Clown Fish Shedding ?

[lx_Reef]

Iv had my clowns now for a little over 6 months now , Never had any issues I moved from feeding pellet to PE clanus due to my anthias only wanting to eat that iv noticed my female clown black stripes sort of turning white flakey , now fast forward two week the skin has now started to return back to normal at first though it was brook but now have no idea and yes even though I got them captive bread i still decided to QT them . Id hate to throw them in QT again

 

[fishguy242]

hi,let's get some expert eyes here,try to post water parameters asap,best wishes
@Jay Hemdal @vetteguy53081

 

[Jay Hemdal Verified Community Expert]

While the photo sure looks like Brooklynella, the timeline doesn't match up, nor does the spontaneous reduction in symptoms. As you probably figured out, the mucus shows up on the black areas due to contract, and it is present on the white areas also, but you just can't see it.

Here is an article I posted here recently on mucus:

https://www.reef2reef.com/ams/mucus-the-slime-that-binds.793/

Jay

 

[lx_Reef]

hi,let's get some expert eyes here,try to post water parameters asap,best wishes
@Jay Hemdal @vetteguy53081

N03 20-30
PO4 0.08
Alk 9.2

 

[lx_Reef]

While the photo sure looks like Brooklynella, the timeline doesn't match up, nor does the spontaneous reduction in symptoms. As you probably figured out, the mucus shows up on the black areas due to contract, and it is present on the white areas also, but you just can't see it.

Here is an article I posted here recently on mucus:

https://www.reef2reef.com/ams/mucus-the-slime-that-binds.793/

Jay

Yes i could of sworn I thought the same but id imagine she would be worse, and my male clown and possibly the whole tank would of been infected and wiped out as well , Given the info in the article would you say QT again would be the best solution , or as the article states water parameters could have contributed to that. Tank is just about to hit 3 months

 

[vetteguy53081]

Agree on Brooklynella. As I state to many, The most noticeablesign of Brooklynella is the heavy amount of slime that is produced by rhe fish which has contracted this parasite. As the disease progresses, a thick whitish mucus covers the body. This will usually start at the head and spread outward across the entire body.

 

[lx_Reef]

Agree on Brooklynella. As I state to many, The most noticeablesign of Brooklynella is the heavy amount of slime that is produced by rhe fish which has contracted this parasite. As the disease progresses, a thick whitish mucus covers the body. This will usually start at the head and spread outward across the entire body.

That part that doesn’t explain anything is that brook would have wiped her out and the others by now and would if showed worsening sign but now clown is almost as it never even had that

 

[vetteguy53081]

That part that doesn’t explain anything is that brook would have wiped her out and the others by now and would if showed worsening sign but now clown is almost as it never even had that

Explains nothing? Those are the symptoms and brook is progressive. No it does not take fish down quickly until skin lesions appear and it is not uncommon for signs of secondary bacterial infections to arise, such as redness and fin rot. These protozoa reproduce asexually using simple binary fission through conjugation which may be why it appears to be going away to quickly return heavier

 

[Jay Hemdal Verified Community Expert]

Yes i could of sworn I thought the same but id imagine she would be worse, and my male clown and possibly the whole tank would of been infected and wiped out as well , Given the info in the article would you say QT again would be the best solution , or as the article states water parameters could have contributed to that. Tank is just about to hit 3 months

Sometimes mucus is idiopathic and we just don't know exactly what causes it. In other cases, it is due to a minor bacterial infection. Brooklynella, as mentioned would be progressive and would involve all clownfish (maybe not other fish though).

I'm hanging my hat on the fact that the symptoms reduced on their own - if that continues, I would not quarantine the fish.

Jay