Clown Fish (flops Upside-down When He Stops Moving)

[Platyarelife]

We've had this clownfish for about 4 months now and he's been your normal silly clown. He's pretty silly, sleeps upside-down occasionally, acts confused when the lights are off, and has overall been healthy. Today we wake up and he's upside down. Then he flips over swims around right-side-up but whenever he stops moving he flops upside-down. He's by no means overfed, no bloating, plenty of energy. Still being silly and trying to attack a gravel vacuum. His orange coloring is looking paler or more transparent.
(We just checked salt levels and params, which are normal.)
Please and thank you! SOC (Save our Clown)

 

[stella1979]

I hear you... not overfed, not bloated and so on, but do you think there's a possibility that he's constipated? Clowns will eat anything and this can often mean that they get more protein than they need. Is he on an omnivore diet?

The other concern I have is Brooklynella. Not that you've said much to make me lean in this direction, but it is a common ailment among clowns. Does his slime coat look normal?

 

[Platyarelife]

I hear you... not overfed, not bloated and so on, but do you think there's a possibility that he's constipated? Clowns will eat anything and this can often mean that they get more protein than they need. Is he on an omnivore diet?

The other concern I have is Brooklynella. Not that you've said much to make me lean in this direction, but it is a common ailment among clowns. Does his slime coat look normal?

He is fed some frozen bloodworms. Constipation could be a possibility though he wasn't fed at all yesterday. He looks healthy and normal other than maybe a paler orange today. He's acting normal other than flopping over.

 

[stella1979]

Are bloodworms his staple? They aren't the healthiest option and I'd use a frozen omnivore preparation for the staple diet of a clown. I realize that things have been great for several months, but it can often take a while for the effects of an incomplete diet to show.

 

[Platyarelife]

Are bloodworms his staple? They aren't the healthiest option and I'd use a frozen omnivore preparation for the staple diet of a clown. I realize that things have been great for several months, but it can often take a while for the effects of an incomplete diet to show.

We were originally trying to feed him pellets but he wouldn't eat them much. He's only been eating bloodworms for maybe a couple weeks.

 

[Lorekeeper]

For clowns, a frozen omnivore option is your best staple. I make my own, but something like some frozen mysis with norI mixed in would probably do well.

A good place to start with your own frozen food:
Frozen shrimp with no preservatives or chemicals. I buy table shrimp, still in shell, salted only, from meijer. You can substitute mysis shrimp, if you can't find any suitable grocery store stuff.
Add some spirulina powder, or Nori.
Blend all of this up, and mix it with some pea-flavored baby food. I use walmart brand, lol. Makes it into a nice paste that can be frozen, and fed easily.

As a general rule, bloodworms are a treat, not a staple. They don't contain a lot of good stuff, even for carnivores.

 

[Platyarelife]

This is him currently :

 

[Jesterrace]

It is possible that he has some swim bladder damage and I agree on the diet. If you want a solid frozen all in one diet, it is really hard to go wrong with LRS Reef Frenzy. It's all I feed my tank at this point and my snowflake occ clownfish loved it (as do all my fish).

Here is a vid which shows everything it has in it:

 

[Platyarelife]

Thanks for the replies. He'll get some other food. I don't think he has swim bladder damage because if it came on this suddenly I would expect him to me more lethargic and out of sorts. Instead, he's very energetic and he swims fine and only flips when he stops moving. He sometimes props himself up on his snails to stay upright. I also don't think blood worms would have been the cause so quickly and the bloodworms are also tiny. As for, "For clowns best option is frozen omnivore diet", yes I can see how that is true but you guys are also missing how I said he was eating pellets up til a couple weeks ago and the bloodworms are frozen. Omnivore diet being plant and meat based, a few worms over a short amount of time shouldn't do this. That's not to say he won't be put on a better diet cuz he will be. Something we noticed is we haven't seen him poop in a few days. Not to say he didn't while we were sleeping so we haven't fully ruled out constipation.
If anyone else has any idea what else would be causing this please let us know!

 

[Lorekeeper]

Bloodworms are sorta like the fish equivalent of Twinkies. They're tasty. Great treats. But eat Twinkies everyday, for every meal for two weeks, and see how you feel. Not great, I'd bet. You might even be constipated, like your fish is.

I'd try the new diet and give him some time, instead of continuing to feed him a bad diet when you already know that there's some issue with your fish. At the very least, it'll help him get over whatever is plaguing him.

 

[Platyarelife]

Bloodworms are sorta like the fish equivalent of Twinkies. They're tasty. Great treats. But eat Twinkies everyday, for every meal for two weeks, and see how you feel. Not great, I'd bet. You might even be constipated, like your fish is.

I'd try the new diet and give him some time, instead of continuing to feed him a bad diet when you already know that there's some issue with your fish. At the very least, it'll help him get over whatever is plaguing him.

I don't own this clown but I do own other fish and I am not at all convinced that it's a diet issue. I already understand from the several posts above that he should be on a different diet. I don't need to hear any more about the diet. I am looking for anything else that could be causing this issue. I am not ruling out swim bladder or constipation though it would be nice to know of anything else that can be causing this. If I wanted a lecture on how to feed fish I would have added that to the title.