 months. Yesterdays testing shows:
Ammonia: 0
Nitrate: 0 (was at 1.2ppm last week, been trending down for a while)
Phosphate: 0
Alk: 7.7
Calcium: 410
Magnesium: 1390

Appreciate any help.

 

[Jay Hemdal Verified Community Expert]

Hi all, one of my clowns has been acting strange for a week or so and today has stringy poop (second time) and seems bloated/swollen.
I’ve been looking through possible issues but behaviour is inconsistent and is confusing me. Fluctuates between swimming tail up, tail down, horizontally and in different areas of the tank.

The fish has been in the tank for approx 2 months and the tank has been running about 3 months. Yesterdays testing shows:
Ammonia: 0
Nitrate: 0 (was at 1.2ppm last week, been trending down for a while)
Phosphate: 0
Alk: 7.7
Calcium: 410
Magnesium: 1390

Appreciate any help.

Is the clown still eating?
What food are you feeding it?

This could be gas in the intestines.

 

[Yro]

Still eating yes but when the stringy poop first came (last weekend) and currently appetite seems very small. The bloating seems new today.
I feed a mixture of Hikari S and Hikari A pellets and Ocean Nutrition 2 and Prime Reef Flakes twice a day (small amount of each). I then feed 1/3 cube of either Frozen Brine or Frozen Mysis (alternate daily) for the 3rd feed.
The tank has 5 fish, a Tomini Tang, Yellow Wrasse and a Royal Gramma plus the 2 clowns. All are small specimens but all food is gone within 1-2 minutes each feed.
Thanks for your response.

 

[Jay Hemdal Verified Community Expert]

Still eating yes but when the stringy poop first came (last weekend) and currently appetite seems very small. The bloating seems new today.
I feed a mixture of Hikari S and Hikari A pellets and Ocean Nutrition 2 and Prime Reef Flakes twice a day (small amount of each). I then feed 1/3 cube of either Frozen Brine or Frozen Mysis (alternate daily) for the 3rd feed.
The tank has 5 fish, a Tomini Tang, Yellow Wrasse and a Royal Gramma plus the 2 clowns. All are small specimens but all food is gone within 1-2 minutes each feed.
Thanks for your response.

I missed seeing the video in your post - yes, that is gas in the intestines, causing the lump, as well as the positive buoyancy to its hind end.

There isn’t a specific treatment for this because it could be caused by an impaction, bacteria or even flagellate protozoans.

 

[Yro]

Ok thank you.
I shall keep an eye on him. I think he’s recently become the male of the pair, possible this is caused by the dominant female/power struggle?

 

[Yro]

Poor little guy is now seemingly stuck upside down at the surface. He did right himself and came down for some brine shrimp but is now back at the surface, upside down.
Is he done at this point? If so should I remove him and end his suffering gracefully? Concerned about any knock on effect to the other livestock.

 

[Jay Hemdal Verified Community Expert]

Ok thank you.
I shall keep an eye on him. I think he’s recently become the male of the pair, possible this is caused by the dominant female/power struggle?

It could be, but in most cases, clownfish aggression results in torn fins and scale damage, and I didn't see that in the video....can you see any signs of that?

 

[Jay Hemdal Verified Community Expert]

Poor little guy is now seemingly stuck upside down at the surface. He did right himself and came down for some brine shrimp but is now back at the surface, upside down.
Is he done at this point? If so should I remove him and end his suffering gracefully? Concerned about any knock on effect to the other livestock.

That's a tough call - I generally wait until an ailing fish stops eating before considering euthanasia.....

In case you need to go that route, here is a post about the process:

Fish Euthanasia

Euthanasia Euthanasia is a word derived from two Greek words that roughly translates to “good death”. In other words, euthanasia is the painless killing of an organism. In general usage, there is also the underlying understanding that euthanasia is performed on terminal patients only. This...

www.reef2reef.com

 

[Yro]

It could be, but in most cases, clownfish aggression results in torn fins and scale damage, and I didn't see that in the video....can you see any signs of that?

No signs of torn fins or scale damage at all.

That's a tough call - I generally wait until an ailing fish stops eating before considering euthanasia.....

In case you need to go that route, here is a post about the process:

Fish Euthanasia

Euthanasia Euthanasia is a word derived from two Greek words that roughly translates to “good death”. In other words, euthanasia is the painless killing of an organism. In general usage, there is also the underlying understanding that euthanasia is performed on terminal patients only. This...

www.reef2reef.com

Thanks. I’ll give him a while longer and see if he pulls through.

 

[Yro]

A week later and this little guys seems to be doing a bit better.
Behaviour appears quite ‘normal’ for most of the day but returns to the surface to swim upside down by late afternoon/early evening most days. Still eating normally.

 

[Yro]

Today’s development doesn’t look to be a good one.
The lump/bubble in his abdomen now looks to have torn through his side and is protruding from his side. Any further advice on what this is/what I could do for the little guy?
Still eating well and behaving more normal than he was in my first post.

 

[Yro]

Whatever the lump was, it’s now gone and has left a pretty nasty wound.

 

[Jay Hemdal Verified Community Expert]

Whatever the lump was, it’s now gone and has left a pretty nasty wound.

Sorry - I can’t tell you what that is, but now that it’s broken open, it might need treatment in a hospital tank with a broad spectrum, gram negative antibiotic like neomycin.

 

[Yro]

Thank you, Jay.
I’m in the UK so neomycin products seem difficult to come by. Do you have any product recommendations?
I can easily get hold of NT Labs Anti-Bacterial (Acriflavine 26.7 mg/100 ml, 9-Aminoacridine HCl 26.7 mg/100 ml, Formaldehyde 754 mg/100 ml) if that’s of any use or API Melafix?

 

[Jay Hemdal Verified Community Expert]

Thank you, Jay.
I’m in the UK so neomycin products seem difficult to come by. Do you have any product recommendations?
I can easily get hold of NT Labs Anti-Bacterial (Acriflavine 26.7 mg/100 ml, 9-Aminoacridine HCl 26.7 mg/100 ml, Formaldehyde 754 mg/100 ml) if that’s of any use or API Melafix?

The NT labs product would be better than API Melafix (that one is more just a tonic).

 

[Yro]

Thank you for your guidance on this, Jay.
The little chap seems to have made a full recovery now. Without your guidance I’d have probably removed him and put him out of his misery a while back.