Clownfish with ich, velvet, or brook?

[gpanzare]

I found out this morning that my clownfish, which has been in the tank for roughly 9 months, has some sort of white splotches/spots over her skin. I want to know if this is the start of ich or velvet, or maybe brook, or something else. There is one other fish in the tank, a coral beauty at the moment, who hasn't shown any signs of white spots. The clownfish doesn't have any other symptoms of disease from what I can see, but it is under blue light, so I can't tell if she is irritable to bright light. I'll try to post pictures of her under whites later.

 

[gpanzare]

I also currently have a QT that I can dose with copper power, ruby reef rally pro, and metroplex to help with whatever it is, but it currently has another sick clownfish I am trying to quarantine and treat before it gets into the main tank.

 

[gpanzare]

I just noticed that the angelfish also has white spots, on face and fins, I'm beginning to suspect this is velvet or ich, not brook, and the angelfish also seems to have a weird white strand on his face as well? Sorry about the water quality, I didn't have the powerhead on all day yesterday because of a nerite that slept in it and just turned it on.

 

[gpanzare]

The angelfish seems to be moving around the tank like normal but the clownfish is staying at the back of the tank, when she would normally be out and hosting zoanthids by now. Thoughts? Is this velvet or something causing the clownfish to be sensitive to light?

 

[gpanzare]

bump

 

[Duffer]

Looks like ich unfortunately

 

[gpanzare]

Update: The white spots on the clownfish are in the exact same place, except for a few new ones, with one looking like a strand of mucus. The angelfish has no more visible spots. One thing I have noticed is that the angelfish and clownfish have seemed to battle over a cave in the last few days, and that the angelfish developed large mucus patches before they died down. I accidently stirred up the sand bed using a magnet scrubber a few days ago as well, so maybe that's what infected the clownfish. Anyway, I'll continue to monitor the white spots and prepare for possible treatment.

 

[tgrick]

You are at the beginning of the outbreak and that's a good thing. It could be any of the 3 you listed, but my approach is to assume the worst so Velvet or brook. You need a quarantine/hospital tank. If it were me and yes, I have been there AND saved MOST of my fish I would do the following.

1) Get small 10 gallon tank going with HOB filter.
2) Read about Freshwater Dips, like now. This step buys you time.
3) Treatment plan. Copper or CP. Some LFS have CP and may sell you some. Does not hurt to ask.
4) The main display will need to be fallow for 86 days I think? Check this number out but I think this is what I did years ago.
5) Treat fish. @Humblefish has a few stickys on treatment, but plan on keeping the fish in the hospital tank for a while. Also, you will probably need to treat the fish with medication for bacteria. I have NEVER saved a fish without treatment for disease after treatment for parasites. My GOTO treatment plan is called 'TRIFECTA' and is in a sticky.

My display tank has fish that are about 4 years old now. I have had fish over 20 years in a tank! If you follow quarantine protocols BEFORE they go into the display you will be very successful. If you do not, you will always fail. That's my .02.

 

[tgrick]

Do not wait! I HAVE NEVER SEEN THE SITUATION GET BETTER JUST WAITING. NEVER.

 

[gpanzare]

Thanks, I already have a setup QT tank ready to go, but it already has a sick clownfish being quarantined in it. What's the best course of action here? Should I move the sick clownfish from the DT to the QT and treat them together? I know that the sick clownfish in the QT has brook and I was planning on doing a ruby reef rally bath today, and I do have copper treatments but couldn't find a copper checker while putting together an emergency medications kit, so I'll try ordering one. Should I buy a second quarantine/treatment tank for this?

 

[gpanzare]

Also, I forgot to elaborate on this, the sick clownfish in quarantine was originally in the tank, caught internal worms and what seemed like the beginning of brook (which it was), and was moved to the QT almost 3 weeks ago. I was going to put it back into the DT before the three-week mark, to prevent it from fully changing to female, as it is still a juvenile, but now I'm not sure what to do.

 

[Lyss]

Also, I forgot to elaborate on this, the sick clownfish in quarantine was originally in the tank, caught internal worms and what seemed like the beginning of brook (which it was), and was moved to the QT almost 3 weeks ago. I was going to put it back into the DT before the three-week mark, to prevent it from fully changing to female, as it is still a juvenile, but now I'm not sure what to do.

If the fish in qt w/brook was in the tank then yes pull all fish and treat in qt w/copper. Jay has it pinned up top on how to do this correctly.

The dt needs to be fallowed and all fish treated or it’s going to be an ongoing issue. IMO, looks like prob the fish were fighting and that dropped immunity, allowing brook to strike.

You have to get the Hanna copper checker and treat w/copper power.

 

[tgrick]

I never treat in a display tank. Never. The tank goes fallow, NO FISH for 3 months. I do not violate this rule. If it were me, all fish would go into the same hospital tank. The likely hood is they all have the same thing. I do not think you have ick. It looks like early Brook to me. So before I place those fish in the hospital tank I would do a FW dip. People hate FW dips. Here I am and I love them. I would match temperature in the FW dip container. USE RODI WATER. I put a squirt of tank water to help with PH. I used to try and match it but it's crazy because RODI water makes it almost impossible. Then you need the most important step. you need to put an airstone in that RODI water bath and aerate the living heck out of it. I do it for about 15 mins! That's minimum. I LEAVE THE AIRSTONE IN THE CONTAINER WHILE THE FISH IS IN THE CONTAINER. The fish will go nuts and then settle down. Try to go 5 mins but no longer. if the fish is in too much distress remove but try to go at least 3 mins.

 

[vetteguy53081]

This is NOT ich. Ich will not have 2 or 3 dots on one fish and 5 or 6 on another. Looking at size of grains, this appears to be lymphocystis which you will see these very nodules on the body and fins (most common) and is viral. It is often triggered by poor water quality , diet or both.
Brook before the dots will offer mucus around the facial area and gill along with dots and Lethargic behavior, heavy breathing and even loss of appetite.

Not good advise here, hate to say.
You will need to do a series of water changes to bring water quality up to par, as this may very well be from what I can tell a newer tank and going through chemistry changes.
What test kits are you using ?
Additionally, I will assume you are feeding flake and pellet diet. Add Mysis shrimp, small plankton, spirulina brine shrimp, LRS Fish frenzy which have fats and aminos which these fish must have and add garlic extract to those foods for immunity health.

FW dips and copper treatment at this point will merely stress the fish

 

[vetteguy53081]

If the fish in qt w/brook was in the tank then yes pull all fish and treat in qt w/copper. Jay has it pinned up top on how to do this correctly.

The dt needs to be fallowed and all fish treated or it’s going to be an ongoing issue. IMO, looks like prob the fish were fighting and that dropped immunity, allowing brook to strike.

You have to get the Hanna copper checker and treat w/copper power.

Copper does not treat brook. It will be a formalin based medication and FALLOW not required for brook.

 

[Lyss]

Copper does not treat brook. It will be a formalin based medication and FALLOW not required for brook.

I got copper wrong, but it was my understanding that the parasites infect through fish-to-fish contact, but can live in the water column. So if there is a confirmed case that was in the tank up until a few weeks ago could it not still be an issue/be a bad idea to put that fish back in and not treat the others?

 

[vetteguy53081]

I got copper wrong, but it was my understanding that the parasites infect through fish-to-fish contact, but can live in the water column. So if there is a confirmed case that was in the tank up until a few weeks ago could it not still be an issue/be a bad idea to put that fish back in and not treat the others?

This is viral and will not spread like parasites do and with suggested water changes. I have a hunch this is a new tank and would cause such issue. The fish are eating and breathing normally in video and not typical with parasitical conditions.
It can be confusing with ich as the ich protozoan penetrates skin and gills of the fish and depending on the immune status of the fish, can cause symptoms as mild as just a few small white spots BUT is lacking typical symptoms such as irritation, loss of appetite, lethargy, severe respiratory distress, and signs leading to death.

 

[gpanzare]

The tank is currently 10 months old, I am feeding spirulina, Hikari frozen mysis, and omega-one freeze-dried brine shrimp (on occasion). The Hikari mysis and spirulina are alternated daily and fed for as much as they can eat in 1 minute. I am using API test kits. All corals in the tank do not seem to be affected, although two days ago I did switch out the filter floss, which put particles into the system, so I guess some dust must've gotten onto it, which freaked me out. Could that've been the cause of poor water quality? I'll retest my water parameters today.

 

[gpanzare]

The dust particulates are still in my system, so I'll be doing a 20% water change on my system today. I also noticed some of the spots on my angelfish's fins yesterday, but I can't seem to find them today. I checked some of the lymphocystis threads and it looks almost exactly like what I'm dealing with, but I'll keep monitoring for symptoms of brook.

 

[Lyss]

This is viral and will not spread like parasites do and with suggested water changes. I have a hunch this is a new tank and would cause such issue. The fish are eating and breathing normally in video and not typical with parasitical conditions.
It can be confusing with ich as the ich protozoan penetrates skin and gills of the fish and depending on the immune status of the fish, can cause symptoms as mild as just a few small white spots BUT is lacking typical symptoms such as irritation, loss of appetite, lethargy, severe respiratory distress, and signs leading to death.

Sorry, I thought Brooklynella is a parasite? OP has a clownfish with confirmed Brook in QT right now.