Help ID issue with Clownfish

[nholle3]

Hi all first post on here and sad it has to be on this thread lol!

I have set up a new 90 gal tank did dry sand dry rock started from scratch (learned lessons for my time 5 years ago). I cycled my tank using the Dr Tim’s method for roughly 8weeks. All parameters are good 79F ammonia 0 nitrates 0.5 (low bio load). Planning to be full reef tank no corals yet.
After 8 weeks I placed 2 clowns from the LFS as seen in the photos below into the DT. No issues for 3 ish weeks now this…(brown ish raised spots)

I’m not sure if this is aggression from the smaller clown or what. Maybe I missed signs at the LFS due to the white skin. Only the larger “female” is affected. No real erratic behavior I have seen the larger clown picking on the smaller and the smaller has a few bit fins but nothing too concerning there.

Any help is very much appreciated!!!

My thoughts:
Brook
Flukes
Ich

 

[nholle3]

 

[nholle3]

Update: I am witnessing it flashing and rubbing on rock work.

 

[Jay Hemdal]

Hi all first post on here and sad it has to be on this thread lol!

I have set up a new 90 gal tank did dry sand dry rock started from scratch (learned lessons for my time 5 years ago). I cycled my tank using the Dr Tim’s method for roughly 8weeks. All parameters are good 79F ammonia 0 nitrates 0.5 (low bio load). Planning to be full reef tank no corals yet.
After 8 weeks I placed 2 clowns from the LFS as seen in the photos below into the DT. No issues for 3 ish weeks now this…(brown ish raised spots)

I’m not sure if this is aggression from the smaller clown or what. Maybe I missed signs at the LFS due to the white skin. Only the larger “female” is affected. No real erratic behavior I have seen the larger clown picking on the smaller and the smaller has a few bit fins but nothing too concerning there.

Any help is very much appreciated!!!

My thoughts:
Brook
Flukes
Ich

While the fish *might* have flukes, clowns don't get those very often. What I'm seeing is an unknown disease that I've been calling "clownfish bruising syndrome":

Clownfish bruising/lesion?

All, Over the past two years or so, I've come across dozens of cases on the fish disease forum here of an issue with clownfish that we have not been able to identify. I've never seen it on any clownfish I've had myself, but the issue seems most common on designer clowns, which I don't work...

www.reef2reef.com

 

[nholle3]

Hi all first post on here and sad it has to be on this thread lol!

I have set up a new 90 gal tank did dry sand dry rock started from scratch (learned lessons for my time 5 years ago). I cycled my tank using the Dr Tim’s method for roughly 8weeks. All parameters are good 79F ammonia 0 nitrates 0.5 (low bio load). Planning to be full reef tank no corals yet.
After 8 weeks I placed 2 clowns from the LFS as seen in the photos below into the DT. No issues for 3 ish weeks now this…(brown ish raised spots)

I’m not sure if this is aggression from the smaller clown or what. Maybe I missed signs at the LFS due to the white skin. Only the larger “female” is affected. No real erratic behavior I have seen the larger clown picking on the smaller and the smaller has a few bit fins but nothing too concerning there.

Any help is very much appreciated!!!

My thoughts:
Brook
Flukes
Ich

While the fish *might* have flukes, clowns don't get those very often. What I'm seeing is an unknown disease that I've been calling "clownfish bruising syndrome":

Clownfish bruising/lesion?

All, Over the past two years or so, I've come across dozens of cases on the fish disease forum here of an issue with clownfish that we have not been able to identify. I've never seen it on any clownfish I've had myself, but the issue seems most common on designer clowns, which I don't work...

www.reef2reef.com

Interesting read! Thank you for the help. Have they also had instances of the fish flashing and scratching? That symptom started right after my OP. I am seeing raised bumps as you mentioned in your thread. I have not seen it move to any of the fins in the past few days which is why I’ve been lost for what’s going on.

 

[Jay Hemdal]

Interesting read! Thank you for the help. Have they also had instances of the fish flashing and scratching? That symptom started right after my OP. I am seeing raised bumps as you mentioned in your thread. I have not seen it move to any of the fins in the past few days which is why I’ve been lost for what’s going on.

No - the bruising doesn’t seem to cause scratching, so there may be a concurrent fluke infection.

 

[nholle3]

No - the bruising doesn’t seem to cause scratching, so there may be a concurrent fluke infection.

Tried a 5 min freshwater dip did not see anything notable sluff off of the fish.

I'm still just very confused as to any disease showing up randomly 4 weeks after addition of the clowns. I added some PJS a few days later so the timeline is 2x Clowns 11/16, 3x PJs 11/18, inverts added (snails, hermits) 11/21 and the aquarium has remained the same ever since. This is why I was leaning towards flukes as I assumed ich, velvet, or Brook would only be a few days before the fish died. Am I incorrect in the time frame? I know typical QT is 14-30 days. Honestly first time I've had issues with fish sickness so I'm just trying to learn.

 

[MikeReefs]

Tried a 5 min freshwater dip did not see anything notable sluff off of the fish.

I'm still just very confused as to any disease showing up randomly 4 weeks after addition of the clowns. I added some PJS a few days later so the timeline is 2x Clowns 11/16, 3x PJs 11/18, inverts added (snails, hermits) 11/21 and the aquarium has remained the same ever since. This is why I was leaning towards flukes as I assumed ich, velvet, or Brook would only be a few days before the fish died. Am I incorrect in the time frame? I know typical QT is 14-30 days. Honestly first time I've had issues with fish sickness so I'm just trying to learn.

If it’s flukes get some PraziPro. Follow instructions. It is reef safe

 

[nholle3]

If it’s flukes get some PraziPro. Follow instructions. It is reef safe

I can do PraziPro with inverts in the tank?

 

[Jay Hemdal]

Tried a 5 min freshwater dip did not see anything notable sluff off of the fish.

I'm still just very confused as to any disease showing up randomly 4 weeks after addition of the clowns. I added some PJS a few days later so the timeline is 2x Clowns 11/16, 3x PJs 11/18, inverts added (snails, hermits) 11/21 and the aquarium has remained the same ever since. This is why I was leaning towards flukes as I assumed ich, velvet, or Brook would only be a few days before the fish died. Am I incorrect in the time frame? I know typical QT is 14-30 days. Honestly first time I've had issues with fish sickness so I'm just trying to learn.

With protozoan diseases like ich, Brook and velvet, the fish show symptoms for 3 to perhaps 14 days before they die. Ich is slowest to kill, velvet is the fastest.
Fish can have flukes for weeks to months before symptoms start to become severe.

 

[nholle3]

Update: ever since the fresh water dip the clown has been doing significantly better. All of the bruising shown on the initial pictures is completely gone. I will continue to update as time progresses and plan to QT and treat all of my fish after during the holidays followed by a 30-45 day fallow.

 

[Jay Hemdal]

Update: ever since the fresh water dip the clown has been doing significantly better. All of the bruising shown on the initial pictures is completely gone. I will continue to update as time progresses and plan to QT and treat all of my fish after during the holidays followed by a 30-45 day fallow.

Yes - please let us know how it goes. How soon after the dip did the bruising clear up?