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Clownfish in Trouble!

A

ageek2000

Hey. I haven't posted here in a while because my tank is very stable and has been doing great.

I have two Ocellaris Clowns in the tank -- one we've had for a good six months, and the other we just got on Saturday.

The six-month guy got himself stuck in one of the Powerheads today -- on the bottom where the water gets sucked in. He was fine at 6 AM -- but I got home at 4 -- and there he was. I thought he was dead, but when I pulled him off, he swam away. I put him in a bucket with water from the tank, and he wants to swim, but he seems very tired.

There is a big sucker mark on his side -- like a bruise where he got sucked into the Powerhead. It is all red. I think his body is a little bent out of shape, too.

I put him back in the tank -- in a ziplock bag with a bunch of holes punched in it. He is resting in there.

I'm posting here to see if you think there are any products I could buy to help him heal up? Any type of water treatment that might help his scales grow back? I'm not sure how long he will live, but it's worth trying. . .

I'm not sure why this happened. We put a little more food in than usual last night -- to get the other, new fish eating. The new guy didn't touch it, so our old guy had more than usual. . .

I'm pretty sure the levels are OK -- but I'm doing a 20% water change now -- just in case. . .

What do you think? Thanks for your time.

Jim :)
 
Hawkeye

Hawkeye

that sounds like an accident waiting to happen - the fact that added a new fish might seem like a cause but I doubt it.

What kind of powerheads do you have? Unfortunately I wouldn't put the odds high on a fish surviving being caught in a powerhead. Then again my true perc launched herself out of a 24" tall tank and landed about 4 feet later on hard wood. So a case in point of the resiliency of a clownfish.
 
A

ageek2000

Hey. We have two AquaClear Powerhead 20's. One shoots low across the back, and the other rests midway on the back and points out towards the front. They are set about 1/2 way. The tank has been running for a little over 10 months -- never had this issue before . . .

Here is a video of my tank. I made the video on Saturday:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y9C3yg-yLuc
 
A

ageek2000

When should I let him out of the Ziplock bag. He looks like he wants to swim around, but he is weak, and I'm afraid he'll get sucked back in the Powerhead. I can't monitor him during the night or tomorrow during the day. . .
 
D

ds4x4

can you put filterfloss or something over the hole temp? i would use some Seachem stress coat. should help him out a little. other than that not much you can do except keep your water params stable.
 
M

mnat

Officer Emeritus
Staff member
Moderator
I feel your pain, I had a picasso clown get sucked into a powerhead, there was no doubt about the fact he was dead because he was folded in half. I got covers for all my pumps after learning that expensive lesson.
 
G

gg291

I have a bruise on my female similiar to what you are saying but mine only appears before the mate. Hope the little guy pulls through
 
G

gg291

They are tough little fish. My clown jumped and squeezed himself into my overflow where he was for 5 days. He was whitish and was swimming weird but after a few days in isolation his color came back and has been great ever since. Sorry, i hope he makes it through...
 
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