Clown fish discoloration

ADeepBlueSea · Dec 27, 2018

hi,

Couple days ago my black/white clown developed a rusty red patch on both sides half of the body. Anyone have any idea what this might be? They are in QT for Ich and my DT is running fallow.

DeniseAndy · Dec 27, 2018

Hard to see in pictures as looks black or gray. Can you get a better picture? Red patches are usually not a good sign. Could be brook or bacterial in nature. How long in qt? What meds if any? Any new fish added to qt? etc.

HotRocks · Dec 27, 2018

If it's red in color I would metroplex to QT in order to cover uronema.

It could be uronema. It could also be bacterial as copper is an immunosuppressant. Can you get some pics in whiter light? Are there any lessons at all upon a close review?

ADeepBlueSea · Dec 27, 2018

I did a 30 day cycle of copper power 2.0ppm once I pulled from the tank. This showed up towards the end and decided to pull the copper treatment. I have doses Metro for 2 days.... no change.

Doesn’t appear to look like a lesion just a full patch almost identical on each side. It’s not bright red more of a rusty red.

Reefahholic · Dec 27, 2018

Run an air-stone and make the bubbles cloud the water column...If the bubbles stick all over the fish...It's likely Uronema. Right now...it's hard to say. He's definetely discolored and it does appear to be Uronema to me. A lot of times (in the beginning) the clowns will just be discolored without a red sore like a Chromis. If they start having equilibrium issues it's definitely Uronema.

Reefahholic · Dec 27, 2018

Please report back as this progresses...I'm very interested to know the outcome. The more I look at the pics...I'm about 80% sure it's Uronema.

ADeepBlueSea · Dec 27, 2018

I have an air stone running and has been running since day one in QT. No bubbles sticking to fish. Uronema is terrible. I’m essentially screwed in my display tank then. Only way to rid that is to pull everything and bleach the tank right? Wouldn’t the other clowns get it? Should i pull him and put in a separate tank by himself? I don’t know what to do.......

Reefahholic · Dec 27, 2018

ADeepBlueSea said:
I have an air stone running and has been running since day one in QT. No bubbles sticking to fish. Uronema is terrible. I’m essentially screwed in my display tank then. Only way to rid that is to pull everything and bleach the tank right? Wouldn’t the other clowns get it? Should i pull him and put in a separate tank by himself? I don’t know what to do.......

We'll Uronema can live off of detritus. So....I wouldn't exactly bleach the tank, but if you really want it out....drain it and let everything dry out. Then you can re-start.

If the bubbles aren't sticking to the fish...It's probably not that advanced (if it is Uronema). If one clown has it, they will likely all have it.

I'd pull all the fish and try to treat them. Plus....you really need to wait so that we can get a 100% positive ID. At this point, it's a little hard to tell. I have a video with some clowns that had it....you'll see in the video that they were very discolored like that. No red sores in the beginning. I did scope the fish and get a positive ID for Uronema later.

Reefahholic · Dec 27, 2018

ADeepBlueSea · Dec 27, 2018

Certainly looks like the same as your video. What did you do with the other clown? Did it also have Uronema? Did you put it back in your DT?

Reefahholic · Dec 27, 2018

ADeepBlueSea said:
Certainly looks like the same as your video. What did you do with the other clown? Did it also have Uronema? Did you put it back in your DT?

They all died... despite treating with multiple medications. I cleared the fish externally....but not internally. Treat the fish with food soaked in API GC. That's the best thing I've found for Uronema.

4FordFamily · Dec 27, 2018

Feeding metroplex and focus (to bind it to the food) will better target uronema internally. I would start this on every fish incoming as uronema is becoming more and more common these days.

Metroplex will also treat it, as will Chloroquine Phosphate. Formalin baths will provide some immediate relief. In any event they need to be eating metroplex to clear it up entirely, it seems.

@Humblefish and @HotRocks and I just worked through this scenario but it was with angels, butterflies, and wrasse.

The flame angels were ground zero, couldn’t see the redness on them obviously. By the time we knew what we were dealing with it was too late for many fish. We believe it to be under control now.

Fish are all in metroplex, and eating metro/focus soaked food.

ADeepBlueSea · Dec 27, 2018

So should i just treat the whole tank of fish? Two tangs, 6 line, 3 clowns. I was almost done with this QT stuff until this popped up. Are the tangs susceptible? Should i pull clowns and wrasse and treat in a separate tank? Leave the tangs be?

HotRocks · Dec 27, 2018

If you don't treat all the fish that share the same tank, any other fish exposed to the uronema would likely be a carrier without symptoms. Upon reintroducing them it would just cause re-affliction.

4FordFamily · Dec 27, 2018

HotRocks said:
If you don't treat all the fish that share the same tank, any other fish exposed to the uronema would likely be a carrier without symptoms. Upon reintroducing them it would just cause re-affliction.

This exactly. Tangs aren't generally very suceptible to it but they can certainly carry it.