Clownfish needs ER!

I was blowing off my LR with a baster to get all the loose mess off.
My Clown started banging his head into the top trim & running into walls - then gasping for air at surface - then sinking to bottom.
Mr. Serpent tried crawling on top of him so I scooped him out - put in bucket w tank water & air stone. Also added about a cup of RO to bucket since I have no SW mixed right now.
Added him back to the tank last night after MH went off & lower lights were on - he's still swimming today but I had to turn my pwrhd off to cut down on current, he's still mumbling (mouth moving nonstop but not gasping anymore), but NOT eating either :-/
What DID I do?
and more important
What DO I DO?
Params are fine (ammo 0 nitrate 5 nitrite 0)
other clown & fish are fine too - just him

 

Welcome to 3reef.

My concern is why did the clown start this behavior, blowing off the rocks should have not had this result if the clown was healthy.

Serpent stars will take sleeping and diseased fish, so I have to wonder if the clown was sleeping and you awoke him, or he had an underlying issue.

He sounds pretty bad off but without an image, that is just speculation. The serpent will go back for a meal if the clown is compromised so moving it to a breeders net or a sump may be in order. Any other treatment as this time may be enough to push him over the edge.

 

He was absolutely fine before blowing off the rocks. Was following me around the tank even. He always does.
All the sudden while I was still in there he took off banging around... only thing I could think of is the baster blast. There was nothing that moved that could've pinched him. The other fish are STILL fine & my params are still good this afternoon...
I'm LOST!
He is still not acting right but he seems better in his home than separated from the Mrs.
He IS swimming. Slowly, but definitely staying up on his own now.

 

I would hazard to guess either the serpent start got him before you noticed or the female was bullying him (which is normal).

Clown fish can be slow, not the very best swimmers and a large serpent is an opportunistic feeder. This is why I only have large serpents in sumps, not in displays.

Good luck to you and I hope the clown pulls through.

 

And Thanks! I've been here awhile reading everything I can, haven't needed to ask many questions that way.

 

No he was up top before going crazy... I literally watched him bang into everything, get weak & stop swimming all within prob 3 mins! When he finally reached bottom & laid on his side he wasn't down 10 secs before the star started moving his leg over him so I scooped him out.

 

Then I would suspect a disease process going on first.

An image of the clown really helps.

Common clown fish disease are Marine Ich and Brookynella.

Also common with newly introduce clowns is bullying by the dominate female, leading to stress and then to the unset of disease.

What other fish and inverts do you have, and how long have you have this clown fish?

How long has this tank been setup/running?

 

Well - I've been trying to upload a pic I took but it won't load. Reduced size & all...
But he looks perfectly fine now. Has all his color back this afternoon too. No fin rot, no ich, perfect color, perfect lines... looks great. Just like the Mrs.
It's not the dominant female - he's well passed being used to that.
We got them as a pair over 8 mos ago
Had them in the new 50g tank for over 6 mos now.
Nothing's been newly introduced for over 2 weeks & that was a yellow watchman.
I have 2 ocell clowns, 1 redspot sandperch, 1 starry dragonet, 1 yellow watchman, 1 GBTA, 1 serpent star, peppermint, & asst snails
I'm almost certain it had something to do with the baster blast.
Could he have gone into SHOCK by getting his face down there too close & getting blasted? I'm thinking that's more what it's turning out to be.
Tested params again... still good.
He still is swimming slowly with the pwrhd OFF & not eating - BUT looks better than he has since yesterday when he freaked on me & hasn't hit bottom again since I put him back in last night.
How do other people blow off their rock? Did I do too much at once maybe? I've got maybe 40 lbs I blew off.
thanks

 

I Had a strange experience a few months ago, and I've read of a few others that done the same: About a month after adding my first couple of fish, I installed a new powerhead. I was amazed at the detritus that came swirling up out of the rockwork! Immediately, the fish started "panting" and struggling to swim. I thought it was just the new higher flow, but the next morning both were dead. Upon checking my parameters, I discovered my ammonia was at 1.0...

As unlikely as it may seem, I believe you may have had some ammonia-laden debris lying in a dead zone and you blasted it in the clown's face, and that could have suffocated him temporarily and burned his gills.

Glad to hear he survived and is recovering.

 

that's sounding closer to what took place.
So how often should I blow the rock off? I'm sure it is safe to say once in 6 mos in NOT enough! Maybe blow off less rock at a time? or more often?
I still have pwrhd off & he is still mumbling but swimming & moving nonetheless
how much longer for him to recoup? any idea? a night? few days? a week?
I feel so bad. Anything I should be doing?
thanks Mr. Bill! Much appreciated!