This afternoon I noticed my occy clown was swimming funny. Close inspection shows he has a very swollen belly. And now he's swimming erratically, and spending time floating on his side. Not good I know.
Any thoughts on a cause? He's perhaps five years old, and has always seemed well. Strong feeder. Even as recently as this morning. And while I am heartbroken over him, I am equally concerned about the other critters in the tank.
Params are same as usual, all good though my pH is chronically low ~7.8 but never lower.
The belly distention really has become noticeable just in the past few hours. Any thoughts?
Have you added anything new to the tank without quarantining it first? An internal blockage is possible. Fatty liver is also a possibility if you feed a high fat diet but that wouldn't happen quickly and probably wouldn't cause the swimming issues. Any other signs of stress?
As of 5:30am today, he was in the same state. Frankly, I had not expected any sign of life this morning... So, we will see tonight when I get home. As for food, I do not feed my fish much. Usually just flake food, and at yesterday's feeding he was as aggressive as ever.
The only "new" addition to my tank was a long-spined urchin that was introduced a couple months back. I had a hair algae problem and he is making the most of it. Really quite amazing once he got going! I am guessing that has nothing to do with the clownfish though.
Hoping for the best, and interested in learning - so I can better serve his tank mates.
Flake has been know to bind a fish up. Maybe he needs some veggies-ever tried peas? I've used them plenty on my FW fish that were bound up. Works great!