Clown Stomach Bulging or Wounded?

[samb5590]

Hi!

Like the flair says, a little bit of an emergency. Within the last 24 hrs, one of my clowns went from perfectly fine to this either growth or wound on her stomach. (Or best case scenario eggs? I know that’s prob not the case… However she is the female of the two).

Other tank mates that I would suspect (if it were a wound) would be an emerald or sally crab BUT the emerald has been with them since I first got it all and never caused problems. The sally lightfoot crab is newer, but tiny.

He acts hungry and took food when I fed them.

Acting completely normal other than she is hanging out lower toward the bottom of the tank/down in the rock work more. Normally hangs out up toward the top next to their anemone.

Any ideas??? I can set up a QT if I need to tomorrow, and I have Cipro on hand (a few other things I could use as well) but I don’t wanna treat it that way if that’s not what it is.

 

[TX_REEF]

I don’t see anything concerning in the photo, maybe missing something.

 

[samb5590]

I don’t see anything concerning in the photo, maybe missing something.

Circled it to help make it visible. That’s coming off of her stomach

 

[vetteguy53081]

Hi!

Like the flair says, a little bit of an emergency. Within the last 24 hrs, one of my clowns went from perfectly fine to this either growth or wound on her stomach. (Or best case scenario eggs? I know that’s prob not the case… However she is the female of the two).

Other tank mates that I would suspect (if it were a wound) would be an emerald or sally crab BUT the emerald has been with them since I first got it all and never caused problems. The sally lightfoot crab is newer, but tiny.

He acts hungry and took food when I fed them.

Acting completely normal other than she is hanging out lower toward the bottom of the tank/down in the rock work more. Normally hangs out up toward the top next to their anemone.

Any ideas??? I can set up a QT if I need to tomorrow, and I have Cipro on hand (a few other things I could use as well) but I don’t wanna treat it that way if that’s not what it is.

Please provide brighter light with pics as its hard to see a dark fish in low light

 

[vetteguy53081]

Circled it to help make it visible. That’s coming off of her stomach

fish may indeed be egg bound and have an issue expelling it. Need brighter and clearer pic to clearly identify

 

[samb5590]

fish may indeed be egg bound and have an issue expelling it. Need brighter and clearer pic to clearly identify

Please provide brighter light with pics as its hard to see a dark fish in low light

I will see about getting it in the morning.

Glad to hear that it isn’t instantly something terrible(yet) and that eggs might actually be the case. Makes me feel better about going to sleep lol

I’ve had them for about 9 months, so they could be about to lay.

 

[Jay Hemdal Verified Community Expert]

I will see about getting it in the morning.

Glad to hear that it isn’t instantly something terrible(yet) and that eggs might actually be the case. Makes me feel better about going to sleep lol

I’ve had them for about 9 months, so they could be about to lay.

I can sort of see eggs inside the mass, if so, then this is some sort of an evulsion of the oviduct. I've never seen that in clownfish, but I have seen it in some scorpionfish. It can be very serious, as the material around the eggs is part of the fish's internal tissue.

Jay

 

[samb5590]

I can sort of see eggs inside the mass, if so, then this is some sort of an evulsion of the oviduct. I've never seen that in clownfish, but I have seen it in some scorpionfish. It can be very serious, as the material around the eggs is part of the fish's internal tissue.

Jay

If that is the case, what’s the best move for me? Should I wait it out and see what happens, or is there a way to intervene?

 

[samb5590]

I can sort of see eggs inside the mass, if so, then this is some sort of an evulsion of the oviduct. I've never seen that in clownfish, but I have seen it in some scorpionfish. It can be very serious, as the material around the eggs is part of the fish's internal tissue.

Jay

If that is the case, what’s the best move for me? Should I wait it out and see what happens, or no

 

[samb5590]

I can sort of see eggs inside the mass, if so, then this is some sort of an evulsion of the oviduct. I've never seen that in clownfish, but I have seen it in some scorpionfish. It can be very serious, as the material around the eggs is part of the fish's internal tissue.

Jay

fish may indeed be egg bound and have an issue expelling it. Need brighter and clearer pic to clearly identify

Hey guys! Tried getting some better shots, he is still lively and hard to catch. If you want more, I can definitely provide but here are a few different angles and a video!

Edit: here is a link to the video in case it didn’t work:

 

[vetteguy53081]

I will see about getting it in the morning.

Glad to hear that it isn’t instantly something terrible(yet) and that eggs might actually be the case. Makes me feel better about going to sleep lol

I’ve had them for about 9 months, so they could be about to lay.

Dont rule positive yet as the eggs can lead to constipation and need to verify its not Rectal prolapse. Fish should be fine until we can assess in the morning.

 

[vetteguy53081]

Hey guys! Tried getting some better shots, he is still lively and hard to catch. If you want more, I can definitely provide but here are a few different angles and a video!

Does appear to be entire egg sack.

 

[samb5590]

Does appear to be entire egg sack.

Is there anything I can do to assist, or should I let it happen on its own? Like I said last night, other than hanging out a little deeper/lower into the rock, she’s acting fine and not really bothered.

 

[Jay Hemdal Verified Community Expert]

Is there anything I can do to assist, or should I let it happen on its own? Like I said last night, other than hanging out a little deeper/lower into the rock, she’s acting fine and not really bothered.

Don't try to help it - anything you do will just cause more injury. On other species, I've had veterinarians try to fix this sort of issue surgically a few times, with anesthetic and it failed.

Jay

 

[samb5590]

Don't try to help it - anything you do will just cause more injury. On other species, I've had veterinarians try to fix this sort of issue surgically a few times, with anesthetic and it failed.

Jay

Gotcha, I’ll just wait it out and see what happens then.

The only hard part is she’s one of the first fish I got. Sad times

 

[samb5590]

Don't try to help it - anything you do will just cause more injury. On other species, I've had veterinarians try to fix this sort of issue surgically a few times, with anesthetic and it failed.

Jay

Does appear to be entire egg sack.

UPDATE:

I noticed earlier today that the clump was smaller (about half the size of yesterday) and I checked again this evening to see even more improvement.

She’s still got a little ways to go, but appears to be on the mend! She was also out of the cave swimming around more, which makes me hopeful to the progress!

Thank you @vetteguy53081 and @Jay Hemdal for the help so far and being amazing! (And here is a pic of the updated progress).

I will post another progress report whenever the condition changes— whether good or bad. Fingers crossed for good! Hahaha

 

[vetteguy53081]

UPDATE:

I noticed earlier today that the clump was smaller (about half the size of yesterday) and I checked again this evening to see even more improvement.

She’s still got a little ways to go, but appears to be on the mend! She was also out of the cave swimming around more, which makes me hopeful to the progress!

Thank you @vetteguy53081 and @Jay Hemdal for the help so far and being amazing! (And here is a pic of the updated progress).

I will post another progress report whenever the condition changes— whether good or bad. Fingers crossed for good! Hahaha

It should retract on its own which is what its doing which is great. Maintain good water quality

 

[Jay Hemdal Verified Community Expert]

UPDATE:

I noticed earlier today that the clump was smaller (about half the size of yesterday) and I checked again this evening to see even more improvement.

She’s still got a little ways to go, but appears to be on the mend! She was also out of the cave swimming around more, which makes me hopeful to the progress!

Thank you @vetteguy53081 and @Jay Hemdal for the help so far and being amazing! (And here is a pic of the updated progress).

I will post another progress report whenever the condition changes— whether good or bad. Fingers crossed for good! Hahaha

Can you tell - is it retracting or breaking off?
Jay

 

[samb5590]

Can you tell - is it retracting or breaking off?
Jay

I haven’t actually seen it happen and this isn’t 100% but I’d say breaking off.

Whenever it was swollen, it was the whole underside and she looked wide even from the front (like just a chunky fish) whereas now she looks more normal from the front like before.

 

[Jay Hemdal Verified Community Expert]

I haven’t actually seen it happen and this isn’t 100% but I’d say breaking off.

Whenever it was swollen, it was the whole underside and she looked wide even from the front (like just a chunky fish) whereas now she looks more normal from the front like before.

My fear here is that if the ovary/oviduct breaks off outside the fish, it may seem to recover, but what will happen when it produces its next batch of eggs?