Clown going crazy please help

njcastillo86

New member
http://youtu.be/BlJk3CzTZYA


I added two snow flake clowns about 4 weeks ago. The female is doing great since day one the male has always acted a little funny. He used to sit at the bottom, looked like he was rapidly breathing and not moving around much. I took it as him getting used to the tank. Recently he has been swimming on his side still resting at the bottom. it seems as if he can only turn right and when he tries to swim he will just spin like a dog chasing its tail. Every once in a white he will completely go crazy and swim as fast as possible in circles all around the tank and slam into the rocks the glass anything in his way. After that for about 30 seconds he will go right back to swimming on his side and only being able to spin. When its feeding time he seems to be perfectly aware and will manage to side swim to get food and eat. I see no signs of disease and I recorded a video and showed it to two separate reef stores and no one can come up with a explanation to what is wrong with him. Tank history 16 gal nuvo with mp10 turned all the way to lowest lagoon setting, IM skimmer. Tank has been running for 3 months and clowns added about 3-4 weeks ago. Tank runs at 79-80.5 and the clowns are only fish in there and the only I plan to have in there. I test regularly and ammonia stays at 0 nitrates between 0 and highest 10-20 ppm. My weekly water changes bring that down. I've been feeding mysis shrimp with garlic. Please see video and let me know any ideas or suggestions.
 
I am new to the whole SW thing myself but it would seem like that fish is suffering from something. From what you're describing, it sounds like the fish is infected with Ich or Brooklynella. I say this because from what I've read, most parasites will cause the fish to breath heavy.

I see a few other reasons to support my theory but I think you should take the time to quickly research those two and see if maybe your fish might have them. The video you provided does not offer much visually to see if the common signs of these parasites is present.

EDIT: Usually with Ich you are told that the fish might experience a fin not extending fully, which would account for your clown swimming in circles. Also, a fish can tumble from the circulation pump and be completely fine as long as they recover and are not constantly being flipped over non-stop.
 
It's the strangest thing bc when I went to feed him last night and this morning he will straighten up and swim almost normal to eat and then around the tank looking for scraps. Tonight I'll try and post a video of him being still and maybe someone can see signs of something that I'm un aware of.
 
Could be swim bladder disorder. That can cause a fish to swim erratically.

I think this a real possibility. I'm guessing that such problems will occur more often, as the tank-bred morphs become more popular. It happened with FW angels years ago, way too much inbreeding.

I am not saying that inbreeding is the cause, just editorializing a bit.
 
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