14 year female maroon clown with swim bladder problems. She's one half of mated pair. any cures/sug

[Nick Lavrov]

Have a 14 year old mated pair or yellow band maroon clowns. Have had them for 10+ years and know their history prior to my getting them. They're in 100 gallon tank, fed frozen food; mysis, brine, mussels, etc, water changes regularly, Ph in 8.2-8.3 range, temp 78-80 as a rule. Water from dealer who gets it out of Pacific near Bodega Bay, fresh RO supplement etc.All other fish; Chromis, Angel, Tang, Jenny ok. Anemones ok. Symptoms started a couple of weeks ago. Swims vertically, still feeds as best she can and tends anemones as best she can. When tired she finds sandy spot and rests on side or horizontally for a few minutes. Tail getting worn. Not getting responses from local University which ostensibly has a Marine Vet program and none of local vets deal with fish.
Any/all suggestions would be welcome.

 

[nanoreefing4fun]

to ReefSanctuary, a real Sanctuary of reef forums, with lots of very nice members

Start a tank thread & share your tank with us so we can follow along, we love pics

@Paul B I believe has treated his fish for this before, if I remember right

and one extract related from Lee Birch - said this... Highest probability is a bladder infection. This requires the use of antibiotics.

See what others think...

 

[Oxylebius]

Sometimes this type of thing is hard to diagnose therefore the treatment is difficult to determine. One possibility is old age. In the wild they can live to about 18 yrs old. Usually an antibiotic is used to treat bloated fish. But, check this link out and see if it helps you: http://www.healthyaquatics.com/bouyancy-issues-bloat

 

[DaveK]

It doesn't hurt to try the various treatments, but it's been my experience that the fish usually dies. One and awhile you can get lucky, so it is worth the attempt.

 

[Paul B]

I don't think it is caused by old age as clowns live well into their 20s, but fish, like us do get prone to more things as they age. Especially when they get to old age as yours is approaching. It is impossible to tell what your fish has from here because it could be a liver problem or peritonitis (an infection in the abdomen).
Usually you can only tell with an autopsy, but that doesn't help you right now. I have found the most common ailment with female marine fish is egg bloat or egg binding. That happens when the female has eggs (which they almost always do) and for some reason, they can't release them or re-absorb them. I recently lost a mandarin to that. All cases of abdominal swellings are not good and unfortunately they are hard to treat because the treatment, is an injectable antibiotic which is hard to do with a small fish because the dose is so tiny and determined by the weight of the fish. Medicated food may help, but I doubt it. If it were my fish and I could catch her I would try the most common method first which is to try to get a crystal of Epsom Salt into some food and feed it to her. I realize that is not easy to do with a small clownfish. Epsom Salt helps females pass the eggs if they are "stuck". It will also help if there is an intestinal blockage. According to popular theory Epsom Salt can also be added to the water but I am not sure how that would work in salt water. If it is an infection, which it probably is now no matter what the cause, I would use "Nitrofuran" or Furan. My favorite antibiotic is neomycin 250mg/gal and chloramphenicol sodium succinate which I have not used in years and wouldn't even know where to get it now. This rarely goes away on it's own and is not easy to treat. We can't cure everything although we try