Clownfish Disease ID

[jma97]

Update:

A couple days back (mid QT tank Rally pro treatment), I decided to give the two fish the safety stop dips (formalin and methylene blue). They were both not showing any additional signs of brook, but they were eating well and I thought it best to get ahead of any potential issues. After the last day of rally pro in QT, I did a 100% WC and did a rally pro dip for 90 min. They are back in copper and doing well, hopefully next (and final) update will be when they go into the DT.

 

[jma97]

More unexpected update here. Over the last 1-2 days, the larger clown has developed what I think is some sort of bacterial disease. Tail fin is tattered up a good but, and soft dorsal fin has a little mark in it as well. I did a dip in rally pro yesterday for 90 min, but condition has remained about the same overnight.

Should I take the fish out of copper and dose the QT in rally pro again for a few days, or get some sort of antibacterial (e.g., Kanaplex, Fin and Body Cure, etc.) and treat them with that? They are both eating well and showing no signs of brook.

 

[Jay Hemdal Verified Community Expert]

More unexpected update here. Over the last 1-2 days, the larger clown has developed what I think is some sort of bacterial disease. Tail fin is tattered up a good but, and soft dorsal fin has a little mark in it as well. I did a dip in rally pro yesterday for 90 min, but condition has remained about the same overnight.

Should I take the fish out of copper and dose the QT in rally pro again for a few days, or get some sort of antibacterial (e.g., Kanaplex, Fin and Body Cure, etc.) and treat them with that? They are both eating well and showing no signs of brook.

Bacterial fin diseases rarely just show up as a primary disease. They are virtually always secondary to some injury. with clowns, that injury is almost always from squabbling with the other one. You may never actually see this happen - when you are in the room, they stop fighting and watch you.

 

[jma97]

Jay — thank you again for your help sir! So should theoretically heal on its own? Just want to be sure. I’ll keep doing intermittent dips in rally pro while doing my water changes to manage the bacterial / secondary infections

 

[Jay Hemdal Verified Community Expert]

Jay — thank you again for your help sir! So should theoretically heal on its own? Just want to be sure. I’ll keep doing intermittent dips in rally pro while doing my water changes to manage the bacterial / secondary infections

Well, that is the usual case. However, if there is ongoing tankmate aggression, the issue will get worse. Also, there is always a chance that a bacterial infection could set in without any additional damage.

 

[jma97]

Got it. Will monitor the condition for now and see if worsens. Hasn't got worse since I noticed the issue yesterday.

Kind of odd that the larger of the two is the one getting bullied a bit then, no?

 

[Jay Hemdal Verified Community Expert]

Got it. Will monitor the condition for now and see if worsens. Hasn't got worse since I noticed the issue yesterday.

Kind of odd that the larger of the two is the one getting bullied a bit then, no?

Not usual, but not impossible.

They could have settled things out already, but you could try putting your phone set up to video them then leave the room. Then review the video. You likely won’t see any full on attacks, but watch for any negative interactions.

This could be a primary disease issue, but the big question then is why just one fish?

 

[jma97]

Agreed! Looks like it's been improving slightly so maybe just had a bit of a hashing out between the two of them a couple days back. Regardless, still continuing to do dips in rally pro every 3 days with the 100% water changes.

 

[jma97]

Update:

Big thank you to @Jay Hemdal and everyone else here. Both fish have been successfully QT'd and are in their display tank. A bit of a nagging issue with the bacterial infections, but it is improving slowly but surely.

Thanks again