Dusty patches on clownfish?

[TheEngineer]

My clownfish has started showing some strange patches that look kind of dusty or dull. I don't know how else to describe it. There's an area on the front/outside of one gill, by her anal fin and a line on her tail.

She is the only fish in the tank and nothing has been added in ages to this tank. I've had her for almost 9 years. Only change in the tank is that I've started dosing Vibrant a week ago and I have been stirring small sections (maybe 4 square inches) of the sand with a squirter.

I'm trying to get a picture, but she never stops moving... Going to get out the good camera and try to snap some images.

 

[TheEngineer]

I should say, there are no spots and the areas don't look raised. I don't think this is velvet, I've seen that before but maybe it presents differently?

 

[TheEngineer]

Pics aren't the greatest, but this is as good as I got...

White patch on anal fin, dusty look around gill, white patch over eye

Another angle of the white patch on anal fin.

Same as the first pic, but a different angle.

 

[DeepBlueSomething]

Check out this link -- https://www.reef2reef.com/threads/fish-disease-index-pictorial-guide.285708/

Scroll down to Brookynella - clown fish are especially sensitive to it (iirc) - hope this helps give you some information; I don't know its Brook, but others might be able to confirm or steer you based on the images

 

[TheEngineer]

Check out this link -- https://www.reef2reef.com/threads/fish-disease-index-pictorial-guide.285708/

Scroll down to Brookynella - clown fish are especially sensitive to it (iirc) - hope this helps give you some information; I don't know its Brook, but others might be able to confirm or steer you based on the images

Thanks for the link. I don't think it is brook. At least it doesn't look like it to me. I'm also not sure where it would have come into the tank from, unless it was already present...

 

[DeepBlueSomething]

@Humblefish
Any thoughts on these pics on what it might be?

 

[Mele__Reef]

Looks like a fungal infection.

 

[TheEngineer]

Could these be burns from hydrogen sulfide that may have been released from me stirring the sand? (That's a horrible thought...)

Edit: I just put a carbon reactor online thinking it might be something in the water.

 

[TheRealDmorty217]

It could be Brook or possibly Urenoma, both are similar in appearance. How long have you had the clown? Did you QT? It's not fungal since that is always brown, bacterial is white which I suppose it could also be.

 

[TheEngineer]

It could be Brook or possibly Urenoma, both are similar in appearance. How long have you had the clown? Did you QT? It's not fungal since that is always brown, bacterial is white which I suppose it could also be.

9 years

EDIT: She hasn't been in the same tank as another fish in 3.5 years. I've added inverts since then, but they've all been QT'd. She was not when I first got her.

 

[Humblefish]

I'm not 100% sure what it is, but this is what I would do about it:

QT and dose Kanaplex + Metroplex. The former will treat for a bacterial infection (which is probably what this is); whereas the latter will address the possibility of brook/uronema.

You can also add Furan-2 to the mix to widen the antibiotic spectrum.

 

[TheEngineer]

I'm not 100% sure what it is, but this is what I would do about it:

QT and dose Kanaplex + Metroplex. The former will treat for a bacterial infection (which is probably what this is); whereas the latter will address the possibility of brook/uronema.

You can also add Furan-2 to the mix to widen the antibiotic spectrum.

Thanks. Can this treatment be done in my DT or is a dedicated QT needed? I have a QT system, I’d just have to start it back up.

 

[Humblefish]

Thanks. Can this treatment be done in my DT or is a dedicated QT needed? I have a QT system, I’d just have to start it back up.

You can food soak both medications in your DT, but it would be better to dose them directly into the water so the affected areas can absorb them. And that should only be done in a QT.

If you decide to go the food soak route, use Seachem Focus to bind the meds to pellets or frozen: http://www.seachem.com/focus.php

 

[TheEngineer]

You can food soak both medications in your DT, but it would be better to dose them directly into the water so the affected areas can absorb them. And that should only be done in a QT.

If you decide to go the food soak route, use Seachem Focus to bind the meds to pellets or frozen: http://www.seachem.com/focus.php

Thanks. I have focus and metroplex already. I just mixed up a batch of food with it. I'll have to order the kanaplex.

 

[DeepBlueSomething]

Thanks humble! Great to have your thoughts on this!

 

[TheEngineer]

It may just be me, but her belly looks bloated now and she's swimming funny

 

[TheEngineer]

 

[Maritimer]

She appears positively buoyant - she's floating.

This can be due to a swim bladder disorder, or to constipation - or even to swallowing a bubble while trying to snag flakes at the surface.

Feeding a chopped pea, believe it or not, is often a great treatment for constipation. (If you can get her to eat her peas . . . )

~Bruce

 

[TheEngineer]

She’s swimming better today. Doesn’t appear to have any bouyancies issues now. Phew!

The patches look a little worse but she’s eating well and getting her meds. I’ll update again if anything changes.

 

[TheEngineer]

Thanks to the great advice from everyone, she's doing significantly better. The patches are nearly gone!