What’s this pink stuff on my fish

[leo12345]

Just saw this on my fish today

 

[Jay Hemdal Verified Community Expert]

Hi,
is it just on one side of the one fish?
is the fish showing any other symptoms?
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Jay

 

[vetteguy53081]

Just saw this on my fish today

Looks like heavy mucus but continue with Jay on this

 

[leo12345]

Hi,
is it just on one side of the one fish?
is the fish showing any other symptoms?
Here is a link to other background information that is helpful for us to know;

Some Helpful Hints When Posting or Responding to Threads in the Fish Disease Treatment and Diagnosis Section

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Jay

Yes its just on one side and everything else is normal about it its just has that pink stuff on it, also all my water parameters are normal and my salinity is at 1.025

 

[Jay Hemdal Verified Community Expert]

Yes its just on one side and everything else is normal about it its just has that pink stuff on it, also all my water parameters are normal and my salinity is at 1.025

I don't quite see what what you are calling "pink". There is the lesion that is either mucus, or damaged skin. I think the "pink" color is the normal orange color showing through the white mucus.

Since it is only on one side, you can rule out protozoan diseases such as Brooklynella....they would be more randomly spread across the fish's body.

I see a notch in this fish's dorsal fin, and the pelvic fins look damaged. That would lead me to believe that it is getting picked on, probably by the other clownfish. Clownfish are really sly - they often won't fight while you are in the room. I would try setting your phone up to video them and then leave the room. When you watch the video, you may not see outright attacks, but watch for rushes, even if the one clown doesn't make contact. People don't realize but it really only takes one or two actual bites each day for this sort of damage to build up like this. Even with the video trick, you may not catch them in the act.

Jay

 

[leo12345]

I don't quite see what what you are calling "pink". There is the lesion that is either mucus, or damaged skin. I think the "pink" color is the normal orange color showing through the white mucus.

Since it is only on one side, you can rule out protozoan diseases such as Brooklynella....they would be more randomly spread across the fish's body.

I see a notch in this fish's dorsal fin, and the pelvic fins look damaged. That would lead me to believe that it is getting picked on, probably by the other clownfish. Clownfish are really sly - they often won't fight while you are in the room. I would try setting your phone up to video them and then leave the room. When you watch the video, you may not see outright attacks, but watch for rushes, even if the one clown doesn't make contact. People don't realize but it really only takes one or two actual bites each day for this sort of damage to build up like this. Even with the video trick, you may not catch them in the act.

Jay

If it’s getting picked on what can i do?

 

[Jay Hemdal Verified Community Expert]

If it’s getting picked on what can i do?

Isolation is really the only resolution to that issue.

Jay

 

[leo12345]

Isolation is really the only resolution to that issue.

Jay

Now the fish is covered in the “pink stuff” and white little dots on both sides, do you know what this could be?

 

[Jay Hemdal Verified Community Expert]

Now the fish is covered in the “pink stuff” and white little dots on both sides, do you know what this could be?

Is the other fish 100% symptom free? If so, that would tend to push the diagnosis away from a protozoan disease (since this started a week ago). If both fish have spots then I would isolate the fish from each other in a treatment tank and treat with an anti protozoan drug. I don’t see classic Brooklynella, but it doesn’t look like ich either. The underlying damage may be clouding the symptoms.
It is a toss up between using copper or formalin, but the latter is difficult to obtain.
Jay

 

[leo12345]

Is the other fish 100% symptom free? If so, that would tend to push the diagnosis away from a protozoan disease (since this started a week ago). If both fish have spots then I would isolate the fish from each other in a treatment tank and treat with an anti protozoan drug. I don’t see classic Brooklynella, but it doesn’t look like ich either. The underlying damage may be clouding the symptoms.
It is a toss up between using copper or formalin, but the latter is difficult to obtain.
Jay

The other fish is completely fine and there both acting normal, the only thing thats been a little different lately is that they have been separating a lot and they usually always swim together.

 

[Jay Hemdal Verified Community Expert]

The other fish is completely fine and there both acting normal, the only thing thats been a little different lately is that they have been separating a lot and they usually always swim together.

Well, it comes down to a guess/judgement call on your part I think. Clownfish often stop getting along together, but this doesn’t look like aggression to me though….but keep a close eye on them for fighting.
Jay