Clownfish emergency

[Scope]

My female clownfish all of a sudden started floating uncontrollably around the tank. All other fish are okay. I held her in the stream of power head water and it seems to have woken her up a bit but she's swimming erratically. What's going on?

 

[Privateye]

I hate to say it, but that doesn't look good. Loss of balance can indicate an internal infection that's reached the central nervous system.

@Jay Hemdal may have some sage advice. I haven't had good luck with fish exhibiting this behavior.

 

[Scope]

I hate to say it, but that doesn't look good. Loss of balance can indicate an internal infection that's reached the central nervous system.

@Jay Hemdal may have some sage advice. I haven't had good luck with fish exhibiting this behavior.

It just happened all of a sudden during evening feeding. I quickly checked parameters but everything's in check.

I now caught her in a net and pinned against the glass. She can move there but won't get hurt from bouncing around the rocks or sucked into the powerhead.

I have a foxface so perhaps she could've gotten stung?

 

[Jay Hemdal Verified Community Expert]

It just happened all of a sudden during evening feeding. I quickly checked parameters but everything's in check.

I now caught her in a net and pinned against the glass. She can move there but won't get hurt from bouncing around the rocks or sucked into the powerhead.

I have a foxface so perhaps she could've gotten stung?

I don't think it is from the foxface. This fish has some chronic issue going on - see how its eyes are bulging? It's body is also really "full" - that can mean that there is some osmotic issue here - where fluid is building up in its body, causing its eyes to bulge and its body to become bloated with fluid.

Sorry to say, but this looks like some sort of internal issue with its kidneys that is impairing its ability to regulate fluids. These sort of things are pretty much impossible to cure when they reach this point - even early on, treating for internal bacterial issues is difficult/impossible.

 

[Scope]

I don't think it is from the foxface. This fish has some chronic issue going on - see how its eyes are bulging? It's body is also really "full" - that can mean that there is some osmotic issue here - where fluid is building up in its body, causing its eyes to bulge and its body to become bloated with fluid.

Sorry to say, but this looks like some sort of internal issue with its kidneys that is impairing its ability to regulate fluids. These sort of things are pretty much impossible to cure when they reach this point - even early on, treating for internal bacterial issues is difficult/impossible.

Oh no, I'd hate to lose her. The bloating of the body could perhaps just be eggs? The current batch is about to hatch and they've been breeding non stop recently. Also I'm surprised how suddenly it happened. I'm sure I saw her a minute earlier cleaning the eggs.

 

[Jay Hemdal Verified Community Expert]

Oh no, I'd hate to lose her. The bloating of the body could perhaps just be eggs? The current batch is about to hatch and they've been breeding non stop recently. Also I'm surprised how suddenly it happened. I'm sure I saw her a minute earlier cleaning the eggs.

I've never seen a clown with eggs also have bulging eyes. Also, the "thick" body here is overall, not isolated to where the eggs would be, back lower in the abdomen.

Now, I can't account for this fish having been cleaning its eggs and then starting spinning like this in a matter of minutes, (or even hours). Maybe something else is going on here, but I'm at a loss as to say what could cause that rapid of a change....sorry!

 

[Scope]

I've never seen a clown with eggs also have bulging eyes. Also, the "thick" body here is overall, not isolated to where the eggs would be, back lower in the abdomen.

Yeah, the eyes are definitely pointing to a different diagnosis. Although it looks like it's only one of the eyes and it's also red now...

The question is: what do I do? Can I even do anything? For now, I made a makeshift acclimation box for it from a plastic colander, and the fish just lies there on its side, moving from time to time, but still erratically.

 

[Privateye]

I think you're giving the fish the best shot it can get by isolating it. Maybe turning the lights down/off could help relieve some stress. I wouldn't recommend any medications at this point because we don't really know what's causing it. These types of conditions rarely seem to transfer within a tank, so I wouldn't worry about the other fish.

I'll keep my fingers crossed for her.

 

[Scope]

12 hour update. Not getting any better. Should I wait longer?

 

[Jay Hemdal Verified Community Expert]

Yeah, the eyes are definitely pointing to a different diagnosis. Although it looks like it's only one of the eyes and it's also red now...

The question is: what do I do? Can I even do anything? For now, I made a makeshift acclimation box for it from a plastic colander, and the fish just lies there on its side, moving from time to time, but still erratically.

Sorry, I don’t think you can do anything but isolate it. If it still eats, there may be some hope, but if it isn’t eating, you should consider euthanasia at some point.

Here is a post I made about that:
https://www.reef2reef.com/threads/fish-euthanasia.979258/