Cyst on Clownfish

[SE7ƎN]

Any idea what this is? I tried googling and closest thing I can come up with is Lymphocystis, but it’s not white.

It looks like a cyst on his fin, and the best description is that it looks like a food pellet is stuck to his fin.

Otherwise, he’s acting perfectly fine.

 

[Jay Hemdal Verified Community Expert]

That's difficult to see clearly. I don't think it is Lymphocystis; the color is wrong, it appears smooth, clownfish are not too susceptible to Lymphocystis, and that is usually seen on the fin edges, not the middle.

How long has it had this? Take a look at the link below my name here, it gives information about other information that can be helpful for us to know when trying to diagnose issues.

Jay

 

[SE7ƎN]

That's difficult to see clearly. I don't think it is Lymphocystis; the color is wrong, it appears smooth, clownfish are not too susceptible to Lymphocystis, and that is usually seen on the fin edges, not the middle.

How long has it had this? Take a look at the link below my name here, it gives information about other information that can be helpful for us to know when trying to diagnose issues.

Jay

Hi @Jay Hemdal, and thank you for your response. I read over the link, so here are the additional info...

Apologies for the picture, but it is really hard to catch a good picture because of the color and movement. I attached a few more from different viewpoints, but it still not very good. Symptom (cyst like nodule) was noticed 3 days ago. The fish is behaving normally and eating well.

Additional Info: Tank is 2.5 months old. 63L/16.6 gal. I upgraded the Return-Pump: 400-1000 L/H (106-260 gph), and replaced almost all the filter-floss with Seachem Matrix Media, Seachem Purigen Bag, additional Bio-Media, and Carbon. Cheap useless Protein Skimmer installed as well, and an additional Pump/Air-Stone just prior to the return line for bubble-scrubbing at night for a few hours (other times, I just keep the pump running, but pull the air stone higher from the return pump to keep the aeration going, but without micro-bubbbling). Have another Wave-Maker in prior, but with the addition of the Hammer Coral, I pulled it off since there is too much flow.

I added 1x small frag of Hammer Coral and 1x small frag GSP exactly 1 week ago. 2x Clownfish, 5x Micro-Hermits, 1x Micro Nassarius Snail, and 1x Cleaner Shrimp.

Parameters: 8.15 pH, 0 NH3/4, 0 NO2, 12.5 NO3, PO4 0.065, Salinity 33/1.0245, CA 450, and DKH/ALK 10.5. Weekly water changes of 20-30%, with one due tomorrow, hence why my Nitrates and PO4 is on the high side.

 

[Jay Hemdal Verified Community Expert]

Everything else you posted seems to be in order. Could the other clownfish have bitten this one's fin? One other, unlikely cause would be a fluke (worm infection). These are normally smaller, and more difficult to see, and not really common on clownfish. At this point, unless this spot gets larger, or new ones develop, I do not see a treatment to be advisable. Just keep a close eye on it, and let me know of any changes!

Jay

 

[SE7ƎN]

Everything else you posted seems to be in order. Could the other clownfish have bitten this one's fin? One other, unlikely cause would be a fluke (worm infection). These are normally smaller, and more difficult to see, and not really common on clownfish. At this point, unless this spot gets larger, or new ones develop, I do not see a treatment to be advisable. Just keep a close eye on it, and let me know of any changes!

Jay

Thank you @Jay Hemdal. These two have been going at it for a while now. The orange one (smaller one) has been bullied by the black one a lot, to the point of several torn fins, resulting in time out for the black one for several days, and multiple times, to give time for the orange one to heal/rest/eat. This probably resulted in the orange one growing so fast and recently has started fighting back, but overall, they generally have been peaceful the last 2 weeks. Could very well be possible he fought back and caused that weird cyst like growth on the black one. Will just keep monitoring closely. Thanks again for the advice.

 

[Mandarin Lovejoy]

Any update on your clown cyst? Mine has a very similar symmetrical, smooth, black, round ball or cyst on same pec fin. Wondering how yours is doing.

 

[SE7ƎN]

Any update on your clown cyst? Mine has a very similar symmetrical, smooth, black, round ball or cyst on same pec fin. Wondering how yours is doing.

Hi @Mandarin Lovejoy,

I’m sorry to see that your clown has a cyst as well. It looks exactly what mine had. She is doing well and the cyst is completely gone.

For the record, I noticed mine on Nov 23rd. Nov 30th, I noticed that it reduced half the size. And Dec 7th, it was completely gone. So it seems like a 2 week cycle, however, you should hopefully see reduction on yours by Day 7 hopefully.

I’m wondering if this is a one time thing, or if it will come back again. Keep me updated on yours and hopefully it will be gone soon.

 

[Mandarin Lovejoy]

Good to hear clown is doing well.

I'm tempted to do a skin scrape and see what it looks like under the microscope. It looks like it should pop right off. It's so weird. Hope it's not a trophant!

 

[Jay Hemdal Verified Community Expert]

Good to hear clown is doing well.

I'm tempted to do a skin scrape and see what it looks like under the microscope. It looks like it should pop right off. It's so weird. Hope it's not a trophant!

It is the wrong color to be ich or a fluke. "Black ich" is caused by a turbellarian worm, but those spots are really small. I suspect this is just melanin that clownfish often produce as a result of an injury or other damage. I wouldn't try to scrape it - the extra handling can be pretty stressful.

Jay