Concerned for clownfish, newish keeper. Please advise.

[skiertrash]

Hi friends,

New to R2R, I am also a newer fish keeper. I may be concerned for no reason but I like these little guys and would rather be cautious than ignorant.

My clown has had a few white spots pop up, they are very very small and seem to come and go. No lethargia, still swims around the tank just fine. No labored breathing, no abnormal behavior and I have not seen any scratching.


The other clown, orchid dottyback and the bicolor blenny all are looking very normal, nothing similar all are acting normal as well. I keep my tank at 76 degrees, jbj 20g cube. Carbon and bio filtering with a protein skimmer. No spikes in ammonia, nitrate or nitrite. Small bubbles in water from skimmer still breaking in.

I have inverts, but they all seem very happy.


Hoping to hear it’s nothing, but open to feedback. I do have seachem focus and metroplex on hand, as well as a 10g quarantine tank if needed and can purchase whatever is needed.

Thank you!

 

[blaxsun]

Were the clownfish originally quarantined?
#fishmedic

 

[skiertrash]

No, they were not. They were my first fish, I was a bit to excited. The other ones have been through quarantine.

 

[Jay Hemdal]

Welcome to Reef2Reef!

I think based on your description, and then the photos, your fish have an early case of marine ich, Cryptocaryon irritans.

The typical prognosis is that the spots will increase in number and spread to the other fish and then cause mortality if not treated.

The focus and metronidazole will not work as a treatment for this.

Your two best treatment options would be coppersafe or hyposalinity. Both of these treatments need to be done in the absence of invertebrates.

There is also “ich management” where you use a powerful UV sterilizer and other methods to try and control the ich in place - but that rarely works in smaller newly set up aquariums.

There is also TTM - the tank transfer method which you can use to break the ich life cycle. Trouble is, you need to then move the fish to another tank for 45 to 60 days until the ich dies out in the infected tank.

Jay

 

[skiertrash]

Thanks for the feedback Jay, my comment may be invisible waiting for mod approval so it may be a bit before this posts.

Would it be acceptable to move inverts out into a separate tank and treat from there? I also have a single colony of Zoas and a Kenya tree tank is 3.5 months old.

I have a small uv sterilizer I can run as well. My qt tank is already cycling as I had one last fish coming in the next few weeks but I can always go pick up another 10g.

 

[Jay Hemdal]

Thanks for the feedback Jay, my comment may be invisible waiting for mod approval so it may be a bit before this posts.

Would it be acceptable to move inverts out into a separate tank and treat from there? I also have a single colony of Zoas and a Kenya tree tank is 3.5 months old.

I have a small uv sterilizer I can run as well. My qt tank is already cycling as I had one last fish coming in the next few weeks but I can always go pick up another 10g.

Yes, moving the invertebrates out and treating the tank with hyposalinity is a good option - saves having to catch and move the fish.
Here is a post that discusses how to do that:

Hyposalinity

Hyposalinity Jay Hemdal 2021 This term refers to a long-term bath treatment for marine fishes in which the salt content of the water is lowered and held below the point that certain parasites can survive. The salt level reached, and the time of the treatment are the two variables...

www.reef2reef.com

Jay

 

[skiertrash]

Yes, moving the invertebrates out and treating the tank with hyposalinity is a good option - saves having to catch and move the fish.
Here is a post that discusses how to do that:

Hyposalinity

Hyposalinity Jay Hemdal 2021 This term refers to a long-term bath treatment for marine fishes in which the salt content of the water is lowered and held below the point that certain parasites can survive. The salt level reached, and the time of the treatment are the two variables...

www.reef2reef.com

Jay

Awesome, I need to get my qt tank up to temp then I’ll get inverts over and tomorrow I’ll do a 50% water change with fresh water then another 30% soon after to help bring it down to 1.009.

I feel dumb, but I would rather feel dumb than kill my fish.

 

[Jay Hemdal]

Awesome, I need to get my qt tank up to temp then I’ll get inverts over and tomorrow I’ll do a 50% water change with fresh water then another 30% soon after to help bring it down to 1.009.

I feel dumb, but I would rather feel dumb than kill my fish.

I would do a series of 20% changes to bring the salinity down more evenly and a bit slower. You could do it over two days.

Jay