Clownfish Swim Bladder Issue?

[vetteguy53081]

Mainly just pellets. I did recently switch from a very fine freshwater pellet (didn’t realize it was freshwater, may not matter) to a larger marine pellet but I the behavior was happening before hand as well.

I tried some frozen brine but they had no interest. Honestly the smaller of the 2 is very small, the brine shrink were probably too big for him, he would always try it and spit it out.

Pellets can cause constipation reason I suspected which may be part of the issue . Brine is Best but I see he is rejecting it

 

[brclark82]

Here is an update if anyone will take a look. I turned off all flow except the HOBs and both fish look like they are enjoying themselves much more. Exploring parts of the tank they haven’t and overall look less like they are fighting the current. The little guy hasn’t been taking “naps” during the daytime anymore.

here is a video from just now after the light dimmed. He is still doing the same behavior at night but now every time he goes to the sand for whatever reason he does it; his friend comes and gets him up almost like he’s trying to help him.

@vetteguy53081
@Jay Hemdal

 

[Sharkbait19]

Happy to see he’s doing better!
At night it might just be him looking for a spot to rest. Have you noticed any aggression that he may be trying to avoid?

 

[brclark82]

Happy to see he’s doing better!
At night it might just be him looking for a spot to rest. Have you noticed any aggression that he may be trying to avoid?

Nope no aggression at all…the only other things in the tank are a cleaner shrimp (that desperately wants to clean the clowns but they aren’t interested) and the tiniest YWG that stays in his burrow. And although I got these 2 from a tank with probably 20 clowns in it at the lfs they have seemingly paired immediately and have been inseparable.

Another interesting finding today after I posted again last night. I setup one of my blink cameras to keep an eye on the tank. The little guy still evidently spends a decent amount of time laying on the sand even during the day with zero flow but perks up and pretends like everything is fine as soon as I walk into the room.

I am fine with having a weirdo clownfish but with him being only 2 weeks in this tank I just want to make sure there isn’t something actually wrong I should be treating or looking for.

 

[Sharkbait19]

Nothing looks wrong with the clown to me - closeup pics under whites would help to confirm though. Other than improving the diet as mentioned, I don’t think anything needs to be done atm. My clowns love mysis if you haven’t tried it yet.

 

[brclark82]

Nothing looks wrong with the clown to me - closeup pics under whites would help to confirm though. Other than improving the diet as mentioned, I don’t think anything needs to be done atm. My clowns love mysis if you haven’t tried it yet.

I will be back at my tank in about an hour and I’ll see if I can sneak in and take a good pic of him under white light.

I did also recently start giving them some more night time. My lights are on a timer that was setup for 7a-715a gradual increase from 0-50% Blue, 715-745 50% blue, 745-8a gradual increase to 100% white, 8a-6p 100% white, same gradual decrease as the am between 6-7p and then they stayed on 10% blue from 7p until like midnight…I turned the 10% blue off and just made it nighttime from 7p-7a hoping maybe they would get more rest as they definitely act differently when the lights are completely off.
Thanks for your inout so far

 

[brclark82]

Nothing looks wrong with the clown to me - closeup pics under whites would help to confirm though. Other than improving the diet as mentioned, I don’t think anything needs to be done atm. My clowns love mysis if you haven’t tried it yet.

Here is a pic and a quick video of how he is swimming right now

 

[Sharkbait19]

Looks healthy to me!

 

[brclark82]

Ok one more video, the little guy seemed to be doing better only sleeping in the sand at night for the most part and waking up in the morning when the light turn in.

Today he woke up to eat but then has returned to the place he sleeps and has been harder to arouse.

His friend also seems more worried about him, coming over to “wake him up” and get him moving but he just seems a bit out of it today?

Hoepfully he just stayed up a bit too late for the Super Bowl but any additional input would be appreciated.

 

[Sharkbait19]

Still no visible injuries or signs of sickness, right? Has he been eating?

 

[brclark82]

Here is a video of right now, about 5 minutes after the first video when I put some food in the tank. He went right back to his corner to rest after the food was gone.

no visible injured or sickness that I can tell but I am new to this as well

 

[Sharkbait19]

Nothing looks wrong, and in that video he looks totally fine.
He probably just found a spot that he likes (based on how the sand is dug he’s been hard at work making it his area). Sitting completely motionless is weird, but so are clownfish.

 

[brclark82]

Cool, I appreciate the reassurance…one of the hermit crabs decided to sleep in his spot the other night and it didnt make him super happy so you’re probably right, just where he like to hang out

I guess I was just always under the impression that fish needed to be moving to breathe and when one sat motionless in the sand it wasn’t a good sign

 

[Sharkbait19]

Cool, I appreciate the reassurance…one of the hermit crabs decided to sleep in his spot the other night and it didnt make him super happy so you’re probably right, just where he like to hang out

I guess I was just always under the impression that fish needed to be moving to breathe and when one sat motionless in the sand it wasn’t a good sign

Requiem Sharks (great whites, blacktip, etc.) are the only ones I know of that need to be constantly moving. For other fish, like lions or gobies, it would be weird for them to be super active. Generally clowns are more active, but they will happily chill in one area (especially once they get an anemone).