Clownfish with small black marking near gill

[reeferdugong]

Hello fellow reefers!

I just got 2 clown fishes yesterday and theyre in the QT tank now. I notice the larger clownfish has a small black marking near her gill on one side.

clownfish

youtube.com

is this normal or is this something that ive to worry about?

thanks guys for all the help!

 

[Jay Hemdal Verified Community Expert]

Welcome to Reef2Reef!

It’s not normal, but it isn’t clear yet if it is something to be worried about.

In looking at the video, the clown seems a bit stressed, swimming with its fins down, and bit mopey. This isn’t too unusual for new clowns, but bears watching. Are they eating? What are your quality parameters? What will you be treating them with while in QT?

Take a look at the link below, it lists other bits of information that helps us diagnose issues for you.

Jay

 

[reeferdugong]

hi Jay thanks for your reply. They both still aren’t eating, i will buy some krill, brine shrimps and some flakes to see if they will eat em.

i havent tested my water parameters yet since i’ll do a 20% water change today and will check it afterward. I keep my salinity at 1.019-1.020, using salt from tropic marin pro reef.

this is my first fish ever so i dont have any established tank and i dont have sponges seeded with bacteria. Im just dosing microbe nite out 2, and will do it daily. i have 2 sponges in Aquaclear 20 and a bunch of siporax to help with the bacteria.

For the time being, ill not be treating them, just observe them for 4-6 weeks. And only treat them if they have disease.

Im not sure if i find any link to the one you mentioned?

 

[Jay Hemdal Verified Community Expert]

You definitely want to test your tank for ammonia daily. That level needs to stay near zero, at least below 0.25 mg/l. You need to use bacteria in a bottle, water changes or seed bacteria to do this.

I think you should treat the fish with copper and not just observe them, or at least have copper and a test kit ready to go.

Jay

 

[reeferdugong]

so i tested my water parameter;

Ammonia: almost 0
Nitrite: 0 ppm
Nitrate: 0 ppm
pH: 7.3
Alkalinity 6 dKH

is my PH and Alkalinity too low??

Should i raise my pH with baking soda?

Should i also raise my Alkalinity? I have red sea KH coralline gro, its concentrated buffer. 1 ml/ 25 gallon will raise 0.1dkH.

i forgot to tell that Im seeding bottle bacteria (microbe lift nite out 2).

 

[Jay Hemdal Verified Community Expert]

That low of a pH in a new tank is either an issue with your testing method or a problem with high carbon dioxide in the water. Does the tank have good aeration? If not, you should add it. If it isn’t either of these two issues it is better to raise the pH through water changes.
Jay

 

[reeferdugong]

yes i would like to believe that my aeration is good enough, ive an airstone (water drops sprinkling everwhere) and a hob filter that helps with surface agitation too.

For the pH, i used a pen pH reader which reads 7.34 and i retested it with red sea kit, which showed <7.6.

i think i would try and add the Red sea KH coralline go. It’ll raise my KH and hopefully my pH too