Clown fish HELP!

[mahalamata]

Was watching the tank today and my one clown fish started having a fit!!he became very active for a bit then found a little hole between some mushrooms and lodged himself in there.he seems to be hyperventilating and is not trying to stop the current swaying him.when i go close to the tank he will swim up to the glass but he seems to jerk and spasm slightly and then go back to the gap he lies down.it looks like he is having some sort of mini seizure!!
i had a maroon clown that did this just before he died,i am now mixing some water for a water change but does anyone know what might be wrong?
is there anything i can do apart from water change ?everything else in the tank seems to be fine,corals are all open,shrimp moving around....

Anyone please help!

 

[Chipie]

Does he have any white dots on him? Might be Ick. Do you test your water? What are the parameters?

 

[mahalamata]

i only have nitrite at hand which is below 0.1 mg/l.i have run out of amonia and nitrate....there are no white spots to indicate ich on him.he rushes out as soon as i get close to the tank,i think he expects to be fed!but then will go back to his hiding place.

here a couple of quick shots from my mobile phone to give you an idea.

 

[markeo99]

dont look good to me

 

[mahalamata]

lol yea i know,
but was wondering if anyone has had a similar exp.or know s what could be causing this?

 

[JEFFR259]

geez, nice clear mobile phone camera pics!

So, he does that when you get near the tank? Does he act normally when you observe from afar?

 

[weluvfish54]

does look like possible ick..
do you have enough oxygen in your tank

 

[JEFFR259]

Looks ich free to me, although a bit skinny. But that may just be the angle of the pic

 

[mahalamata]

no the opposite! when I'm watching from the other end of the room he hides away.as i come close he swims up to the front of the glass and a few minutes later he goes back to his "resting" place. My phone is the new sony ericsson c902,5mp is not bad for a cell phone eh?
weluvfish:
my skimmer is running (tunze 9002) and there is surface agitation from flow and i have the canopy open for now,so i would guess there is oxygen in the tank..
as for ich i have never had it before in any of my tanks but i hope its not....

 

[weluvfish54]

you could aim a powerhead at the surface to make sure your getting enough oxygen in there..
just a thought

 

[mahalamata]

just checked salinity and its abit high (1.0027) could that be causing probs
for the clown fish?

 

[JEFFR259]

nah, the salinity is not that high. How have the rest of the water tests gone lately? Does he have a host (anemone) that he usually frequents?

 

[JEFFR259]

I see a shrimp in one of the photos (Peppermint?). Do you have any cleaner fish/inverts that hang around there?

 

[mahalamata]

yes there is a pair of Peppermint shrimp,bought originally to deal with aptaisia but kinda grew on me so they stayed(i think they must be spawning too cos i have seen tiny littler wriggly things in the water once or twice).But i wouldn't say they "hang" around there particularly, same for my hermits.
I have not had an anemone in this tank at all(back exp with two ending up in a power head),so this little guy has never seen one.Could he be trying to host the big mushrooms on the rock?

 

[mahalamata]

oh and water test have been good,i only have one fish and the two shrimp.I run carbon and rowaphos, have a refugium and my skimmer purs along nicely.I have heard of marine fish being more complex than FW occasionally suffer from organ failure and can die without an apparent reason i.e some specific illness.is this true?
has anyone experienced this ever?would be interesting to hear from anyone that has.