Clownfish losing colour/ becoming pale

[frssn]

Hi all,

first post here… hoping to get some help with my 3 year old clown fish.

The pair have been together for a long time and have been getting along. There’s no sign of fighting. The two finally began hosting the BTA which resulted in me never seeing them as they hid under the anemone.

The male clownfish (smaller one) has started to go pale in the face and fin areas. After about 3-4 months of hosting.

In terms of water quality nitrates are consistently testing around 25-30 and phosphates are 0. The water is stable as biweekly water changes are conducted.

The tank consists of a mandarin, 2 clowns, a cleaner wrasse, watchman goby + shrimp, CUC, and an anemone.


Please see videos, any input is appreciated

 

[vetteguy53081]

Hi all,

first post here… hoping to get some help with my 3 year old clown fish.

The pair have been together for a long time and have been getting along. There’s no sign of fighting. The two finally began hosting the BTA which resulted in me never seeing them as they hid under the anemone.

The male clownfish (smaller one) has started to go pale in the face and fin areas. After about 3-4 months of hosting.

In terms of water quality nitrates are consistently testing around 25-30 and phosphates are 0. The water is stable as biweekly water changes are conducted.

The tank consists of a mandarin, 2 clowns, a cleaner wrasse, watchman goby + shrimp, CUC, and an anemone.


Please see videos, any input is appreciated

This color loss runs from face and all along upper body and first video is Very short and appears to be bacterial but also not ruling out brooklynella based on swim behavior, color loss and unable to determine breathing rate.
Is fish breathing and eating normal? Precautionary, you can Safely add ruby Rally pro to water

 

[frssn]

Hi vetteguy53081,

tysm for the response. Breathing is normal and eating behavior would be less than normal as he isn't as aggressive for food from when he was "normal".

He will consume mysis, pellets but not as much as his counterpart.

 

[Jay Hemdal Verified Community Expert]

Hi vetteguy53081,

tysm for the response. Breathing is normal and eating behavior would be less than normal as he isn't as aggressive for food from when he was "normal".

He will consume mysis, pellets but not as much as his counterpart.

Welcome to Reef2Reef!

I see the same thing - possibly bacterial issue or Brooklynella. Trouble is, those are both odd to see in a long term captive clown, and then, only one of the pair seems to be showing the issue (and Brooklynella is pretty contagious).

I'd agree that Rally Pro, while it may not fix the issue, is the safest thing to try....

 

[frssn]

Hey! Thanks for the welcome.

Yea I don’t believe it is brookylnella as this paling has been going on longer and if it was in the system it would’ve taken out the inhabitants.


Could it be stress related ? Nothing has really changed aside from them hosting the anemone. The fish in question is more timid and doesn’t venture far from the BTA

 

[frssn]

Hi all,

What would be the best option in treating internal parasite. Upon inspection today I finally saw stringy white poo and he’s stomach more sunken.

I don’t have a qt system as the old tank was sold off. How would I go about treating the tank with torches and anemones

 

[Jay Hemdal Verified Community Expert]

Hi all,

What would be the best option in treating internal parasite. Upon inspection today I finally saw stringy white poo and he’s stomach more sunken.

I don’t have a qt system as the old tank was sold off. How would I go about treating the tank with torches and anemones

Stringy feces are not always caused by internal parasites, and of the three types that cause this, two do not have any treatment. If you wanted to treat for internal flagellates, you can dose metronidazole in the food at 1% by weight of the food mix. People use equal parts metro and Focus and then add it to frozen food to make 100 parts. Here is an article on dosing medicated foods:

https://www.reef2reef.com/threads/proper-dosing-of-medicated-foods.765689/

 

[frssn]

Sorry to revive this ... given im in Canada, i havent found any luck with internal parasite medications.

Would there be any alternatives as his condition has not improved and is becoming more "slow"

 

[Jay Hemdal Verified Community Expert]

Sorry to revive this ... given im in Canada, i havent found any luck with internal parasite medications.

Would there be any alternatives as his condition has not improved and is becoming more "slow"

Sorry, not many good options in Canada I’m afraid.
Even with full access to medications, this issue is not always easy to resolve - I suspect some cases are caused by viral infections or coccidea, neither of which can be treated.