Clownfish -- bulging eyes, bloat, lethargic, somewhat upside down

becky46 · Jan 10, 2026

My tank has had a fair amount of algae lately right around where my two clowns live, so I have't actually looked at them lately, but today I noticed one was in really bad shape. Her eyes are swollen, her color is pale, she is bloated, and she is lethargic (tucking herself into algae or rock). She does not appear to be eating, but I only watched for for one feeding time. I just put her in a QT with maracyn and kanaplex, but I was wondering if you had any other recomendations. Attached are two videos. She is only energized in one video because I put her in a cup to transfer her.

Jay Hemdal · Jan 10, 2026

I'm afraid this looks like edema - fluid build-up in the tissues. That causes bloating, not eating and bulging eyes. The trouble is that the causes for this are either kidney or liver failure, and those are not treatable. However, it also is not very contagious.

vetteguy53081 · Jan 10, 2026

becky46 said:
My tank has had a fair amount of algae lately right around where my two clowns live, so I have't actually looked at them lately, but today I noticed one was in really bad shape. Her eyes are swollen, her color is pale, she is bloated, and she is lethargic (tucking herself into algae or rock). She does not appear to be eating, but I only watched for for one feeding time. I just put her in a QT with maracyn and kanaplex, but I was wondering if you had any other recomendations. Attached are two videos. She is only energized in one video because I put her in a cup to transfer her.

Jay has answered this. I do not recommend mixing maracyn and kanaplex at the same time which likely wont help this situation

Jay Hemdal · Jan 10, 2026

becky46 said:
My tank has had a fair amount of algae lately right around where my two clowns live, so I have't actually looked at them lately, but today I noticed one was in really bad shape. Her eyes are swollen, her color is pale, she is bloated, and she is lethargic (tucking herself into algae or rock). She does not appear to be eating, but I only watched for for one feeding time. I just put her in a QT with maracyn and kanaplex, but I was wondering if you had any other recomendations. Attached are two videos. She is only energized in one video because I put her in a cup to transfer her.

One other possible issue that I can't rule out from the video - does the clownfish's bulging eyes have visible air bubbles in them? These will be pretty clear, they look like clear or silver bubbles. In that case, the issue could stem from supersaturation of gas in the water (but that doesn't cause bloating, thus my initial diagnosis of edema).