Ocellaris clown FROZE mid-water 1 minute

[Eric55]

Last night I was chasing down a shrimp with a net. My "literally" fearless female ocellaris got scared (I assume) and froze to the point where she did not move. She did not sink to the bottom, move her eyes, open her mouth.....nothing........for about a full minute.

I thought she was dead from a heart attack, but she didn't sink. Looking at her was like looking at a photograph of her.

After about 1 minute she began to "wake up" and swam around. I resumed my attempt to catch the shrimp (and aoviding her) but she got spooked again and started moving very slowly, but never freezing.

I stopped going after the shrimp and moved away from the tank for a few hours so she could recover.

What happened to my normally fearless female ocellaris?

Any info you can share will be greatly appreciated.

Eric

[reefman13]

Interesting...never heard of a situation like this...

Heart attack...probably not...but I don't think anything can be ruled out as I doubt this has happened to anyone else, and they be able to tell you exactly what happened.

[elegance coral]

I would say, it simply went into shock, like many prey animals will do in a situation like that. If you still need to get the shrimp out, you can try a trap. They work well on shrimp and won't disturb the whole tank.

[Eric55]

I found something nifty to get rid of the shrimp: a pair of scissors. Cut him clean in two pieces.

The shrimp was literally stalking down, hunting, and attacking the 2 new baby shrimp I had put in earlier in the day (same shrimp, a skunk cleaner). The big one started going after the 2 babies within about 5 seconds of being put in the tank.

It was either the big shrimp who I've had for some time and was nearing it's life expectancy, or the 2 baby shrimp I had just paid $70 for. It didn't take me long to make up my mind.

First I tried the net, then I remembered I had a clear lucite trap, but he wouldn't go near it even though he wanted the food on the inside.

[Grunt]

My female perc I don't know if she had a bad experience with nets in the past but I can walk from 5-10 ft away with it and she will start zooming around the tank like crazy. I was performing a dip once and she zonked out like that. Spread her fins out, slight curl, and the 1000 mile stare. My wife was freaking out to get her back in the tank and throw the net away.

I think it's just stress. It was the same dip I've always done, the same process and materials, and she began acting in that manner before I got her in the dip.

[stagefright13]

Once in a while I use a net to skim the top of my tank because my flow points down and doesn't move the surface alot. When I do my Clown keeps going in the net and I have to PUSH her out lol!

[Reefin'247]

Wow!! Crazy! What would u do if u were trapped in a building with a guy ran around waving a gun here and there.........traps or even better a clear container like what you get bulk flakes in. NETS = PANIC....I never use nets.....

Also shrimp live pretty long....why not remove the small ones....and you paid $70 dollars for two little skunk cleaners...if you need some more lmk.....lol

[jcjstl]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=13032817#post13032817 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by Reefin'247
and you paid $70 dollars for two little skunk cleaners...if you need some more lmk.....lol Thats not that far off from here ... they range from 29.99 to 32.99 here