Sick clown? Eye problems

[G_Lows]

one of my clowns has what looks to be goo over his eye. Behavior seems to be normal, at least for my goofy clowns. Any idea what it could be? Tank is 2 months old and clowns have been in for about 1 month. Thanks in advance.

 

[Big G]

Two things: have the clowns been freshwater dipped to check for flukes? Is it only the one or both eyes?

 

[00Barracuda00]

Mine had something very similar this morning. In the time it took me to eat breakfast, he was exhibiting more obvious signs of brook. By the time I had the QuIck Cure bath ready for him, he looked really rough.

If that *is* brook, I'd advise you to act fast. That stuff moves quick.

 

[G_Lows]

Only 1 eye and on 1 clown. Has not been freshwater dipped. I’ve heard of brooklynela or whatever but I’m not sure exactly what that is.

 

[00Barracuda00]

https://www.reef2reef.com/threads/brooklynella.247938/

That should get you started.

Hopefully it's just flukes that can be knocked off with a FW dip. But the bonus is, if it does end up being brook a FW dip will help alleviate symptoms for a bit while you gather meds.

 

[G_Lows]

Okay thank you. So I just dip it in straight rodi water that’s up to temp for 5 mins then put him back in the tank?

 

[Big G]

Okay thank you. So I just dip it in straight rodi water that’s up to temp for 5 mins then put him back in the tank?

And then look into the bottom of the container for small sesame seed sized white things. Best to use a dark container makes it easy to spot the fluke bodies.

 

[G_Lows]

Okay working on that now. Will get back shortly. Thank you both very much

 

[00Barracuda00]

Yup. Personally, I use a clear container and then hold it over a dark background to check for whatever fell off.

Make sure you monitor for breathing while you do it.

https://www.reef2reef.com/threads/freshwater-dip.248898/

 

[Frtdrmrose7]

A FW dip is harder on you the first time than the fish.

 

[00Barracuda00]

A FW dip is harder on you the first time than the fish.

That's some dead on truth right there. lol

 

[Big G]

A FW dip is harder on you the first time than the fish.

Me or something like me during my first freshwater dip of my fish LOL. Nerve wracking. . .

 

[G_Lows]

If I do find flukes do I need to treat the fish?

 

[G_Lows]

Fish is caught, just waiting on water to warm up.

 

[G_Lows]

No flukes that I could see. What now?

 

[00Barracuda00]

I would proceed as if it were brook.

Try to set up a QT and let your DT run fallow for a bit. It's annoying, I know, but that's the only way to fully eradicate the issue.

There is, however, plenty of anecdotal evidence on the forums about administering medication to some fish and then returning them directly to the DT without seeing another brook outbreak for a long time. While I imagine this is quite possible, especially if your tank is rather new, you would run the risk of infecting any new fish you place in the tank. Which would put you in this position all over again.

The actual treatment part is rather easy. You just have to find the right meds, also listed here in a great post by HumbleFish.


Take everything I say with a grain of salt though. I'm new to the hobby myself, I just LITERALLY did this today after having clowns in my tank for a week. I spent my entire day raiding 3 different LFS to find the right meds, so it's possible I'm off base. But the picture you posted looks very similar to what my clown looked like this morning, and in the span of a few hours he was WAY worse. I'm not out of the woods yet myself, but I followed the steps listed in the posts on this forum and just have to wait for things to play out.

 

[G_Lows]

Okay thank you. Can I just quarantine the one clown? I’d have to set up a large QT to house all of my fish.

 

[ccombs]

I would QT the one clown for now and watch your others. If everyone starts showing symptoms, begin to research running a tank fallow and times that it takes for diseases to die off with no host.

Worst case (where I am right now) you could have to break down the tank, but that is extremely rare and unlikely.

 

[00Barracuda00]

I don't really know. I defer to the expertise of the more experienced here on this forum, but I didn't want to leave you hanging.

Me personally? I'd advise the QT method, to completely eradicate the issue. Brook moves quickly once symptoms are first showing and it can affect all fish, not just clowns. So it's entirely possible that all of your fish are infected, even if they aren't showing symptoms.

I'd say with a small number of fish, say 2 or 3, it might be possible to have some of the anecdotal success found here in the forums with just tossing them back in the DT. But it's a gamble, to be sure. On the flip side, you could do everything right and still lose the fish... or worse yet, all your fish during the QT process.

 

[Tastee]

My clown pair had something similar a few weeks ago and I was successful moving them to my QT and treating for a little under 2 weeks with Metroplex and Kanaplex.

Here is the thread I started for them in case this helps: https://www.reef2reef.com/threads/clowns-with-bad-eyes.561593/#post-5812617

Good luck!