Hi, I have a black and white male clown fish that has been sick for a little over two weeks. On 11/7 I noticed when feeding that his right eye was swollen and very clouded over but otherwise he looked fine; swimming and eating as usual. Because the female in the tank is much bigger and bulkier, I blamed her for it. She can be aggressive but has never inflicted physical damage on him. I did not treat for anything since he was acting fine, assuming it was an injury. 11/8 - 11/9, no change. Still eating and swimming fine and other than the eye, fins and color looked good.
11/10 - When I woke up in the morning and check on him, he looked terrible. Fins all ripped up, coloring all mottled, breathing almost heavy and literally "swimming" on his side and upside down. He had found a small, dark space in the live rock where he was generally hanging out in most of the time. The LFS said that it sounded like popeye and gave me some Melafin to try. Told me he had to be feeling pretty bad if he was hiding (and that's not the norm). That evening to my surprise he came out to eat and ate the normal amount for him. He doesn't eat aggressive like the female does and never has, just sort of picks at the food. I followed the directions on the Melafin and treated all week with his swimming returning fully to normal by about 11/15. Water change 11/17. No problems - was a little worried he would have trouble. Pretty much consistent through 11/22. He is out and swimming but is still looking pretty ratty, his eye still swollen (not as swollen as some scary pictures I googled) and cloudy. His coloring is still mottled and he is turning light gray overnight. I know this can happen to fish in the dark but it has only happened to him when the lights don't get turned on for a over a day and it quickly goes away. He has always been small and thin - I know I must be doing something right with my feeding because my female looks beautiful; he just looks really thin and last night did eat but maybe only 3 bites or so. What has been VERY different about his behavior is that last night I actually saw him go near and bite at the female during and right after feeding. Usually he steers completely clear of her except to eat.
Any suggestions? New treatments? Give up? Melafin a waste of time?
Sorry for the long post ---Thank you!!!!
Tank:
14g BioCube
2 Black and White Clowns
11/10 - When I woke up in the morning and check on him, he looked terrible. Fins all ripped up, coloring all mottled, breathing almost heavy and literally "swimming" on his side and upside down. He had found a small, dark space in the live rock where he was generally hanging out in most of the time. The LFS said that it sounded like popeye and gave me some Melafin to try. Told me he had to be feeling pretty bad if he was hiding (and that's not the norm). That evening to my surprise he came out to eat and ate the normal amount for him. He doesn't eat aggressive like the female does and never has, just sort of picks at the food. I followed the directions on the Melafin and treated all week with his swimming returning fully to normal by about 11/15. Water change 11/17. No problems - was a little worried he would have trouble. Pretty much consistent through 11/22. He is out and swimming but is still looking pretty ratty, his eye still swollen (not as swollen as some scary pictures I googled) and cloudy. His coloring is still mottled and he is turning light gray overnight. I know this can happen to fish in the dark but it has only happened to him when the lights don't get turned on for a over a day and it quickly goes away. He has always been small and thin - I know I must be doing something right with my feeding because my female looks beautiful; he just looks really thin and last night did eat but maybe only 3 bites or so. What has been VERY different about his behavior is that last night I actually saw him go near and bite at the female during and right after feeding. Usually he steers completely clear of her except to eat.
Any suggestions? New treatments? Give up? Melafin a waste of time?
Sorry for the long post ---Thank you!!!!
Tank:
14g BioCube
2 Black and White Clowns
