Clown has spots - help please!

[WiscoFishNut]

This morning I noticed one of my clowns has spots/blotches on him. They look grey or brownish. Any ideas? The tank had a pretty stressful event earlier in the week because of a power outage. Temp swings and limited flow.

 

[WiscoFishNut]

Also, I just found one of our Chromis dead. No spots or signs of sickness on him at all. One of the 4 chromis we had was always a bit "off" so it might have been that one, but I'm not certain yet. Everything else in the tank looks ok so far. The only thing close to medicine I have on hand is DrTims First Defense, so I went ahead and dosed that as a hail mary.. The only recent addition was a Pearlscale Butterflyfish that has been eating and looks spotless.

 

[WiscoFishNut]

Getting worse, just found the royal gramma dead. No signs on him at at all. Looking for the rest of the fish. What a crappy day

 

[Fudsey]

@ngoodermuth @HotRocks @4FordFamily might have better info

 

[WiscoFishNut]

This is getting uglier. Found another dead chromis and the pearscale butterflyfish. Looking for the bicolor angel now. This is insane. Last night everyone looked healthy. Wake up this morning to a complete bloodbath. The survivors so far - 1 clown, 2 chromis, a fire shrimp, and a diamond watchman goby. The other clown is still alive, but I'm not sure he'll make it. what the heck can kill that quick??

I tested water parms this morning

Ammonia = 0
Nitrite = 0
Nitrate = 10
pH = 7.8-7.9 (lowest I've ever seen it!)
Salinity = 1.020 (the tank is consistently between 1.019 - 1.020)

Any help would be much appreciated.

 

[WiscoFishNut]

Current body count

2 blue green chromis
1 pearscale butterflyfish
1 bicolor angel
1 royal gramma

Survivors

1 fire shrimp
2 blue green chromis
1 clown
1 clown looks sickly
1 diamond watchman goby (forgot this guy)

The odd thing is all of the dead fish have no outward signs of any disease I can see. No spots, no fin issues, no discoloration at all. I soaked the royal gramma in fresh water to see if anything came out. Couldn't see anything, but that was with the naked eye..

 

[WiscoFishNut]

Here's some shots of the clowns. The other one has tiny white specs apparently. Sorry for the crappy pics. The specs on the other clown look like tiny grains of salt.

 

[4FordFamily]

The fish affected so far make me wonder about uronema. Any of the areas reddish?

Does the skin look like it's sloughing off or powdery/small spots? Clowns often get brooklynella. It could be multiple ailments but I cannot make out much in the photos.

A quarantine for all fish, with metroplex for 15 days plus copper for 30 days would knock out all of the above and velvet + ich. You should leave the tank fallow for 76 days which would eradicate all but uronema.

The stress event triggers latent parasites/disease that may not have been able to take over the fish because they were healthy but the high stress reduced their immune systems and they were sitting ducks.

 

[WiscoFishNut]

The fish affected so far make me wonder about uronema. Any of the areas reddish?

Does the skin look like it's sloughing off or powdery/small spots? Clowns often get brooklynella. It could be multiple ailments but I cannot make out much in the photos.

A quarantine for all fish, with metroplex for 15 days plus copper for 30 days would knock out all of the above and velvet + ich. You should leave the tank fallow for 76 days which would eradicate all but uronema.

The stress event triggers latent parasites/disease that may not have been able to take over the fish because they were healthy but the high stress reduced their immune systems and they were sitting ducks.

Thanks for responding! I didn't see any areas of redness on any of the fish. The more sickly of the two clowns fits that second description pretty well I think "sloughing off or powdery/small spots".

So I should look at firing up a QT tank STAT and moving the fish there to begin treatment? What about the fire shrimp?

I'm with you on the stress event, the weekend was 30 hours of just a powerhead running and nothing else, and 3 days of varying temps and pH. The temp swing was close to 8 degrees. pH went from my normal 8.2 down to 7.8 or less

 

[vetteguy53081]

bacterial and I agree on metroplex or even Furan. I have had good luck with PraziPro although not intended for this condition.

 

[WiscoFishNut]

bacterial and I agree on metroplex or even Furan. I have had good luck with PraziPro although not intended for this condition.

I'll make a trip to my LFS after work today and see what he has available. Thanks for the feedback man!

 

[4FordFamily]

Thanks for responding! I didn't see any areas of redness on any of the fish. The more sickly of the two clowns fits that second description pretty well I think "sloughing off or powdery/small spots".

So I should look at firing up a QT tank STAT and moving the fish there to begin treatment? What about the fire shrimp?

I'm with you on the stress event, the weekend was 30 hours of just a powerhead running and nothing else, and 3 days of varying temps and pH. The temp swing was close to 8 degrees. pH went from my normal 8.2 down to 7.8 or less

yes QT ASAP and Metroplex will treat brook. Furan 2 and kanaplex if you are dealing with infections will widen the spectrum.

If the spots don't clear in 4-5 days dramatically, add copper. You almost ought to add it anyway, chances of ich or velvet not being present also are relatively slim.

IF you mix all of those meds ensure you have a powerhead aimed upward breaking the surface and an air stone for oxygen as the meds mixed reduce oxygen saturation. Also, make sure you pick up biospira to seed a HOB filter (remove the carbon cartridge and replace with some sort of NON POLY media such as "sponge"and seed this with biospira for good bacteria so that your fish do not die from ammonia.

The above mix of metro, furan2, kanaplex, and copper will treat Uronema, Ich, Velvet, Brooklynella, and most bacterial infections.

It will NOT treat flukes or internal parasites. I would hold off on this until you either know you need it or you've concluded the other medications. Feeding general cure and focus -soaked foods for 14 days handles internal parasites typically and prazipro or general cure dosed 5-7 days apart will handle most flukes.

 

[WiscoFishNut]

yes QT ASAP and Metroplex will treat brook. Furan 2 and kanaplex if you are dealing with infections will widen the spectrum.

If the spots don't clear in 4-5 days dramatically, add copper. You almost ought to add it anyway, chances of ich or velvet not being present also are relatively slim.

IF you mix all of those meds ensure you have a powerhead aimed upward breaking the surface and an air stone for oxygen as the meds mixed reduce oxygen saturation. Also, make sure you pick up biospira to seed a HOB filter (remove the carbon cartridge and replace with some sort of NON POLY media such as "sponge"and seed this with biospira for good bacteria so that your fish do not die from ammonia.

The above mix of metro, furan2, kanaplex, and copper will treat Uronema, Ich, Velvet, Brooklynella, and most bacterial infections.

It will NOT treat flukes or internal parasites. I would hold off on this until you either know you need it or you've concluded the other medications. Feeding general cure and focus -soaked foods for 14 days handles internal parasites typically and prazipro or general cure dosed 5-7 days apart will handle most flukes.

What should I do with the shrimp? Leave him in the tank and hope for the best?

 

[4FordFamily]

What should I do with the shrimp? Leave him in the tank and hope for the best?

Yes, these parasites/diseases will not impact the shrimp at all. Sorry I missed that part!

Inverts aren’t impacted, only fish.

 

[WiscoFishNut]

Yes, these parasites/diseases will not impact the shrimp at all. Sorry I missed that part!

Inverts aren’t impacted, only fish.

No worries at all, thank you very much for taking the time to give me some advice!

 

[4FordFamily]

No worries at all, thank you very much for taking the time to give me some advice!

No problem, that’s what I am here for! . Good luck!

 

[WiscoFishNut]

Its looking like a complete wipeout. Will know for sure in the morning [emoji22]

 

[WiscoFishNut]

Even the shrimp died How can I test for stray current? Or would low pH do in the shrimp? Tested oxygen, looked decent. What else could wipe out an entire tank that quick?

 

[WiscoFishNut]

Unfortunately it was a complete wipe out, event the shrimp. The only thing are snails and hermits. I tested for stray voltage and found 1.5 volts present. Is that a harmful level?

 

[Fudsey]

I don't believe so...