Bacterial Flesh Deterioration on Clownfish?

tmcd94 · Feb 5, 2022

So I set up this nano 10 gallon tank back in October which was running and stocked with live rock previously. At the end of November something ripped through the tank and killed off pretty much everything in a 3 day span. The only one who lived longer was a goby but he suffered massive tissue deterioration on his face and the hospital tank eventually pushed him over the edge.

Now two months later after being fishless I added two clowns that I purchased together. They appeared healthy in the store and I properly acclimated and all. About two weeks later one clownfish appears to be acting even weirder than a normal clown, laying on the ground etc, and she seems to be displaying the exact same tissue deterioration as the deceased goby. Flesh loss is around the nose of the clown.

It progresses very quickly. Currently I have them in a hospital tank and treated with the first day of erythromycin. What are your thoughts on the pictures and best treatment?

blaxsun · Feb 5, 2022

I honestly can't see much in the images, sorry.

tmcd94 · Feb 5, 2022

blaxsun said:
I honestly can't see much in the images, sorry.

Thanks for looking, I may be reacting over cautiously, but don't want to risk what happened with the last batch of fish. In the pics, I wanted to highlight his mouth/nose section where it appears white. In certain angles, he almost looks like Voldemort.

blaxsun · Feb 5, 2022

Hopefully someone with sharper eyes can weigh-in.

tmcd94 · Feb 13, 2022

An update.
I did the course of the erythromycin and didn’t notice any improvement, so I switched to 30ml of Hydroplex.

Almost immediately the clownfish began to improve after the hydroplex and continued to improve noticeably after each dose.

Day 1: I used 30ml.
Day 2: Another 30ml.
Day 3: Completed a water change.
Day 4: l did a 3rd dose of 30ml.

Today is day 6 since the initial hydroplex and the clown seems to have made a full recovery, but there is a large bacterial bloom. As seen in the attached pics. I plan on doing another water change and starting to run an actual filter and seed this tank with beneficial bacteria, but should I have any concern, besides possible oxygen consumption, from the current status of the tank from the outbreak?

moz71 · Feb 13, 2022

I would say keep doing water changes. The big risk would be ammonia spike! Since such a broad spectrum could kill off any beneficial bacteria to help reduce ammonia. I know says safe but if any anti bacterial treatment is applied always a risk especially since the amount put in. Glad worked on fish!!

tmcd94 · Feb 18, 2022

I decided to visit the same LFS that I purchased my two clowns from to see if any fish there were experiencing the same symptoms. While there I found a clownfish that looked to be on the brink of death. Looked very similar to my clown, just laying on the substrate with his gills flared.

I asked an employee if they would sell the fish at a discount since he didn't look like he was doing okay and I still had my hospital tank set up and was confident I could treat this clown as well. Originally they said no a couple of times due to the fish being in a pair. Finally, they said they would sell the pair for $189. I couldn't justify that amount and also housing two more clowns. Eventually, I happened to run into the manager/owner who I showed the video and he said I could take the fish at no charge.

I brought him/her home and completed a Hydroplex dip for 10 minutes, then placed the fish into the hospital tank which was a 2.5-gallon tank with 10ml of Hydroplex in it. Fish appeared extremely stressed and I was concerned he/she was not going to make it an additional 5 minutes. I decided to move the fish into the quarantine tank with my other pair of clowns. My logic was that clean unmedicated water would help, and hopefully, the environment would help lower stress.

Well, it's now two days later and each day the new clown has shown significant improvement and next to no hostility amongst them. Still no twitchy dances, but they're okay hosting the same piece of PVC. Pictures were taken after turning the lights on and interrupting their sleep.

I am keeping the hospital tank up and running in case any symptoms return, but I am extremely pleased with the Hydroplex so far. I also restocked all my abx, including metroplex, just to be safe.