Need help! GSM acting strange

[CockyBrock]

So I picked up a spawning pair of GSM yesterday and transported them down the road for about two hours in a 5 gallon bucket. we had an airstone in the bucket to break the staleness of the water...

anyways, they came from a tank breakdown and I'm unsure of how long they were in uncirculating water, but there was plenty of water in the tank and both fish looked healthy and swam fine.

fast-forward to today...the male is acting fine but the female is having serious problems. she's been swimming very erraticly, trying to jump out of the tank, laying on her side on the bottom of the tank, swimming vertically and sometimes upside down.

I took her out of her tank and put her back in the 5 gallon bucket that i used to QT the night before. there was a koralia nano in there but i had to turn it off as it was pulling her up against it as she isn't strong enough to swim in the current.

also, her fins are VERY RAGGED and look like they're slowly disentigrating...

does anyone have any idea what she could have developed in 24 hrs? could she have a bacterial infection?

I've done a 60% water change in the bucket and am running carbon via a HOB filter...the temp in the bucket is about 78 degrees as well...last i checked she was upright on the bottom of the tank...resting...

don't know what will happen...I've got other clowns but NEVER seen one act like this...like i said, the male seems fine...

don't want to lose her as she's produced amazing babies...any help is great!

Brock

 

[bues0022]

It's possible for her to come down with something from the stress of the move. I would definitely keep her separated for now until we can figure out exactly what happened to her. It might also be possible that the ragged fins are from the net from catching her a few times???? Perhaps you didn't notice it right away? Also, I've had clownfish swim quite erratically and weak after being very stressed. High ammonia or low O2 levels can also lead to swim problems. I'm not a clownfish expert, but offering up some suggestions that might be the cause that don't have to deal with medicine. I'd keep up on water changes and the QT until someone else more knowledgeable posts up.

 

[CockyBrock]

Sadly she passed overnight. No clue as to why either. Male seems to be doing just fine. I'll post more this evening and maybe someone will chime in as to what could have happened.

I'm sad!

 

[WDLV]

Could be ammonia or low O2 as stated above. It will make them act like that. It will also encourage a myriad of problems none the least of which is fin rot and burning gills. Which fits both the description of how they were handled and the resulting behaviors you observed.

 

[CockyBrock]

Thanks for the insight Walt. I appreciate your help. Sadly she died overnight and I'm currently looking for a suitable replacement. Have you ever had maroons, and if so, had any luck pairing them?

 

[WDLV]

That's too bad. Chalk it up to a learning experience.

 

[CockyBrock]

It would be a learning experience...if I knew what happened and how to prevent it in the future

 

[shua71]

If the maroons were netted that could have really damaged its cheeks. They have cheek spines which cling onto the net so maybe thats a possibility?

 

[CockyBrock]

Yes..there was an initial problem with the spines but she swam around just fine for hours after that..and never experienced an issue...who knows...

that could have been the issue though...sadly I'll never know