Clownfish looking pale

[MarcosTacos]

I have a pair of clowns, have had them for about 4 months.
The smaller one started to look more pale about a week ago, he still eats like a pig but hides most of the time in a rock while the other one swims around alot more. He always was a bit more shy but I just started noticing the 'hiding behavior'. Hes always had a behavior of trying to avoid the areas with more flow.

He seems a bit more pale when he has been hiding in the rock for a while, then the color comes back slowly but never fully.

Any ideas on what this could be? Sorry for the blurry pic I'm having a hard time with taking pictures of him.

 

[vetteguy53081]

I have a pair of clowns, have had them for about 4 months.
The smaller one started to look more pale about a week ago, he still eats like a pig but hides most of the time in a rock while the other one swims around alot more. He always was a bit more shy but I just started noticing the 'hiding behavior'. Hes always had a behavior of trying to avoid the areas with more flow.

He seems a bit more pale when he has been hiding in the rock for a while, then the color comes back slowly but never fully.

Any ideas on what this could be? Sorry for the blurry pic I'm having a hard time with taking pictures of him.

Could really use pic under white intensity lighting but preliminarily appears to be typical clown disease known as brooklynella.
The most significant sign is the amount of slime on its body and the thick mucus 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.
With the advanced stage of this- I recommend immediate quarantine of all inhabitants and leaving display without fish for 4-6 weeks.
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

 

[MarcosTacos]

The paleness is more on the tail end half of the fish. Also I don't see any mucus, could it still be brooklynella?

I will try to get a better picture later.

 

[MnFish1]

The paleness is more on the tail end half of the fish. Also I don't see any mucus, could it still be brooklynella?

I will try to get a better picture later.

Severe Ich can look like Brooklynella - would hope for better pictures - close up - or a video - under white light. If what you're saying is correct - I would vote more towards a severe Ich case - however brooklynella is quite common in clowns - so I'm trusting your opinion here. Brooklynella normally starts more towards the front of the fish.

 

[Jay Hemdal Verified Community Expert]

Video under white lights are easier to get - video also shows us the fish’s respiration rate and overall demeanor. You might need to post to Youtube and then link here.

Jay

 

[Nemo&Friends]

As you have your clown for 4 month already, I wonder if it could be just the female being more aggressive, and the male hiding from her. Color change could be stress, as it improve a little after he stays hidden for a while. I am not an expert, but I would have think your fish would have shown signs of disease earlier, not 4 month later, unless you recently added other inhabitants.

 

[MarcosTacos]

As you have your clown for 4 month already, I wonder if it could be just the female being more aggressive, and the male hiding from her. Color change could be stress, as it improve a little after he stays hidden for a while. I am not an expert, but I would have think your fish would have shown signs of disease earlier, not 4 month later, unless you recently added other inhabitants.

That's what I was thinking initially, as I don't see any mucus, dots or lesions on the skin of the fish. I did see a small tear in the rear fin. The female looks super healthy and definetly larger than the male (which is normal to some extent).

I have added nothing other than some corals about 2 months ago.

I still plan on taking a video under white light tomorrow to give more info.

 

[MarcosTacos]

Here is a video I took this morning:

He had been out of his hidey hole for a while so he definetly wasn't as pale as when he just came out. He looks quite normal in the video actually.

 

[Jay Hemdal Verified Community Expert]

Here is a video I took this morning:

He had been out of his hidey hole for a while so he definetly wasn't as pale as when he just came out. He looks quite normal in the video actually.

The respiration rate looks o.k., and it is swimming fairly normally.

There is some slight damage to its caudal fin and it looks like the fin is a bit cloudy overall. that might be contributing to its pale coloration (cloudiness on the skin can make it look washed out/pale). Something has been tagging it on the tail....

I don't see any overt negative interaction from the other clown in the video, but they can be rather sly - and will "play nice" while you are in the room watching them.

Jay

 

[MarcosTacos]

The respiration rate looks o.k., and it is swimming fairly normally.

There is some slight damage to its caudal fin and it looks like the fin is a bit cloudy overall. that might be contributing to its pale coloration (cloudiness on the skin can make it look washed out/pale). Something has been tagging it on the tail....

I don't see any overt negative interaction from the other clown in the video, but they can be rather sly - and will "play nice" while you are in the room watching them.

Jay

I don't know if the other clown is responsible for the fin tear, but I think the fish was only stressed. It seems to be doing better by the day!