Clownfish really fat and swims weirdly

Clownfish2 · Aug 17, 2018

If it’s not pregnant, it could be swelling up from a bacterial infection. I’d catch the clown, put in a quarantine tank and teat with antibiotics such as API Furan 2, or Seachem Kanaplex and metroplex for 10-14 days.

Alfie424 · Aug 17, 2018

I don’t have a spear tank to put him in does the treatment affect the corals ? My sister has a tank with no corals but there’s already a pair of clowns in there ....

James M · Aug 17, 2018

You need a quarantine tank , it will affect coral and you can’t NOT use it in the dt.

MarinaP · Aug 18, 2018

Alfie424 said:
What is that ?

It is a dewormer. Looks like your fish has parasites.

Alfie424 · Aug 18, 2018

This is really weird I woke up and checked my fish and it looks like he’s not as fat now but he still swims abit weirdly . Do the worms spread ?

Barrett · Aug 18, 2018

Prazipro in the water will not treat internal parasites. Does the fish have white stringy poop? @Humblefish @HotRocks @4FordFamily

Alfie424 · Aug 18, 2018

Haven’t seen it’s poop yet but I will look out for it .

Captain Quint · Aug 18, 2018

Alfie424 said:
They have been in the tank since November last year and there’s about half an inch in size difference. The one which is rlly fat is the slightly smaller one but the two clownfish keep hanging out in the same spot and the fat clownfish had a spike thing on its stomach earlier . Is it possible that the smaller one has turned into the female ? Also, last week there was a nitrate spike but the parameters are all fine now .

The larger is the female and the smaller should have done a submission ritual. Twitching, letting the other know he understood she was to be the female.

You wrote that you had a nitrate spike and although fishes can handle some pretty high nitrate levels if ranges are crazy high like nitrate 160ppm which can quickly induce nitrate poisoning. It is one of the several of many contributing causes to such a negative outcome. Singularly one or a couple may have little impact, yet collectively can be really bad.

I'm not trying to be all gloom and doom here but you asked if it could be 'dropsy'.

If a fish is suffering from the some of the following symptoms it could be dropsy.

*Swollen belly
*Pine conning of scales which you indicated something was sticking out.
*Color of the clown becoming pale.
*Bulging eyes can develop.
*Ulcers on the body.
*Lack of appetite.
*Being sluggish

*I cannot remember all of the symptoms but these are indicators.

These symptoms will worsen over time and should be dealt with in a QT before becoming too late for treatment.

Medication generally used for treatment is Maracyn-Two.

I'm sorry you and your fish are having to deal with this.

Alfie424 · Aug 18, 2018

Captain Quint said:
The larger is the female and the smaller should have done a submission ritual. Twitching, letting the other know he understood she was to be the female.

You wrote that you had a nitrate spike and although fishes can handle some pretty high nitrate levels if ranges are crazy high like nitrate 160ppm which can quickly induce nitrate poisoning. It is one of the several of many contributing causes to such a negative outcome. Singularly one or a couple may have little impact, yet collectively can be really bad.

I'm not trying to be all gloom and doom here but you asked if it could be 'dropsy'.

If a fish is suffering from the some of the following symptoms it could be dropsy.

*Swollen belly
*Pine conning of scales which you indicated something was sticking out.
*Color of the clown becoming pale.
*Bulging eyes can develop.
*Ulcers on the body.
*Lack of appetite.
*Being sluggish

*I cannot remember all of the symptoms but these are indicators.

These symptoms will worsen over time and should be dealt with in a QT before becoming too late for treatment.

Medication generally used for treatment is Maracyn-Two.

I'm sorry you and your fish are having to deal with this.

The nitrate was around 80ppm which has never happened before in my tank . The male had a more swollen belly yesterday but he’s still swimming abit weird. Yesterday I saw the male doing the shaky dance and that’s why I was wondering if he was turning into a female and trying to be the dominant one because I haven’t seen him do that dance in a long time . Thx for the info and helping me figure out what this could be . If he has dropsy or internal parasites will it spread like ich?

Captain Quint · Aug 18, 2018

Alfie424 said:
What is that ?

It is great to treat parasites but not for bacterial infections.

Alfie424 · Aug 18, 2018

Captain Quint said:
It is great to treat parasites but not for bacterial infections.

Ok , if I put the treatment in my main tank will corals be damaged?

Captain Quint · Aug 18, 2018

Alfie424 said:
The nitrate was around 80ppm which has never happened before in my tank . The male had a more swollen belly yesterday but he’s still swimming abit weird. Yesterday I saw the male doing the shaky dance and that’s why I was wondering if he was turning into a female and trying to be the dominant one because I haven’t seen him do that dance in a long time . Thx for the info and helping me figure out what this could be . If he has dropsy or internal parasites will it spread like ich?

80 is high, but we've all heard of much higher levels being dealt with so kudos for the catch on that. When fish are suddenly exposed to high nitrate levels, they will usually die within 24 to 48 hours of exposure which leads me to believe yours have been creeping up and not a sudden spike/shock/poisoning which over a long period of time can have an impact but it also sounds as though you may have managed that with perhaps some water changes? The bad part would be to send into nitrate shock by lowering the nitrates very low suddenly and not a stepdown method.

No, the male will remain male unless the female was to pass at which point he would become female if given some alone time in the tank. By adding a smaller clown in that event, the new female would remain just that.

Crypto (Marine ich) is more the common cold in the fish world yet we always dread it. I say that to say this; generally, your initial inquiry of 'dropsy' is not contagious per se but doesn't rule out the chance of other inhabitants with a poor immune system are also lower due to previously mentioned reasons the bacteria would be in the tank.

Your welcome for what I've been attempting to convey. That's why we're here. To discuss issues and help one another.

I'm still hopeful for your clown.

James M · Aug 18, 2018

Alfie424 said:
Ok , if I put the treatment in my main tank will corals be damaged?

Do NOT put it in your display tank

Captain Quint · Aug 18, 2018

James M said:
Do NOT put it in your display tank

Thanks. I missed that question, my friend.

Alfie424 please see if you cannot set up a small QT of sorts.

Alfie424 · Aug 18, 2018

Captain Quint said:
80 is high, but we've all heard of much higher levels being dealt with so kudos for the catch on that. When fish are suddenly exposed to high nitrate levels, they will usually die within 24 to 48 hours of exposure which leads me to believe yours have been creeping up and not a sudden spike/shock/poisoning which over a long period of time can have an impact but it also sounds as though you may have managed that with perhaps some water changes? The bad part would be to send into nitrate shock by lowering the nitrates very low suddenly and not a stepdown method.

No, the male will remain male unless the female was to pass at which point he would become female if given some alone time in the tank. By adding a smaller clown in that event, the new female would remain just that.

Crypto (Marine ich) is more the common cold in the fish world yet we always dread it. I say that to say this; generally, your initial inquiry of 'dropsy' is not contagious per se but doesn't rule out the chance of other inhabitants with a poor immune system are also lower due to previously mentioned reasons the bacteria would be in the tank.

Your welcome for what I've been attempting to convey. That's why we're here. To discuss issues and help one another.

I'm still hopeful for your clown.

Oh I think the problem may be that I lowered the nitrates to quickly as I done a water change and didn’t feed them for a day and the nitrates went down to around 5ppm .