perc illness

I have had these 2 perculas for about 4 years and one of them yesterday morning starting to appear to have symptoms of dropsy (swimming upside down and laying upside down or sideways on the surface of the water) I fed them and they both ate fine. A few days prior I had taken my rio powerhead out of the tank so I put this back in last night and put 2/8tsp in my eclipse 12gal tank along with the only medication I could find at a store that was still open (walmart) which was designed for ick and other "parasites". While putting this stuff in the tank I noticed that the other percula was now showing signs as well, but my only other fish (6 lined wrasse) looked perfectly normal. Well, the good news is that as of this morning both clowns appear to be swimming normal but "might" still be a little bloated in their abdomen. What should I do to make sure they are ok?

Thanks for the help...I love these lil fish and really don't want to lose them

 

There are several possibilities here. By removing the powerhead, you lowered the dissolved Oxygen in the tank to a level that your fish "air-gulped". I know that isn't a real scientific term but it's what I use to describe it. If they get too much air in their gut, it can override their swim bladder and make them involuntarily float. (That's why it's not a good idea to just throw come flake food on the top of the water....if you use flakes, pinch it in your fingers and hold it under water for a few seconds to make sure the flakes sink).

With all of the above said, do I think that's what happened? Nope. Here's why. I clued in on two key words in your question. CLOWNFISH AND MORNING. Clownfish sometimes sleep at the top of the tank just like you described. Corky (the clown...my true perc) did for ages until I bought a Sarcophyton that he hosted in. I even consulted with the fish master....Terry Bartleme. If you need a good source for fish diseases, visit his website http://www.marineaquariumadvice.com/ and read his articles on fish stress, diseases, etc. However, just to make you feel more comfortable, I went searching on his personal forum for sleeping clownfish as I knew I would find one. Here's your link http://www.marineaquariumadvice.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=2566

 

Thanks for the info inwall, but I don't think mine were just sleeping..they were definately bloated in their abdomens and also the fish would swim around for a little while then float back up to the top almost upside down then just lay there for a few seconds then swim around again...so unless he was taking a bunch of quick naps, I think he had something going on Anyone know how long perculas can live?