Brook or Old Fish?

[HiImSean]

I noticed last week my female clown looking a bit lethargic, not swimming in her normal spots, a few scales that looked damaged. This weekend she looked much better. Today quite the opposite. She has a large pale area on here back half and slime. It looks similar to brook I’ve seen in pictures but I have no idea where it would have come from. I’ve had her about 13 years now, the last fish was added at lead 3 years ago and no corals have been added the last 3 or more months.

 

[vetteguy53081]

I noticed last week my female clown looking a bit lethargic, not swimming in her normal spots, a few scales that looked damaged. This weekend she looked much better. Today quite the opposite. She has a large pale area on here back half and slime. It looks similar to brook I’ve seen in pictures but I have no idea where it would have come from. I’ve had her about 13 years now, the last fish was added at lead 3 years ago and no corals have been added the last 3 or more months.

This looks to bacterial opposed to brook but will need pics under bright white light intensity, no blue to clearly see

 

[HiImSean]

 

[vetteguy53081]

Looking at body and fins, this may indeed be bacterial and from aggression and bites from another fish . The tail looks tathered but can and may be fin rot.
I would recommend treating this fish in a separate tank using seachem Neoplex with an air stone added for added oxygen

 

[Jay Hemdal Verified Community Expert]

While it does look like brooklynella, you never really see that in long term captive fish. Unless you’ve recently added new fish (especially any wild caught clowns) I would treat this as a bacterial infection.

Just be aware that 13 years, while not a record, is very old for a clownfish. You may well be seeing Mycobacteria / fish tuberculosis. This attacks older fish and is not treatable. It is the primary cause of “old age” deaths in fish.