Is my clownfish having some disease?

[biswajitdey13]

Hi everyone, I just started my new saltwater tank and I am seeing some marks on one of my clownfish. I wanted to get some feedback on if this is a disease and what my course of action would be.

It's been a couple of weeks since I added the 2 clownfish to the tank. I also added one Orchid Dottyback at the same time. There are no other fish in the tank, but there are some inverts as clean-up crew. I started to see some white marks on one of my clownfish. They look otherwise healthy and behave healthy.

They are captive bread. I did quarantine them for around 9 days before adding them to the tank. I treated them with Copper Power and ParaCleanse while they were in the quarantine tank.

 

[Uncle99]

What size tank?
Could that dottyback bite his tail, pic is fuzzy.

 

[biswajitdey13]

What size tank?
Could that dottyback bite his tail, pic is fuzzy.

I have not seen the Orchid Dottyback to be messing with them. It is very shy by itself. I have updated the video links in case that helps. I have heard in other posts that sometimes the other clownfish (probably the female or going to be the female) would bite the clownfish. I am not sure if that is the case.

 

[biswajitdey13]

What size tank?
Could that dottyback bite his tail, pic is fuzzy.

The tank size is 36 gallon.

 

[MnFish1]

I have not seen the Orchid Dottyback to be messing with them. It is very shy by itself. I have updated the video links in case that helps. I have heard in other posts that sometimes the other clownfish (probably the female or going to be the female) would bite the clownfish. I am not sure if that is the case.

The water is somewhat cloudy - is it a cycled tank? Do you have parameters? There is a rip or a couple rips in the tail. The cloudy water is somewhat worrisome.

The usual quarantine recommended here is 30 days copper and followed by prazipro. Clownfish can often get a disease called brooklynella which requires other medication. In your picture I cannot see much in the way of extra mucus (symptoms of brooklynella) - is the fish breathing fast? any other information you can give?

 

[reeftankdude]

If you can not catch the fish to treat with medications in another tank try this garlic product. It worked for me on a Chromis and Dottyback I dropped on the floor. You can get it at Petco with a 30 day return policy. Put a few drops in the water everyday and add it to the fish food according to instructions.

 

[Jay Hemdal Verified Community Expert]

Hi everyone, I just started my new saltwater tank and I am seeing some marks on one of my clownfish. I wanted to get some feedback on if this is a disease and what my course of action would be.

It's been a couple of weeks since I added the 2 clownfish to the tank. I also added one Orchid Dottyback at the same time. There are no other fish in the tank, but there are some inverts as clean-up crew. I started to see some white marks on one of my clownfish. They look otherwise healthy and behave healthy.

They are captive bread. I did quarantine them for around 9 days before adding them to the tank. I treated them with Copper Power and ParaCleanse while they were in the quarantine tank.

When I see two clownfish and one has ripped fins and the other looks fine, I immediately suspect that clown of fighting. They are pretty sly and will not fight while you are sitting there watching them. The dottyback could also be the culprit, but again, only one clownfish is affected, and the dottyback would attack both more or less equally.

The mucus feces in the second video can be nothing, or a sign of internal protozoans.

Jay

 

[biswajitdey13]

The water is somewhat cloudy - is it a cycled tank? Do you have parameters? There is a rip or a couple rips in the tail. The cloudy water is somewhat worrisome.

Cloudy water might be because of some substrate disturbance that occurred when put my hands in the tank to re-fix the temperature sensor which had fallen off. It is getting better slowly. The tank is cycled - I added the fish after I obtained 0 ammonia and 0 nitrate with my test kit. I took a fresh measurement and here are the parameters as of now:

pH: 8.1
Ammonia: 0 ppm
Nitrite: 0.25 ppm
Nitrate: 15 ppm

The usual quarantine recommended here is 30 days copper and followed by prazipro.

Yes, I skipped my quarantine time. This was the first set of fish - so I rushed (I understand that it is a big no-no).

Clownfish can often get a disease called brooklynella which requires other medication. In your picture I cannot see much in the way of extra mucus (symptoms of brooklynella) - is the fish breathing fast? any other information you can give?

I watched the fish carefully. I don't see any extra mucous. I do not think it is breading fast as well. I added 5 Trochus snails and 5 Hermit Crab last weekend. I am not sure if that has any impact. I did drip acclimatization for them and did not quarantine them.

 

[biswajitdey13]

If you can not catch the fish to treat with medications in another tank try this garlic product. It worked for me on a Chromis and Dottyback I dropped on the floor. You can get it at Petco with a 30 day return policy. Put a few drops in the water everyday and add it to the fish food according to instructions.

Thanks for the suggestion. Let me try that.

 

[biswajitdey13]

When I see two clownfish and one has ripped fins and the other looks fine, I immediately suspect that clown of fighting. They are pretty sly and will not fight while you are sitting there watching them.

Yes, the 2nd clownfish looks completely fine. If they are fighting, should I separate them? Or should I let them figure it out unless it looks bad?

The dottyback could also be the culprit, but again, only one clownfish is affected, and the dottyback would attack both more or less equally.

I agree.

The mucus feces in the second video can be nothing, or a sign of internal protozoans.

I saw them for the first time. I'll check if it is reoccurring.

And I see that the videos and photos are not of good quality at all. Not much details are coming out. I'll have to learn how to get better photos with more details. Some white patches on the body is not visible at all.

 

[Jay Hemdal Verified Community Expert]

Yes, the 2nd clownfish looks completely fine. If they are fighting, should I separate them? Or should I let them figure it out unless it looks bad?


I agree.


I saw them for the first time. I'll check if it is reoccurring.

And I see that the videos and photos are not of good quality at all. Not much details are coming out. I'll have to learn how to get better photos with more details. Some white patches on the body is not visible at all.

I would isolate the two clowns with a tank divider if you have one.

Jay

 

[biswajitdey13]

Proving an update in this:
I was able to put the injured clownfish in a in tank breeder box and kept him there for around 2 weeks till the systems were gone. I took him out of the breeder box and they were together for a few weeks now. They seem to be doing fine. Thanks everyone for all the inputs.

 

[reeftankdude]

Proving an update in this:
I was able to put the injured clownfish in a in tank breeder box and kept him there for around 2 weeks till the systems were gone. I took him out of the breeder box and they were together for a few weeks now. They seem to be doing fine. Thanks everyone for all the inputs.

Great, what medications did you use?

 

[biswajitdey13]

Great, what medications did you use?

No medicines as such, but I did put garlic extract in the tank water a fee times. I wanted to try this first before trying other solutions to medicate.