ClownfishProblm
New member
Hey guys,
I've posted this in a few places now and haven't gotten a satisfactory answer, maybe you guys can help.
I bought a pair of maroon clownfish 2 days ago. They were both fine before they got to my tank, as far as I could tell. The male is doing very well and acting absolutely normally, but the female is having difficulty swimming. She's not inflating her swim bladder, and she sinks very quickly. She doesn't swim using her tail or even use most of her body, she just beats her pectoral fins really rapidly - she can't swim very strongly and is nowhere near as graceful as the male. Her movements are rapid and jerky. The clown in this video www.youtube.com/watch?v=vfPt4MhzyN0 shows very similar movement. Mine is spending most of her time laying on the bottom, but readily gets up and swims around when I feed them. She's eating pretty heartily and doesn't seem to be breathing heavily or showing any real signs of distress (as far as I can tell).
My tank parameters were out of whack due to a mis-calibrated refractometer and my SG was at 1.019 when the fish were introduced, although I drip acclimated them in a 5 gallon bucket over the course of an hour, I think this may have caused the issue initially. I got as close of a look as I could (they're still not comfortable in the new tank and avoid me as much as possible when I get too close to the glass) and she doesn't appear to have any signs of external parasites. The change in water parameters seems to be what caused this.
I have since raised the SG to 1.021, and will continue to raise it over the course of the next few days. My ammonia is 0, nitrates are 0, and pH is around 8.1.
Does anyone have any recommendations for treating this fish, or should I just relax and give it time?
Thanks a lot for taking the time to read this, and if anyone has any advice/experience with this same situation, please let me know what the best course of action is.
I've posted this in a few places now and haven't gotten a satisfactory answer, maybe you guys can help.
I bought a pair of maroon clownfish 2 days ago. They were both fine before they got to my tank, as far as I could tell. The male is doing very well and acting absolutely normally, but the female is having difficulty swimming. She's not inflating her swim bladder, and she sinks very quickly. She doesn't swim using her tail or even use most of her body, she just beats her pectoral fins really rapidly - she can't swim very strongly and is nowhere near as graceful as the male. Her movements are rapid and jerky. The clown in this video www.youtube.com/watch?v=vfPt4MhzyN0 shows very similar movement. Mine is spending most of her time laying on the bottom, but readily gets up and swims around when I feed them. She's eating pretty heartily and doesn't seem to be breathing heavily or showing any real signs of distress (as far as I can tell).
My tank parameters were out of whack due to a mis-calibrated refractometer and my SG was at 1.019 when the fish were introduced, although I drip acclimated them in a 5 gallon bucket over the course of an hour, I think this may have caused the issue initially. I got as close of a look as I could (they're still not comfortable in the new tank and avoid me as much as possible when I get too close to the glass) and she doesn't appear to have any signs of external parasites. The change in water parameters seems to be what caused this.
I have since raised the SG to 1.021, and will continue to raise it over the course of the next few days. My ammonia is 0, nitrates are 0, and pH is around 8.1.
Does anyone have any recommendations for treating this fish, or should I just relax and give it time?
Thanks a lot for taking the time to read this, and if anyone has any advice/experience with this same situation, please let me know what the best course of action is.
