Help with sick Clownfish disease ID

Aussie_Saltwater

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Hi Team,

My clownfish is not doing well at the moment. I have had him for 12 months. He is lying on his side and breathing rapidly for the past 12 hours. Gills are red

All other fish in my tank appear to be fine so far.
20251127_221733.jpg


20251127_221729.jpg


20251127_221722.jpg

20251127_221733.jpg


water parameters were all good accept Nitrates went up to 30 due to some dead spots.

Can I please have some help with disease identification ?


Additionally I added another clownfish and 3 green chromis into my tank 5 days ago. I quarantined them for 28 days with copper and a formalin bath. New clownfish is smaller than this guy.

Thanks for any help especially with disease identification.
 

vetteguy53081

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Hi Team,

My clownfish is not doing well at the moment. I have had him for 12 months. He is lying on his side and breathing rapidly for the past 12 hours. Gills are red

All other fish in my tank appear to be fine so far.
20251127_221733.jpg


20251127_221729.jpg


20251127_221722.jpg

20251127_221733.jpg


water parameters were all good accept Nitrates went up to 30 due to some dead spots.

Can I please have some help with disease identification ?


Additionally I added another clownfish and 3 green chromis into my tank 5 days ago. I quarantined them for 28 days with copper and a formalin bath. New clownfish is smaller than this guy.

Thanks for any help especially with disease identification.
This fish is moribund in fact actively dying.
It may be from aggression, possibly brook but need more information such as loss of color, elevated breathing, tail damage, etc
 

vetteguy53081

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Jay Hemdal

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Fish humanly euthanasied. Now just got to keep a close eye on my other fish.

Yes, all I can tell you is to watch the other fish very closely.

The odd thing here is that it was your old clown that showed symptoms, not the new one. If the new one had brought a disease into the tank, it would have been affected first.
 
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Aussie_Saltwater

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Yes, all I can tell you is to watch the other fish very closely.

The odd thing here is that it was your old clown that showed symptoms, not the new one. If the new one had brought a disease into the tank, it would have been affected first.

Had a close look at the fish after it passed and absolutely no visible signs of anything. Can not see any white dots that would indicate ich or velvet or mucus to indicate brooke. No fin rot or tissue damage that i can see. Is an internal infection possible ?
 

Jay Hemdal

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Had a close look at the fish after it passed and absolutely no visible signs of anything. Can not see any white dots that would indicate ich or velvet or mucus to indicate brooke. No fin rot or tissue damage that i can see. Is an internal infection possible ?

Velvet doesn't cause any spots - just rapid breathing, not eating and hanging in water flow.

Internal infections are possible, but again, they should affect the new fish first, not one that's been in your tank for a year.
 
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Aussie_Saltwater

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Yes, all I can tell you is to watch the other fish very closely.

The odd thing here is that it was your old clown that showed symptoms, not the new one. If the new one had brought a disease into the tank, it would have been affected first.

Just had woke up and turned the lights on in my tank. All fish look healthy and rushed over to get some food. If no other fish develop symptoms over the next 14 days would that make velvet and brooke unlikely ?

Also Jay why I got you, does the use of Formalin make praziquantel redundant with both quarantine and treatment ?

Thanks for all the information and help you provide. Big fan of your work.
 

Jay Hemdal

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Just had woke up and turned the lights on in my tank. All fish look healthy and rushed over to get some food. If no other fish develop symptoms over the next 14 days would that make velvet and brooke unlikely ?

Also Jay why I got you, does the use of Formalin make praziquantel redundant with both quarantine and treatment ?

Thanks for all the information and help you provide. Big fan of your work.

I generally give fish 40 to 45 days before considering that any relapse won’t happen. 14 days isn’t long enough to ensure that ich or flukes won’t rebound.

Formalin is best used as a dip and then moving the fish to a new tank. It works against protozoans and multicellular parasites like flukes. I no longer use it due to its health issues.

Prazi only works against flukes and tapeworms.
 

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