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[nymedic]

My sebae clown fishes eye is bulging, it happened very suddenly. It is not cloudy and it doesnt look like an infection.. Could he have gotten stung by one of the tube anemones that is on the live rock i just bought?, and will this kill him i have had him for over a year. I havent added any new fish for about 6 mos but i just put in 2 pieces of LR with these anemones on it. Any help would be appreciated

[nymedic]

The anemones look like tube or rock anemones

[JTW]

Your fish has a condition known as exopthalmos. This is a symptom of what could be several things. It is normally caused by gas in or behind the eye. The good news is that since only one eye is affected, then chances are that it was caused by by some sort of localized infection rather than a systemic (throughout the body) infection. This is the better of the two. The bad news is that this type of infection is very hard to treat.
DO NOT put antibiotics in your main tank. If your clown has no other fish to compete with, and the water chemistry is good, then its best just to leave him alone. No one can say what caused this. If the anemones on your rock are Aiptasia then you don't have to worry about your clown fishes saftey.
Be sure to check your water quality and if you do try some sort of treatment, be sure to do it in a 10 gallon hospital tank.
Good luck, J.

[nymedic]

Thank you so much for the info, My water is perfect. PH 8.3 nitrite and nitrate are 0, calcium 430 and KH is 120. THe good news is that he is eating pretty well and moving well throughout the tank. I hope he is on the road to recovery. I've read so many bad things about Rock anemones. I read that they are extremely aggresive multiply fast and can take over your tank. Is this true?

[JTW]

I'm not sure which type of anemone you are talking about. If you are refering to Aiptasia, then the answer is yes they can cover your tank. They are only aggresive in their reproduction. The best thing that I have found to keep these in check is the peppermint shrimp (Lysmata wurdemanni). Be careful not to confuse them with the dancing shrimp (Rhynchocinetes durbanensis), these have been known to go after soft corals.
If you are talking about another type of anemone, just let me know the latin name. I don't really know of an "aggressive" anemone. Some have more powerful stinging cells, but nothing that your clown can't handle.
J.

[nymedic]

The anemones are aiptasia anemones . I read in the marine aquarium problem solver that they have extremely potent stinging cells and are very aggresive toward fish and other corals. It even says they will sting and eat small fish. I just dont want these to prevent me from having a peaceful reef tank and start killing the other corals that im going to be putting in the tank. I also have 5 peppermint shrimp already in the tank so hopefully that will help. Thanks for taking the time and answering my dumb beginner questions

[JTW]

#1 There are no dumb questions
#2 I have seen tanks that have so many aiptasia that the rocks look like they are covered in brown hair and the corals and (small) fish were fine.
I wouldn't loose sleep over them.
J.

[nymedic]

THANKS JAY