Clownfish flaring fills?

ryanaperez · Sep 23, 2023

Good Evening,

I just purchased these two clownfish from a trade show. I added them to my 20 gallon waterbox. 0 ammonia, 0 nitrites, changed water prior to adding them nitrates around 5. I noticed when adding the clown to the tank after drip acclimating its Gills seemed to be flared out wider than usual. As well as a white stringy poop.

Could the gills just be spread wider do to stress from being shipped to the trade show and then to my aquarium? I have tried to attach some photos capturing it.

I am worried it may be a parasite as I have read but do not know what I would be looking for as far as flukes. It is swimming strong and not showing any signs of weakness.

vetteguy53081 · Sep 23, 2023

ryanaperez said:
Good Evening,

I just purchased these two clownfish from a trade show. I added them to my 20 gallon waterbox. 0 ammonia, 0 nitrites, changed water prior to adding them nitrates around 5. I noticed when adding the clown to the tank after drip acclimating its Gills seemed to be flared out wider than usual. As well as a white stringy poop.

Could the gills just be spread wider do to stress from being shipped to the trade show and then to my aquarium? I have tried to attach some photos capturing it.

I am worried it may be a parasite as I have read but do not know what I would be looking for as far as flukes. It is swimming strong and not showing any signs of weakness.

Its likely irritation from mucus from what appears to be Brooklynella. The most significant sign is the amount of slime on its body which is noticeable on the fish. This mucus generally starts at the facial area as well as gills and spreads across the body producing lesions as it progresses often confused with ich and can turn into secondary bacteria. Other symptoms will be lethargic behavior, refusing to eat and heavy breathing from the mucus.
Typical treatment is a formalin solution is mixed with in a separate container with either fresh or saltwater. Start with a quick dip in the formalin at a higher concentration then performing treatment in a prolonged bath of formalin base at a lower concentration in a quarantine tank. The longer the fish are exposed to the formalin treatment the more effective it will be at eliminating this issue.
If a formalin solution is not available for immediate use, temporary relief can be achieved by giving the fish a FW bath or dip in water same temperature as display tank. Even though this treatment will not cure the disease, it can help to remove some of the parasites, as well as reduce the amount of mucus in the gills to assist with respiration problems.
Treatment is best done in a QT tank using either quick cure (more effective but now harder to find) or Ruby Rally Pro. Ruby takes a little longer and initial treatment generally takes 2-3 days to really start going to work.

A quarantine system if you dont have one can be as easy as a second hand tank from a thrift store or as simple as a starter tank kit from walmart which has most of the essentials

ryanaperez · Sep 23, 2023

vetteguy53081 said:
Its likely irritation from mucus from what appears to be Brooklynella. The most significant sign is the amount of slime on its body which is noticeable on the fish. This mucus generally starts at the facial area as well as gills and spreads across the body producing lesions as it progresses often confused with ich and can turn into secondary bacteria. Other symptoms will be lethargic behavior, refusing to eat and heavy breathing from the mucus.
Typical treatment is a formalin solution is mixed with in a separate container with either fresh or saltwater. Start with a quick dip in the formalin at a higher concentration then performing treatment in a prolonged bath of formalin base at a lower concentration in a quarantine tank. The longer the fish are exposed to the formalin treatment the more effective it will be at eliminating this issue.
If a formalin solution is not available for immediate use, temporary relief can be achieved by giving the fish a FW bath or dip in water same temperature as display tank. Even though this treatment will not cure the disease, it can help to remove some of the parasites, as well as reduce the amount of mucus in the gills to assist with respiration problems.
Treatment is best done in a QT tank using either quick cure (more effective but now harder to find) or Ruby Rally Pro. Ruby takes a little longer and initial treatment generally takes 2-3 days to really start going to work.

A quarantine system if you dont have one can be as easy as a second hand tank from a thrift store or as simple as a starter tank kit from walmart which has most of the essentials

I appreciate your reply! Although In the images I posted the clownfish appears slimy, in person it doesn’t look that way. I don’t know if it’s the light reacting with the lens of my camera or what. I will monitor the fish and do a FW dip if I notice any deterioration. I do have a QT tank and can dose prazi if necessary.

vetteguy53081 · Sep 23, 2023

ryanaperez said:
I appreciate your reply! Although In the images I posted the clownfish appears slimy, in person it doesn’t look that way. I don’t know if it’s the light reacting with the lens of my camera or what. I will monitor the fish and do a FW dip if I notice any deterioration. I do have a QT tank and can dose prazi if necessary.

Prazi will not help if brook or slime however if it would be flukes, FW dip will also help dislodge any IF flukes

ryanaperez · Sep 23, 2023

vetteguy53081 said:
Prazi will not help if brook or slime however if it would be flukes, FW dip will also help dislodge any IF flukes

This is a photo of the clownfish in white light vs blue light from earlier. It is the one on the bottom right. It doesn’t show the gills being flared out but you can see as I believe not showing any slime/ cloudiness. You know a-lot better than I do though. I may just be freaking out after reading a lot lol. But to me gills seem flared

Jay Hemdal · Sep 23, 2023

ryanaperez said:
This is a photo of the clownfish in white light vs blue light from earlier. It is the one on the bottom right. It doesn’t show the gills being flared out but you can see as I believe not showing any slime/ cloudiness. You know a-lot better than I do though. I may just be freaking out after reading a lot lol. But to me gills seem flared

I don’t think the fish has brooklynella, it isn’t swimming mopey like a fish with Brook does.
Swollen gills can be a developmental issue with clownfish, are you sure it didn’t have this issue prior to purchase?
I’m not sure what can cause this all of a sudden - even gill flukes can be pretty slow developing over time.
The stringy feces isn’t related in any event.
Can you reassess in the morning and let us know if it is feeding normally?

Jay

ryanaperez · Sep 23, 2023

Jay Hemdal said:
I don’t think the fish has brooklynella, it isn’t swimming mopey like a fish with Brook does.
Swollen gills can be a developmental issue with clownfish, are you sure it didn’t have this issue prior to purchase?
I’m not sure what can cause this all of a sudden - even gill flukes can be pretty slow developing over time.
The stringy feces isn’t related in any event.
Can you reassess in the morning and let us know if it is feeding normally?

Jay

Jay, thanks for your response. I will do that. It may have been that way from the show but with the excitement I may have overlooked it. He seems to be strong so I will let you know.

vetteguy53081 · Sep 23, 2023

ryanaperez said:
This is a photo of the clownfish in white light vs blue light from earlier. It is the one on the bottom right. It doesn’t show the gills being flared out but you can see as I believe not showing any slime/ cloudiness. You know a-lot better than I do though. I may just be freaking out after reading a lot lol. But to me gills seem flared

Better pics and Brrok is out. I see Jay answered also

ryanaperez · Sep 25, 2023

Jay Hemdal said:
I don’t think the fish has brooklynella, it isn’t swimming mopey like a fish with Brook does.
Swollen gills can be a developmental issue with clownfish, are you sure it didn’t have this issue prior to purchase?
I’m not sure what can cause this all of a sudden - even gill flukes can be pretty slow developing over time.
The stringy feces isn’t related in any event.
Can you reassess in the morning and let us know if it is feeding normally?

Jay

I just fed a serving of mysis shrimp. He is not eating as aggressive as my chromis that has been in the tank for a while, but that is to be expected. It’s still only been about a day and a half since he was introduced. Gills still seem to be “flared”

Jay Hemdal · Sep 25, 2023

ryanaperez said:
I just fed a serving of mysis shrimp. He is not eating as aggressive as my chromis that has been in the tank for a while, but that is to be expected. It’s still only been about a day and a half since he was introduced. Gills still seem to be “flared”

Sorry - the video came out pretty pixelated, tough to see details. Do the clear portions of its fins look cloudy to you? they seem to be in the video. That can be an early sign of Brooklynella, so I might be inclined to revise my diagnosis....

What happens if you try chopping the mysids up into smaller pieces, maybe it will accept that more readily?

Jay

ryanaperez · Sep 25, 2023

Jay Hemdal said:
Sorry - the video came out pretty pixelated, tough to see details. Do the clear portions of its fins look cloudy to you? they seem to be in the video. That can be an early sign of Brooklynella, so I might be inclined to revise my diagnosis....

What happens if you try chopping the mysids up into smaller pieces, maybe it will accept that more readily?

Jay

Jay Hemdal said:

Sorry - the video came out pretty pixelated, tough to see details. Do the clear portions of its fins look cloudy to you? they seem to be in the video. That can be an early sign of Brooklynella, so I might be inclined to revise my diagnosis....

What happens if you try chopping the mysids up into smaller pieces, maybe it will accept that more readily?

Jay

Click to expand...

They don’t appear to be cloudy. He was eating just not going crazy into a frenzy. He swam against my power head chasing food