Clownfish are sick, please help!

[Rylee B]

Hello, it has come to my attention two of my clownfish are sick. I purchased a copper treatment and a formalin/malachite green one and they will arrive soon. In the meantime I've been doing freshwater dips. However I really need advice on which treatment I should go with, copper or formalin because I'm not sure what I'm up against here. My smaller clownfish is still very active but has frayed and cloudy white spots on his fins, and I noticed a couple white dots on him (after his freshwater bath the spots were gone and have yet to return but his fins are worse). Based on him alone I'd say ich and go with copper. But my other clownfish stays near the bottom more than before now and has no visible white dots but is breathing rapidly (which would make me think velvet). I'm not sure which one it is, what should I do? Both are eating, no mucus (yet at least) on either, both are babies, and there's also a clown goby in with them that has no signs of any disease. I have only had them for a month and got them all from the same place so I didn't quarantine Learned my lesson.

 

[Crabs McJones]

Hello, it has come to my attention two of my clownfish are sick. I purchased a copper treatment and a formalin/malachite green one and they will arrive soon. In the meantime I've been doing freshwater dips. However I really need advice on which treatment I should go with, copper or formalin because I'm not sure what I'm up against here. My smaller clownfish is still very active but has frayed and cloudy white spots on his fins, and I noticed a couple white dots on him (after his freshwater bath the spots were gone and have yet to return but his fins are worse). Based on him alone I'd say ich and go with copper. But my other clownfish stays near the bottom more than before now and has no visible white dots but is breathing rapidly (which would make me think velvet). I'm not sure which one it is, what should I do? Both are eating, no mucus (yet at least) on either, both are babies, and there's also a clown goby in with them that has no signs of any disease. I have only had them for a month and got them all from the same place so I didn't quarantine Learned my lesson.

Welcome to R2R! To help, we would need to know what they are ill with. Different diseases require different treatments.
Can you share a picture with us to help with diagnosis?

 

[Oscaror]

Hello, it has come to my attention two of my clownfish are sick. I purchased a copper treatment and a formalin/malachite green one and they will arrive soon. In the meantime I've been doing freshwater dips. However I really need advice on which treatment I should go with, copper or formalin because I'm not sure what I'm up against here. My smaller clownfish is still very active but has frayed and cloudy white spots on his fins, and I noticed a couple white dots on him (after his freshwater bath the spots were gone and have yet to return but his fins are worse). Based on him alone I'd say ich and go with copper. But my other clownfish stays near the bottom more than before now and has no visible white dots but is breathing rapidly (which would make me think velvet). I'm not sure which one it is, what should I do? Both are eating, no mucus (yet at least) on either, both are babies, and there's also a clown goby in with them that has no signs of any disease. I have only had them for a month and got them all from the same place so I didn't quarantine Learned my lesson.

Welcome to R2R. Good luck with your fish, I'm no good at this stuff sorry ;Sorry

 

[Rylee B]

Welcome to R2R! To help, we would need to know what they are ill with. Different diseases require different treatments.
Can you share a picture with us to help with diagnosis?

Thank you! I'll take some pictures/videos in a few minutes

 

[Rylee B]

Welcome to R2R! To help, we would need to know what they are ill with. Different diseases require different treatments.
Can you share a picture with us to help with diagnosis?

(the one with white/torn up fins, kinda hard to see on camera)
(the one that is staying towards the sand now and is breathing hard)

 

[Rylee B]

Welcome to R2R. Good luck with your fish, I'm no good at this stuff sorry ;Sorry

thank you!

 

[Crabs McJones]

That tank looks very new, how old is it and how was it cycled?

 

[Rylee B]

That tank looks very new, how old is it and how was it cycled?

Yes it is, its only about 2 months old (Fish were added 1 month ago). I added live sand on top of my store bought sand right when I started the tank, and I've been making sure to continually test for nitrates/nitrites/ammonia/pH. I actually just finished testing again out of concern and everything is at 0 (pH at 8.1). Unless I did something wrong with the cycle the only thing I can think of is when I received the smaller clown he had a small tear on his tail fin but I chalked it up to being tossed around in his bag. This is now worse and white colored, and his other fins are torn. Although they do the shaking things clowns do, they do not fight at all so I don't think the fin problems are from an injury. Only other thing in the tank besides the fish is some snails and hermit crabs.

 

[Crabs McJones]

I think best bet would be to start from the beginning. Let the display tank continue to run like normal, and move all fish over to a quarantine. If it was ich or velvet the treatment is the same, 30 days in therapeutic copper and a 76 day fishless period for the display tank. Another possibility is brooklynella, which formalin baths are recommended for treatment, and a fallow period on the tank as well.

 

[Rylee B]

I think best bet would be to start from the beginning. Let the display tank continue to run like normal, and move all fish over to a quarantine. If it was ich or velvet the treatment is the same, 30 days in therapeutic copper and a 76 day fishless period for the display tank. Another possibility is brooklynella, which formalin baths are recommended for treatment, and a fallow period on the tank as well.

Alright yeah I think I'll do the copper and quarantine, the white dots I saw definitely looked more similar to Ich than Brooklynella. Thank you!

 

[Big G]

Early Brook can present like Ich and or Velvet, thus making it hard sometimes to get a definitive diagnosis. However, with clowns the usual suspect is Brook.
https://www.reef2reef.com/threads/brooklynella.247938/#post-2913287

 

[Rylee B]

Early Brook can present like Ich and or Velvet, thus making it hard sometimes to get a definitive diagnosis. However, with clowns the usual suspect is Brook.
https://www.reef2reef.com/threads/brooklynella.247938/#post-2913287

Thank you. Unfortunately one clown didn't make it but on the positive side the wyoming white is back in perfect health after treatment now.

 

[4FordFamily]

Thank you. Unfortunately one clown didn't make it but on the positive side the wyoming white is back in perfect health after treatment now.

Sorry for your loss. No more signs on the remaining fish? That’s good.

 

[Rylee B]

Sorry for your loss. No more signs on the remaining fish? That’s good.

yep, he's still in a quarantine going through the last of the copper treatment as I wait for the main tank to be empty long enough to put him back, but he's doing well. Thanks!

 

[Big G]

yep, he's still in a quarantine going through the last of the copper treatment as I wait for the main tank to be empty long enough to put him back, but he's doing well. Thanks!

When the copper treatment ends, and you have done the copper removal, remember to observe the fish for 10-14 days before returning the fish to the DT. Glad you little buddy is doing well. Good job.