rileyrayne
03/08/2007, 05:45 PM
I bought two tankbred false perc juveniles about 5-6 months ago. After about 1-2 months of having them, one of the clowns started hiding almost all day, and when he would come out, he seemed easily spooked and would swim in crazy circles then dart back to his hiding cave. His appetite slowed down, too. I asked for help in many places but no one could pinpoint what was wrong and suggested to do a simple freshwater dip until we could correctly diagnose it, but by then I noticed that the clown was unable to stay upright and would lay on his side, being blown around by the powerheads. I did the dip, waited for a while, saw that it wasn't getting better and put down the fish. No discoloration, no white/black blotches, no physical signs of illness at all - only the spazzed circles and hiding.
Since then everything has been going well with the remaining clown, and I even bought her a new mate who she's been with for about 1 1/2 months. However, today I noticed the older, remaining clownfish is starting to do the circular sporadic movements. I first saw it this morning - she stays in the bottom under the powerhead, comes out every so often but then usually swims in the quick circles and darts back to the powerhead. I fed her, she ate, and seems to be doing a bit better - coming out more, doing the movements less. However, her breathing is heavier than normal and I'm afraid this is the beginning of whatever it is my old clown had.
So please, if anyone has any idea what could be happening, please let me know. I was told on another forum to do a formalin dip, but would that do more harm than good? Everything else in the tank is fine, water parameters are all good, I'm stumped :confused:
Since then everything has been going well with the remaining clown, and I even bought her a new mate who she's been with for about 1 1/2 months. However, today I noticed the older, remaining clownfish is starting to do the circular sporadic movements. I first saw it this morning - she stays in the bottom under the powerhead, comes out every so often but then usually swims in the quick circles and darts back to the powerhead. I fed her, she ate, and seems to be doing a bit better - coming out more, doing the movements less. However, her breathing is heavier than normal and I'm afraid this is the beginning of whatever it is my old clown had.
So please, if anyone has any idea what could be happening, please let me know. I was told on another forum to do a formalin dip, but would that do more harm than good? Everything else in the tank is fine, water parameters are all good, I'm stumped :confused: