Clownfish on its side, floating vertically, sometimes swims upside down

[adobo]

I have clownfish . No idea what kind. At first I thought it was an ocellaris. Then I thought maybe a percula. Perhaps it is a mix. Anyhoo, had her about 3 months now. I never put her in quarantine and never treated her with meds prior to putting her into the display tank. About 2 weeks after I put that first clownfish in the display tank, I added another. Again, no idea what kind. No quarantine, no medications, etc.

About two weeks ago, the first/bigger clownfish stopped eating and seemed to be in distress. I turned down the flow which seemed to help her a bit but she seemed to be on a slow decline. About a week ago, I read somewhere that clowfish with white stringy poop might have intestinal parasites. So, I pulled both clownfish out of the DT and put them in a quarantine tank. I medicated with API GC. About 5 days ago, the bigger clownfish started laying on its side. It would still swim around but she seemed confused about how to orient herself. About 3 days ago, she started eating again. She had a pretty sizable poo which was greenish. I fed her some medicated pellets (GC + Seachem focus). She ate a few but won't touch the stuff since. She is eating bits of flake and unmedicated pellets but won't touch frozen brine.

I am about to do a second dose of GC in the tank but honestly, I feel like I am shooting in the dark. Anybody know what the heck is going on with this fish?


Some params:
DT:

• Ammonia - 0
• Nitrite - 0
• Nitrate - 5 ppm
• Phosphate - .05 (ppm I think)
• pH - fluctuates between 8.05 to 8.2
• dKH - ~7

QT:

• Ammonia - 0
• Nitrite - 0
• Nitrate - 5 ppm
• Phosphate - no idea
• pH - no idea - probably between 7.8 to 8
• dkH - ~8

I have a pic of her poop magnified some but my microscope is crap. Or I don't know how to use my microscope. Or both.

Video of clownfish (at this point, I am not even sure anymore if it is a clowfish):

 

[ScubaFish802]

Sounds like a swim bladder issue potentially

 

[Jay Hemdal]

I have clownfish . No idea what kind. At first I thought it was an ocellaris. Then I thought maybe a percula. Perhaps it is a mix. Anyhoo, had her about 3 months now. I never put her in quarantine and never treated her with meds prior to putting her into the display tank. About 2 weeks after I put that first clownfish in the display tank, I added another. Again, no idea what kind. No quarantine, no medications, etc.

About two weeks ago, the first/bigger clownfish stopped eating and seemed to be in distress. I turned down the flow which seemed to help her a bit but she seemed to be on a slow decline. About a week ago, I read somewhere that clowfish with white stringy poop might have intestinal parasites. So, I pulled both clownfish out of the DT and put them in a quarantine tank. I medicated with API GC. About 5 days ago, the bigger clownfish started laying on its side. It would still swim around but she seemed confused about how to orient herself. About 3 days ago, she started eating again. She had a pretty sizable poo which was greenish. I fed her some medicated pellets (GC + Seachem focus). She ate a few but won't touch the stuff since. She is eating bits of flake and unmedicated pellets but won't touch frozen brine.

I am about to do a second dose of GC in the tank but honestly, I feel like I am shooting in the dark. Anybody know what the heck is going on with this fish?


Some params:
DT:

• Ammonia - 0
• Nitrite - 0
• Nitrate - 5 ppm
• Phosphate - .05 (ppm I think)
• pH - fluctuates between 8.05 to 8.2
• dKH - ~7

QT:

• Ammonia - 0
• Nitrite - 0
• Nitrate - 5 ppm
• Phosphate - no idea
• pH - no idea - probably between 7.8 to 8
• dkH - ~8

I have a pic of her poop magnified some but my microscope is crap. Or I don't know how to use my microscope. Or both.

Video of clownfish (at this point, I am not even sure anymore if it is a clowfish):

I wasn't able to view the video (I have really poor DSL, the download failed 4 times). Metronidazole is very bitter, so that's why the fish stopped eating it. You should go ahead and dose the GC for the second time. The green poop was probably bile stained from intestinal/liver issues.

If you think the video has important clues in it, you could post it to Youtube and put up a link here, that would work from me.

Jay

 

[adobo]

I wasn't able to view the video (I have really poor DSL, the download failed 4 times). Metronidazole is very bitter, so that's why the fish stopped eating it. You should go ahead and dose the GC for the second time. The green poop was probably bile stained from intestinal/liver issues.

If you think the video has important clues in it, you could post it to Youtube and put up a link here, that would work from me.

Jay

Nah, its just a video of a clownfish swimming vertically in the water column. Here is a pic instead. I don't think there is any insight to be had though:

 

[vetteguy53081]

Fish is quite thin and appears to be internal including bladder. Its struggle appears to be from weakness. Its a pretty fish and just too bad.
What foods were you feeding and what test kit(s) are you using. Unusual to see all zero readings unless you are getting false readings which would be typical of API test kits

 

[adobo]

I wasn't able to view the video (I have really poor DSL, the download failed 4 times). Metronidazole is very bitter, so that's why the fish stopped eating it. You should go ahead and dose the GC for the second time. The green poop was probably bile stained from intestinal/liver issues.

If you think the video has important clues in it, you could post it to Youtube and put up a link here, that would work from me.

Jay

The heck with it. Here is a link to youtube:

 

[adobo]

Fish is quite thin and appears to be internal including bladder. Its struggle appears to be from weakness. Its a pretty fish and just too bad.
What foods were you feeding and what test kit(s) are you using. Unusual to see all zero readings unless you are getting false readings which would be typical od API test kits

Rotating between hikari spirulina frozen brine, ocean nutrition flake and PE pellets. I was feeding 3x per week.

Ammonia test kit is API. API and Salifert nitrite test kits. Salifert nitrate test kit. pH monitor. hanna alkalinity and phosphate ULR. All test kits were purchased within the last 6 months though it is possible I got some old kits.

I redid my nitrite test on QT. It's reading .25ppm nitrite.

I am going to do a 10% water change before re-dosing GC. Anything else you recommend?

 

[Jay Hemdal]

Agreed, the fish looks thin. One thing the video did tell me is that the fish’s respiration rate isn’t elevated, so that helps rule out external infections. IMO you should dose the GC a second time, and just feed the clown small amounts, but frequently.

Jay

 

[adobo]

Agreed, the fish looks thin. One thing the video did tell me is that the fish’s respiration rate isn’t elevated, so that helps rule out external infections. IMO you should dose the GC a second time, and just feed the clown small amounts, but frequently.

Jay

This second dose is occurring after the first. Did I wait too long to administer the second dose? Will I need to administer a third closer to 5-7 days?

 

[Seabiscuit]

He looks weak and stressed. His colors look a bit tattered. After caring for him is it possible to leave him by himself where there aren't people passing by in front of his tank frequently?

 

[adobo]

Agreed, the fish looks thin. One thing the video did tell me is that the fish’s respiration rate isn’t elevated, so that helps rule out external infections. IMO you should dose the GC a second time, and just feed the clown small amounts, but frequently.

Jay

This second dose is occurring after the first. Did I wait too long to administer the second dose? Will I need to administer a third closer to 5-7 days?

9 days after the first

 

[Jay Hemdal]

This second dose is occurring after the first. Did I wait too long to administer the second dose? Will I need to administer a third closer to 5-7 days?

GC indicates on the package that the second dose should be 48 hours after the first. That is good for protozoans, but for flukes, the second dose needs to be about a week later. The package does not mention a third dose, but I think that would be ok after another week, and after performing a 25% water change first.

Jay