HELP My clownfish has swimming issues

[jarmitagj]

Hey guys,

This is my second fish , i introduced him today and he seems to look fine but he is having issues keeping level in the tank, he keeps bobbing his head up then down like he is struggling to keep balance, all my water parameters seem to be fine and the tank has been cycling for a long time and it has had a fish in it living sweet for 3 weeks before i added this clownfish.

cheers guys !

Jono
New Zealand !

 

[dodo99]

It may be acting normally. Some clownfish swim in a very odd manner. For instance, I have had two types of ocellaris clowns. Both mostly swam the way you describe, bobbing up and down, sometimes swimming vertically - head towards the bottom. Funny little fish

What kind of clown is it?

 

[jarmitagj]

He/she is an ocellaris Clown , the common old nemo . He seems to look happy but it just doesnt look quite right the way he is swimming around. Hmm ill try and post a pic. I have a highlighter blue chromis and he seems fine.

 

[dodo99]

I have read that fish can sometimes get an infection in their swim bladder, which can cause irregular swimming. I've never seen it first hand though...

Has it been eating regularly?

 

[jarmitagj]

its had a few nibbles but it still is doing it, i was wondering if it was shock from the change of tank perhaps ? im going to get him some decent decent food tommorow to help him out. What would you guys reccomend in food for him ? as this is my first tank the fish i had has been happy as with some flake i have , but im not sure if my new clownfish will be happy with it ? Cheers for the replys guys its awesome to have forums like this avalible !

 

[r00onmac]

my ocellaris does that at night when he is sleeping if i am understanding what you are describing correctly.... clowns dont really swim like any other fish i have ever seen and they have a tendency to do some of the WARNING signs you would expect to see from another fish if it werent healthy, but for clowns its all in good fun...

 

[jarmitagj]

Cool, I feed him before and he went hard on the food, he gobbled up lots of it, and swam quite fine to get at it. Got wasted and it looks like he is dancing with his reflection in the mirror. hahaha very pretty fish.

 

[kwiker]

Bring him to get swimming lessons!

 

[dodo99]

Glad to see he's eating! It's a good sign. All the clownfish i've owned were always a bit stressed the first couple of days in a new tank, so they'll eat a bit less or not at all till they get familiar with the new surroundings.

As for food, it depends on the size of the clown. Mine are slightly over an inch long. They are tank bred, so they're already used to flake food from the LFS. Mine also love the smaller marine pellets. I tried to give them some mysis shrimp, but their mouth is still a bit too small for food that big. If it's too big, you'll notice him trying to swallow the food, then spit it out a few times before he gives up and looks for another piece.

For a treat, you can give some live or frozen brine shrimp. I say it's a treat because it isn't very nutritious, like the equivalent of popcorn or chips... I've read that they can also get used to brine shrimp and refuse to eat anything else, so once in a while is fine.

 

[mynock03]

swimming

swimming

that is how clown fish swim they don't have swim bladders like a normal fish. There swimming is what got them the name "clown fish" because of how funny it looks.

 

[ckoral]

When I got my clown fish it had a heck of a time remaining in a stable position in my tank. I have a lot of turn over in my tank so it was a real work out. It took a week or so to adapt. No everything is normal. I actually thought I was going to kill him if I left him in the tank. At the pet store he was in a small cubicle for a long time. I attribute the pet stores low flow cubicle as the problem I had.

 

[stupac21]

Sounds like normal clownfish swimming patterns to me.
Mine is always bobing his head while swimming around and he's doing just fine.

 

[PHIN FAN]

I'll also agree to that my clown worried me my first day until I realized thats just how they swim, now if only I could get him to leave the skimmer box as his host and take to the green carpet anemone...hmmm...any tricks ppl know would be appreciated...