Ocellaris Clownfish Gill damage... disease or damage?

[ReefKeeperNick]

Hi all,

I'm brand new to the forum so thanks in advance for any help and for reading my post!

I've been a freshwater fish keeper for about 10 years and have just delved into the world of reefing.

I am running an all in one Newa More 30 Reef Tank.

Stock is a bonded pair of clowns and a yellow tipped dwarf hermit crab.
3 Rhodactis emerald green mushrooms and 1 toadstool leather mushroom.

I have had very few issues so far, 0 nitrite, 0 ammonia, 5ppm nitrate with weekly 20% water changes and light sand syphoning.

I've just noticed that my male Clown "Scamp" has some white markings around his left Gill and I'm trying to determine if this is some form of inflammation from disease or just from some spawning behaviour...he displays some common shuddering and submissive behaviour but is occasionally given the odd shunt and nip by "Marmalade" my female. Nothing too aggressive but here and there.

I kept Convict Cichlids a few years ago and my mated male would occasionally have some nip marks from the female...could it just be bites?

Pictures are attached below (as best I could get!!) and any opinions would be appreciated!

On a side note I do realise that I'm right at the capacity for this tank stock wise and I'll be considering an upgrade once these clowns grow somewhat but as juveniles I'm confident in my abilities to keep them healthy with religious water change and careful feeding.

Look forward to your advise!

Nick

 

[Jay Hemdal]

Welcome to Reef2Reef!

That does not appear to be any of the three common fish diseases; ich, velvet or Brooklynella. The latter is common in clownfish. I would say it is clearly an injury from the other clown, except the location isn't quite right. It would take a bit of effort for the one clown to bite the other there. More commonly, you see damage to the mouth or tail fin. Still it could be that.

Clownfish are pretty sly - you may not see serious fighting, but it could still be happening. While you are watching the fish, they are busy watching you. Also one good bite every couple of days could cause this, and what are the chances of you being around to see it happen?

I would just keep an eye on it for now. If you want to investigate the fighting some more - try setting up your phone to video the tank, then leave the room. Come back later and view the video.

Jay

 

[ReefKeeperNick]

Welcome to Reef2Reef!

That does not appear to be any of the three common fish diseases; ich, velvet or Brooklynella. The latter is common in clownfish. I would say it is clearly an injury from the other clown, except the location isn't quite right. It would take a bit of effort for the one clown to bite the other there. More commonly, you see damage to the mouth or tail fin. Still it could be that.

Clownfish are pretty sly - you may not see serious fighting, but it could still be happening. While you are watching the fish, they are busy watching you. Also one good bite every couple of days could cause this, and what are the chances of you being around to see it happen?

I would just keep an eye on it for now. If you want to investigate the fighting some more - try setting up your phone to video the tank, then leave the room. Come back later and view the video.

Jay

Thanks for your reply Jay.

I had some experience with Ich several years ago so yes I think we can definitely rule that out!

I agree it's a strange place for a bite to appear as there is mainly only the odd bit of shunting and very little biting that I can see...good idea on the video though!

Nick