Clown fish & Royal Gramma have a white dusting

[Newatthis]

Hi,
One of my Clowns and my Royal Gramma have an odd white dusting on them (see clown photos). Other clown is fine.

Both clowns acting as normal and eating but the Royal Gramma looks a little worse for wear, not eating and just lays on his side. I only noticed this morning, he was fine last night.

I had high phosphate last week so did a 40% water change two days ago, now the phosphate is down to 0.08 so still a little high. I’ve also recently added a bubble tip but haven’t seen hosting etc.

Any ideas what could be the issue and how to treat?
Thanks

 

[itsken37]

Looks like ich to me. It's extremely contagious. if you have a quarantine tank, i would put them there immediately

 

[Newatthis]

Looks like ich to me. It's extremely contagious. if you have a quarantine tank, i would put them there immediately

Thanks.

I don’t have a quarantine tank so I assume my only option is to find a reef safe treatment?

 

[itsken37]

That is probably smart.

 

[Maritimer]

To me, it looks more like Brooklynella than Ich (Cryptocaryon). Treatment is different for the two organisms, so it's important to make the distinction. @Jay Hemdal is very likely to confirm one or the other ... listen to whatever he says!

~B.

 

[TheReaperOfMars]

Thanks.

I don’t have a quarantine tank so I assume my only option is to find a reef safe treatment?

AFAIK there is no such thing as a reef safe ick treatment. You've got a couple options.

Eradication:
Get a QT tank and treat with copper
Get two QT tanks and do TTM

Management:
Get a UV sterilizer spec'd for your tank and hope you can keep ick at bay enough to keep fish alive
Feed extremely well and hope your fish are healthy enough to survive the rest of their lives with it (There is some anecdotal evidence that garlic being added to the food helps)

 

[Jay Hemdal Verified Community Expert]

The picture isn't super clear, but I would agree with @Maritimer that that this is probably Brooklynella. Clownfish and royal gramma can get this. Given that you don't have a treatment tank, your options are pretty limited. None of the "reef safe" medications have really good track records, especially for tough to treat diseases like this. The only one you could try is Ruby Reef Rally Pro. Double check the label though, I'm not positive that it is safe for all invertebrates, possibly only some species.

Jay

 

[Newatthis]

Thanks everyone for your replies.

Unfortunately last night both fish died as did the goby who seemed absolutely fine before I went to bed.

The remaining clown looks very lonely, but. I signs of whatever the disease is yet.

I’ve picked up some Polyp Lab Medic as it’s all they had at my local shop.

I’ll continue to monitor and see what happens!

@Jay Hemdal Do you know where the disease could have come from and is it something that is no living in the tank or just the fish? I.e if I was to add more fish would it almost definitely contract it?

Thanks

 

[itsken37]

So sorry about your loss. You are only one of many reefers that discovered the hard way about the importance of quarantine tanks.

 

[Jay Hemdal Verified Community Expert]

Sorry to hear about the fish. Based on the timing and the picture, I still think this was Brooklynella, although if you saw rapid breathing before the slime coat buildup, I can’t totally rule out velvet. I’m surprised that the fish died so suddenly, the picture didn’t look too severe.
Your tank is still infective either way...I’m also surprised your remaining clown isn’t showing symptoms.
Jay

 

[Newatthis]

Sorry to hear about the fish. Based on the timing and the picture, I still think this was Brooklynella, although if you saw rapid breathing before the slime coat buildup, I can’t totally rule out velvet. I’m surprised that the fish died so suddenly, the picture didn’t look too severe.
Your tank is still infective either way...I’m also surprised your remaining clown isn’t showing symptoms.
Jay

Thanks.
He is now, though it seems much slower, whether that’s the polyp lab product working or not I don’t know...he’s still alive for the moment.

Is there anything I can do to fix the issue? Would a 100% water change do the trick or will everything (media, rock etc) all need replacing before adding new fish.

Thanks.

 

[Jay Hemdal Verified Community Expert]

Thanks.
He is now, though it seems much slower, whether that’s the polyp lab product working or not I don’t know...he’s still alive for the moment.

Is there anything I can do to fix the issue? Would a 100% water change do the trick or will everything (media, rock etc) all need replacing before adding new fish.

Thanks.

No, large water changes won't remove all possible parasites, only time (70 to 80 days with no fish hosts) or sterilization with a chemical will do that.

Jay