I think my clown is constipated?

lba4590

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My female clownfish is acting very lethargic, not eating, and very fat/bloated. She ate fine yesterday. Otherwise she looks fine, no stringy poop, weird spots, etc. and gets up every now and then and swims normally, but shows no interest in food.

I’ve had her for about 2 months, and haven’t seen any stringy poop or other issues In any of my fish, so I’m pretty sure she’s constipated... would a 1 tbsp/gallon bath in epsom salt for 15-30 mins be helpful? Found this option online mentioned specifically for FW fish, but is this safe? Thanks in advance.

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Hincapiej4

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FW IS DIFFERENT FROM SW!

I feel like you don't want to push SW at least in epsom salt......... and even if you did..what's the point, they live in saltwater anyway. You can do a freshwater dip though...

I would just maybe do a FW dip to make sure it's not fluke, then stop feeding so much. lol

I'm sure someone will say possibly a bacterial infection..could treat for that if you want just to be sure.
 

MetaKnight101

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Side pictures would be nice, from the picture you posted, your clown seems to be healthy. Clowns don't like to eat pellet foods they like to eat meaty types of food lime Mysis or shrimp and probably flakes too. Clowns overall don't really swim around, they like to host a certain place (corner of the tank, anemones, powerheads, etc) which could make them possibly appear lethargic. If you think your clownfish is bloated it's probably because it ate too much. Usually happens during heavy feedings for me. I usually wait it out and it goes away.
 
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lba4590

lba4590

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Side pictures would be nice, from the picture you posted, your clown seems to be healthy. Clowns don't like to eat pellet foods they like to eat meaty types of food lime Mysis or shrimp and probably flakes too. Clowns overall don't really swim around, they like to host a certain place (corner of the tank, anemones, powerheads, etc) which could make them possibly appear lethargic. If you think your clownfish is bloated it's probably because it ate too much. Usually happens during heavy feedings for me. I usually wait it out and it goes away.

I feed only frozen, switch between mysis, marine cuisine, and frozen plankton, and this is like abnormally fat lol. Not food fat. My other clown is fat but perfectly normal/healthy fat (not nearly as fat). I can’t seem to get a good picture that shows it. I hardly feed much at all - about 1/4 of a small cube twice per day because my fish are all tiny. The two host the bottom corner of the tank and go there to sleep at night, but she’s been hanging out there laying around all day while her buddy is swimming around. Since she otherwise looks normal maybe I’ll just wait it out.
 

KrisReef

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Female clownfish might be egg bound? I don't know what can be done in either event.
 
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lba4590

lba4590

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you said theres another clown in the tank? maybe ready to spawn?
She’s tiny though! Can they spawn when they’re that tiny? Like 1-1.5”.. but her and her boyfriend have been doing all kinds of little dances together
 
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lba4590

lba4590

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do a search of clown mating behavior and see if it sounds like the stuff you've seen

No don’t think that’s it now. Female still not eating and now the male has a lump on his cheek and is flashing. Going to attempt to catch them and put them in QT. No idea what’s going on.
 
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