Clown fish with simming problems

[chevyblue96]

1 of my 2 clowns has started swimming really oddly.
It's almost like he doesn't move his tail at all and as a result he is either 1) head pointing straight up with tail to the sand hovering or 2) Tail straight up with head pointing to the sand...
He's hardly ever "level" and he doesn't wriggle around like the other one does... This all came about in about a day... I was gone on an over night trip, come back to find him and the 6 line wrasse fighting... (which only lasted a few mins) and there's no visible injury to the clown.... But he's not swimming right.
He's stopped eating as well.
Everyone else in the tank is good.
Any ideas what could be wrong with him. Parameters are all in check, although I have went about a week past water change time (cash got tight) but plan to do it tomorrow.

 

[btldreef]

You just can't catch a break! :-(
Did you remove the wrasse? They're evil little terrors and I've yet to see one that can remain a well behaved member of a tank.
It sounds like the wrasse harmed him. It might have been caused by chasing and the clown swam into something. I had a fish gets scared by my hand and swam face first into a rock, broke it's jaw and couldn't eat.
I don't know where you're at with QT'ing and what tanks you have, but the clown and wrasse need to be separated. If you've seen aggression once, it's probably going on a lot and once a wrasse sees a weaker member, they'll continually pick on it. I recently had a McCosker's Wrasse pick on a sick Blue Spot Jawfish, and finished it off :-(
Good luck!

 

[chevyblue96]

I watch them pretty regularly... Tank is right beside my couch so easy to keep an eye on them. This is the first time i've ever seen them fighting.
I thought this site said the 6 line wrasse was easy to get alone with?? And of all the tank mates to pick a fight with, he goes after the biggest clown?? I figured he'd go for the fire fish if anything ya know?
And the other odd thing is, the clown is bigger then the wrasse.
I'm almost leaning more toward it was night time, and the clown was right by Wrasse's sleepy hole so maybe he was just defending his home??? he really didn't go after him to hard... He'd flare up in a kind of "Get away from me" pose and after he didn't for several mins. the clown got nipped maybe twice.
The other Clown (black one, smaller of the two) has been helping to keep the orange safe... he chases off anything that gets near her.
I dunno... I hope maybe some rest will help.
While i was gone, hubby "forgot" to turn the lights off at night, could this maybe be stress related??

 

[2quills]

They may work it out between themselves and then things will settle down. Every once in a while a couple of my fish will go through this in order to re-establish the pecking order of things within the tank and then they chill out with no major harm being done. Guide lines are just guide lines and fish have their own personalitys, even if they're the same kind it doesn't always meant they will act excactly the same. The reason he's probably not picking on the smaller fish is because he doesn't see them as any kind of a threat like a bigger fish would be.

 

[chevyblue96]

Here's a short video of the clown... Along with some of the new corals I've picked up. And the video ends with the one who was squabbling with the clown yesterday... Maybe ya'll can see something I don't??
http://s231.photobucket.com/albums/ee264/cascyd/?action=view&current=30fcb065.mp4
Also, I got this... The tips are like a neon green color.
Is it a candy cane or a torch??? Will it open up much fuller then this? The guys at the store said it was pissed off so they gave it to me for free... hoping that wasn't a curse of some kind...

 

[2quills]

Yeah that doesn't look very good. I'm thinking it's a problem with it's swim bladder. It sure is a nice looking Perc.
Candy can, and yes it should open up bigger if the conditions are right for and it acclimates.

 

[kiefers]

swim bladder.........

 

[btldreef]

I agree, it's a swim bladder issue. The wrasse is probably trying to pick on him because he sees him as a weaker specimen.

 

[chevyblue96]

Ok, so 1) what caused the swim blatter issue and why is it not effecting the other fish???
2) Is this a death sentence for the guy or what do I need to do to help her??

 

[chevyblue96]

Thought I'd add... she did eat tonight!! Is that sign of improvement??

 

[btldreef]

I honestly don't know that much about swim bladder other than identifying it to give you an definitive answers. You might want to PM Beth.

 

[chevyblue96]

thanks BTL

 

[kiefers]

Good mrning. Last night I went to my local fish guy and noticed he had the same thing going on with one of his clowns, same as yours. this morning I began the long journey into finding the anatomical and physiological asspects of the swim bladder in fish and it's disorders. (Sorry, student mode here)
many things can cause swim bladder although not typical, such as bacterial infection, fish is gulping air, water quality, foods
Please read and reviw the following link. Should be able to get some answers and treatment options. Good luck.
https://forums.saltwaterfish.com/t/243069/clownfish-having-trouble

 

[chevyblue96]

Well, he passed away last night and was stuck to a power head this morning.
Thanks for all the advice... My poor black clown looks so lonely now... he keeps swimming by the power head where I found the orange one and they never hung out on that side of the tank. Poor lil feller

 

[btldreef]

Awww, that sucks! I'm sorry. You've really had a bad go around lately with your fish! I'll send you my babies when I finally get some that survive past a few days!

 

[chevyblue96]

Thanks BTL.
Everyone else in the tank looks healthy and happy. Checked water again last night just to be sure and everything was good (well, nitrates were slightly showing but not much).
I'm going back and forth on even getting another clown for the little black clown. Those two were my favorites and I'm just sorta depressed about the whole situation at the momment.

 

[btldreef]

Quote:
Originally Posted by chevyblue96 http:///forum/thread/386014/clown-fish-with-simming-problems#post_3388708
Thanks BTL.
Everyone else in the tank looks healthy and happy. Checked water again last night just to be sure and everything was good (well, nitrates were slightly showing but not much).
I'm going back and forth on even getting another clown for the little black clown. Those two were my favorites and I'm just sorta depressed about the whole situation at the momment.
Completely understandable. I've cried over a few of my fish losses. The first cleaner shrimp I ever lost, I sobbed for a good three hours about. My husband was ready to kill me

 

[chevyblue96]

Yep... I been a bit of a sobby mess myself... My hubby thinks I've went off the deep end

 

[btldreef]

We put a lot of time and effort into these guys, and ultimately they're at our mercy. They're just like any other pet, and with saltwater fish, they often get more attention than a regular cat or dog would. People don't realize that and think, "Oh, it's just a fish."

 

[chevyblue96]

That was his exact words "Babe, it's just a fish"
Ummm NO! Sorry, not just a fish. She had more personality then any other fish in the tank, she eat from my hang and always swam up to greet me when I would get home. All his dog dogs is try to pee on everything