Beth, paralyzed clown?

[thedraven]

Hi guys, Im in need of some advice... my largest clarkii clown (I have a pair) has suddenly gone paralyzed. Im absolutely puzzled by this, my water parameters are all perfect (and I do mean perfect), and there are no signs of illness in my fish. All of my other fish are fine, and eating well (including my inverts). This is a 75 gal fowlr, and I havent introduced any new critters in many months. Ive never had a single sick fish either. My clown looks fine visually, his colors are vibrant, his eyes are clear, fins are fine. No marks or spots. And hes active, but he cant seem to move his back fins (they just follow the current). He seems to be hanging around the bottom corner of the tank, and swimming back and forth across the sand, or vertically up and down the tank glass. He will not venture around the tank. Heres the really weird thing, this happened suddenly - he was fine the other afternoon, and when I checked on him a few hours later he was paralyzed. The only explanation I can think of is he mightve gotten stung by my foxface. Reason being, Ive seen him swoop under and over the fox and scare the crap out of him (once the fox leapt out of the water when spooked by the clown during a feeding). Any scares result in the fox flexing out his spines and darting for cover. Anyone have any other ideas on this? I dont currently have a quarantine setup, but I dont feel he's sick either. My cbs wont touch him, which I take as an indication he hasnt given up the ghost yet...

 

[beth]

Well, before I got to your comments about the Foxface, I thought of him exp aggression from a coral or anemone that did effective him, but you said that you had fowlr. I agree it is likely the fox. Do you see any actual wounds? Use a magnifying glass.
Can you post a pic up?

 

[jayrascoe]

I don't mean to interrupt, but my Clarkii has the exact same problem.

 

[beth]

I'm wonder if it is really a problem. Do you have a pic?

 

[thedraven]

No Beth, unfortunately I dont have a pic. Shes still there in the corner.. its been three days now. Shes visibly thinner now, although the colors are still nice and bright. She still gets very upity when I feed, and tries to catch a few flakes with little success. She moving around a bit more as of late, but Im sure shes weak due to malnutrition. I cant see any wounds on her, but its hard to spot because of her dark areas. Im pretty sure at this point it was a fox sting, but all I can do is hope and watch. Thank you so much for posting guys, I value all of your opinions greatly.
:nope:

 

[beth]

I don't have a clue. Never heard of this.
I'm going to copy this over to the Clownfish Forum. Perhap Bang Guy or other clown keepers can help. I have always kept clownfish and I have never heard of a paralysis problem.

 

[bang guy]

This is a new one to me. They are poor swimmers to begin with. It seems to me that without full use of fins & tail I don't believe they would fare well. I really have no suggestions.

 

[thedraven]

Well this clown seems determined to make a fool out of me. Shes getting better, swimming along the back of the tank (and hanging around the fox again). She even had the strength to eat a couple flakes I threw her way. This was most definitely a sting by the fox. Im watching her like a hawk, but Im sure she'll make it through, and eventually go on to write a bestselling novel about her life (tomato clown mauling, fox sting, etc). *sighs* Thank you all for your input!
:happyfish