Clownfish struggling to stay buoyant

[RaymondNoodles]

I have 8 fish in a 1 yr old reef tank. 7 of them are doing great. There are 2 clownfish. One of them has always seemed to struggle to stay up in the water column. I got both clownfish at the same time. They were very young, less than 1 inch. From day 1, the little guy spent all of his time in the back corner of the tank, resting on the sandbed at the corner. Whenever he swims, it looks like he is struggling to stay buoyant; seemingly always sinking. A couple weeks ago he took occupancy of a bubble tip anemone. The BTA seems to help him rest with a safe, comfy spot, somewhat easier which I am thankful for. His female partner has more than doubled his size. After 1 year, he hasn't grown much. He always has an appetite and eats well. I wonder what is wrong with him. Swim bladder issue?

 

[vetteguy53081]

I have 8 fish in a 1 yr old reef tank. 7 of them are doing great. There are 2 clownfish. One of them has always seemed to struggle to stay up in the water column. I got both clownfish at the same time. They were very young, less than 1 inch. From day 1, the little guy spent all of his time in the back corner of the tank, resting on the sandbed at the corner. Whenever he swims, it looks like he is struggling to stay buoyant; seemingly always sinking. A couple weeks ago he took occupancy of a bubble tip anemone. The BTA seems to help him rest with a safe, comfy spot, somewhat easier which I am thankful for. His female partner has more than doubled his size. After 1 year, he hasn't grown much. He always has an appetite and eats well. I wonder what is wrong with him. Swim bladder issue?

Please furnish a video of at least 20 seconds under white lighting to best assess what you are describing

 

[Jay Hemdal]

I have 8 fish in a 1 yr old reef tank. 7 of them are doing great. There are 2 clownfish. One of them has always seemed to struggle to stay up in the water column. I got both clownfish at the same time. They were very young, less than 1 inch. From day 1, the little guy spent all of his time in the back corner of the tank, resting on the sandbed at the corner. Whenever he swims, it looks like he is struggling to stay buoyant; seemingly always sinking. A couple weeks ago he took occupancy of a bubble tip anemone. The BTA seems to help him rest with a safe, comfy spot, somewhat easier which I am thankful for. His female partner has more than doubled his size. After 1 year, he hasn't grown much. He always has an appetite and eats well. I wonder what is wrong with him. Swim bladder issue?

While we are waiting on a video - you said this fish often rested on the bottom. I presume these are tank raised. A certain percentage of tank raised fish do not develop their swim bladders and are called "belly sliders". Breeders should cull these as defective, but some get through, or the breeders don't do that. In any event, those fish get into the market and sold to people. There isn't any cure for that, but the fish can live a good long life that way.

jay

 

[RaymondNoodles]

Here's a video I took this morning. Notice how much energy he is expelling. He spends the majority of his life swimming vertically. Thanks for all the help.

 

[Jay Hemdal]

Here's a video I took this morning. Notice how much energy he is expelling. He spends the majority of his life swimming vertically. Thanks for all the help.

Yes - that does seem to be a "belly slider" - no evidence of bloating. I have one almost identical to yours, but its host anemone (actually zooanthids) is horizontal, so it can just rest there and not struggle to maintain position.

Jay

 

[RaymondNoodles]

Yes - that does seem to be a "belly slider" - no evidence of bloating. I have one almost identical to yours, but its host anemone (actually zooanthids) is horizontal, so it can just rest there and not struggle to maintain position.

Jay

Yes, these clowns are tank raised. I think my LFS gets them from Biota if I recall correctly. They both appeared to be swimming normally at the LFS when I purchased them, but it was probably hard to tell because there were like 10 of them in a small tank and they were all swimming around like little crazies, not actually trying to rest. Thank you for the info. Any special dietary recommendations or anything else I can do to help? I feed twice/day. Breakfast is a combination of Ocean Nutrion reef flake and Hikari Marine S pellets. Dinner is LRS reef frenzy frozen. Thank you.

 

[Jay Hemdal]

Yes, these clowns are tank raised. I think my LFS gets them from Biota if I recall correctly. They both appeared to be swimming normally at the LFS when I purchased them, but it was probably hard to tell because there were like 10 of them in a small tank and they were all swimming around like little crazies, not actually trying to rest. Thank you for the info. Any special dietary recommendations or anything else I can do to help? I feed twice/day. Breakfast is a combination of Ocean Nutrion reef flake and Hikari Marine S pellets. Dinner is LRS reef frenzy frozen. Thank you.

If it is due to an underdeveloped swim bladder, there really isn't anything you can do to cure it. You can keep it away from aggressive fish, and make certain it gets its fair share of food.

jay

 

[RaymondNoodles]

Thank you @Jay Hemdal