Marking on Clownfish

GreatHammerhead · Mar 30, 2024

The other day I noticed what seemed to be white line on my clownfish and I have been observing it. Over the past couple days it has doubled in size… it is isolated in only that spot, my initial thought was a wound? But I’m not sure. Anyone seen this?

fishguy242 · Mar 30, 2024

#fishmedic

vetteguy53081 · Mar 30, 2024

GreatHammerhead said:
The other day I noticed what seemed to be white line on my clownfish and I have been observing it. Over the past couple days it has doubled in size… it is isolated in only that spot, my initial thought was a wound? But I’m not sure. Anyone seen this?

This looks like a classic case iof brooklynella based on the amount of slime on its body which is noticeable on the fish. This mucus generally starts at the facial area as well as gills and spreads across the body producing lesions as it progresses often confused with ich and can turn into secondary bacteria. Other symptoms will be lethargic behavior, refusing to eat and heavy breathing from the mucus.
Start with a prolonged 60 minute bath of ruby rally pro then at a lower concentration in a quarantine tank. The longer the fish are exposed to the treatment, the more effective it will be at eliminating this issue.
Since a formalin solution is often not available for immediate use, temporary relief can be achieved by giving the fish a FW bath or dip in water same temperature as display tank. Even though this treatment will not cure the disease, it can help to remove some of the parasites, as well as reduce the amount of mucus in the gills to assist with respiration problems.
Treatment is best done in a QT tank using either quick cure (more effective but now harder to find) or Ruby Rally Pro. Ruby takes a little longer and initial treatment generally takes 2-3 days to really start going to work.
With the advanced stage of this- I recommend immediate quarantine of all inhabitants and leaving display without fish for 4-6 weeks.
A quarantine system if you dont have one can be as easy as a second hand tank from a thrift store or as simple as a starter tank kit from Walmart which has most of the essentials