Disease identification for Clownfish

[SWnewbie]

Hi All,

I wanted to get some extra eyes on my clownfish that has some white spots or marks on her left side to ID what is going on with it. I'm having a hard time assessing if it is bacterial, fungal, brook, ich, etc. The rest of her body seems fine, just concentrated on her front/mid left side. This started about a month ago with one or two spots and I thought it was because she might be nicking herself on a rock or from sand - she will swat the tiger conch in the sand when it wanders into her side of the tank. Her behavior and appetite have all been her normal self, voracious appetite and swims around so fast it's very hard to get a clear picture of her unless she's lounging in the GSP. Attached are some images that show her left side and the white marks or spots. They are steadily increasing, more so over the past week.

Tankmates are one other Clownfish and one Royal Gramma, one tiger conch and a few Nassarius snails. The other clownfish and Royal Gramma have been fine, normal behavior and no spots, this whole time. This has only been observed on this one fish.

Medication I have in their med kit includes Prazipro, Seachem Focus, Seachem KanaPlex, Seachem MetroPlex and PolypLab Medic. I do not yet have Ruby Reef Rally Pro but Amazon shows I can get it fast.

Thanks in advance!

 

[vetteguy53081]

Hi All,

I wanted to get some extra eyes on my clownfish that has some white spots or marks on her left side to ID what is going on with it. I'm having a hard time assessing if it is bacterial, fungal, brook, ich, etc. The rest of her body seems fine, just concentrated on her front/mid left side. This started about a month ago with one or two spots and I thought it was because she might be nicking herself on a rock or from sand - she will swat the tiger conch in the sand when it wanders into her side of the tank. Her behavior and appetite have all been her normal self, voracious appetite and swims around so fast it's very hard to get a clear picture of her unless she's lounging in the GSP. Attached are some images that show her left side and the white marks or spots. They are steadily increasing, more so over the past week.

Tankmates are one other Clownfish and one Royal Gramma, one tiger conch and a few Nassarius snails. The other clownfish and Royal Gramma have been fine, normal behavior and no spots, this whole time. This has only been observed on this one fish.

Medication I have in their med kit includes Prazipro, Seachem Focus, Seachem KanaPlex, Seachem MetroPlex and PolypLab Medic. I do not yet have Ruby Reef Rally Pro but Amazon shows I can get it fast.

Thanks in advance!

There is excess mucus and secondary lesions here from Brooklynella.
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.
Typical treatment is a formalin solution is mixed with in a separate container with either fresh or saltwater. Start with a quick dip in the formalin at a higher concentration then performing treatment in a prolonged bath of formalin base at a lower concentration in a quarantine tank. The longer the fish are exposed to the formalin treatment the more effective it will be at eliminating this issue.
If a formalin solution is 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

 

[Jay Hemdal]

Hi All,

I wanted to get some extra eyes on my clownfish that has some white spots or marks on her left side to ID what is going on with it. I'm having a hard time assessing if it is bacterial, fungal, brook, ich, etc. The rest of her body seems fine, just concentrated on her front/mid left side. This started about a month ago with one or two spots and I thought it was because she might be nicking herself on a rock or from sand - she will swat the tiger conch in the sand when it wanders into her side of the tank. Her behavior and appetite have all been her normal self, voracious appetite and swims around so fast it's very hard to get a clear picture of her unless she's lounging in the GSP. Attached are some images that show her left side and the white marks or spots. They are steadily increasing, more so over the past week.

Tankmates are one other Clownfish and one Royal Gramma, one tiger conch and a few Nassarius snails. The other clownfish and Royal Gramma have been fine, normal behavior and no spots, this whole time. This has only been observed on this one fish.

Medication I have in their med kit includes Prazipro, Seachem Focus, Seachem KanaPlex, Seachem MetroPlex and PolypLab Medic. I do not yet have Ruby Reef Rally Pro but Amazon shows I can get it fast.

Thanks in advance!

Can you post a picture of the other side of the fish or confirm that the right side has NO similar spots? That’s important because protozoans like brooklynella distribute themselves more or less randomly on the fish, so you would not see lesions on just one side. Also, the length of time this fish has had these spots begins to rule out protozoan diseases.
Jay

 

[SWnewbie]

Can you post a picture of the other side of the fish or confirm that the right side has NO similar spots? That’s important because protozoans like brooklynella distribute themselves more or less randomly on the fish, so you would not see lesions on just one side. Also, the length of time this fish has had these spots begins to rule out protozoan diseases.
Jay

Thank you, Jay. Not a problem I will get the white lights turned up and get a few of her right side and post them as soon as I can.

 

[SWnewbie]

There is excess mucus and secondary lesions here from Brooklynella.
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.
Typical treatment is a formalin solution is mixed with in a separate container with either fresh or saltwater. Start with a quick dip in the formalin at a higher concentration then performing treatment in a prolonged bath of formalin base at a lower concentration in a quarantine tank. The longer the fish are exposed to the formalin treatment the more effective it will be at eliminating this issue.
If a formalin solution is 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

Thank you Vetteguy53081. I went ahead and ordered Ruby Rally Pro from Amazon, it should arrive tomorrow. In the meantime I will get the QT out of storage and start setting it up.

If you know of a good no-nonsense guide (idiot-proof lol) for setting up and maintaining a QT would you mind sharing it please? I can check Humblefish too. This would be the first time I have to use a QT for our fish and want to make sure I do it right and don't further compound the situation. My QT knowledge is basic conceptual and not actual applied experience. Thank you!

 

[Jay Hemdal]

Thank you Vetteguy53081. I went ahead and ordered Ruby Rally Pro from Amazon, it should arrive tomorrow. In the meantime I will get the QT out of storage and start setting it up.

If you know of a good no-nonsense guide (idiot-proof lol) for setting up and maintaining a QT would you mind sharing it please? I can check Humblefish too. This would be the first time I have to use a QT for our fish and want to make sure I do it right and don't further compound the situation. My QT knowledge is basic conceptual and not actual applied experience. Thank you!

Our current quarantine protocol is here:

Current Quarantine Protocol

2023 Quarantine Procedures Jay Hemdal David Scarborough Protozoans (Cryptocaryon/ich, Amyloodinium/velvet) and Metazoan trematodes/flukes are by far the most common parasites found on newly acquired fish. A carefully managed quarantine process can effectively eliminate these parasites before...

www.reef2reef.com

Jay

 

[SWnewbie]

Can you post a picture of the other side of the fish or confirm that the right side has NO similar spots? That’s important because protozoans like brooklynella distribute themselves more or less randomly on the fish, so you would not see lesions on just one side. Also, the length of time this fish has had these spots begins to rule out protozoan diseases.
Jay

Hi Jay,
Attached are some pictures I was able to get of her right side. Looking at them now I see two white dots.

 

[Jay Hemdal]

Hi Jay,
Attached are some pictures I was able to get of her right side. Looking at them now I see two white dots.

Yeah - there is some discoloration there as well. I still don’t see obvious signs of Brooklynella, but you should prepare for it, just in case.
Jay