My clown fish is swimming/floating at the top of the tank...

[dhutchinson]

Hello!

Does anyone know why my clown fish would be floating at the top of the tank. His eye is above the water level even. He started by swimming vertical for a week or so and now he looks like he's dying but I wondered if there was something I could do??

 

[dhutchinson]

And then all of the sudden he will just take off and swim normally...

 

[reefnoob]

I'm not sure if it could be it, but maybe your oxygen levels in the water isn't high enough?

 

[dhutchinson]

Would that affect just 1 fish? How can I check oxygen levels?

 

[mariobrothersleeve]

Water movement in the tank.

 

[Big K]

Is the surface of the tank still or rippled? More agitation of the surface is what gains you Oxygen.
Have you tested your water parameters?
Have you added any new fish recently?

 

[reefnoob]

Oh so you have more than one fish and only the clown is doing that?

 

[jcegt87]

theyre called clowns for a reason , believe me

 

[wontonflip]

+1 everyone...my clown has decided he is in love with my overflow (even gets sucked in once in a blue moon)...yet he stays there...unless it's feeding time. He wiggles vertically half the time. I've had him since day 1.

If you have enough water movement, then he should be ok. We would need more info on your tank, parameters, etc to make any better guesses if he is sick. But clowns are clowns, like jc said.

 

[finestbeast]

My clowns always act dopey...and I have 4 (two pairs in two seperate tanks). One minute they look dead while the next theyre playing with my fans...love those lil fellas

 

[hotimportknight]

That's totally normal from what I've seen of clowns throughout the years. Especially at night, they just float in a corner, wiggling once in a while to stay there. My new black perc loves the return line and disperser, and always the same one. He also spends quite a bit of time vertical in the same area in the corner, during the day part of the time. They are unlikely to be sick if nothing else is, they are very hardy fish usually. Just think of them as hosting an imaginary anemone. Unless there are obvious signs like external parasites or gulping for air.

 

[JohnVH]

Clowns are funny I guess that's why they call clown fish. My pair exhibit all kinds of strange behavior.

 

[finestbeast]

The only time i had an issue is when i added a phosphate remover....began to sufficate the fish...if you didnt add anything i wouldnt worry....nemos are some strange yet cool fish

 

[Aquarian]

What's a Nemo????

 

[finestbeast]

A clown fish...lol

 

[Aquarian]

Oh I thought it was a cartoon.

 

[finestbeast]

Thanks wise guy... :p