Dog Whiskey
Community Member
Newbie question. Probably being paranoid, but want to make sure.
I've been stalking the forums and trying to figure out what's going on with my fish and if I need to worry. I have a 55 gallon FOWLR. It's relatively new. I started setting it up in mid-December. I have 7 fish, mostly captive bred: two chromis (first fish, introduced after the tank cycled, now about 2.5"), two juvenile clownfish (observation tank for 3 weeks/treated with Prazi, added mid-January, now about 2"), a forktail blenny (@Biota_Marine mid-February observation only for 10 days, about 1.5"), a starry blenny (@Biota_Marine mid-February observation only 10 days, 2.25"), and a 1" mystery fish who showed up about a month ago and seems to be doing fine. There are also various inverts added over the last four months, three hermits added with the chromis (two survived), and various others (snails, hermit crabs, two emerald crabs) added about 2 weeks after each fish introduction with no observation. I also have macro-algae. Inverts and macro came from "clean" systems like @AlgaeBarn or Indo Pacific Farms.
Parameters are all normal for a FOWLR (Ph between 8.2-8.4 ppm, 0 ppm on ammonia and nitrite, nitrite between 10-20ppm). Salinity is at low-ish, at 1.023. I've been doing a 10% water change weekly and a 20% once a month. During each change I do detrius vaccuming, and during the 20% water change I also turn off the aeration and heater on the tank until all the work is done.
After the mid-February 20% water change I noticed a raised small white spot on my black clownfish which went away in a day or so. I did the next 20% water change on Saturday (3/26) and similar white spots have appeared on both clowns and one chromis. The spots are on the tail/dorsal fin and bodies of the fish. There are no spots in the gills. The spots last 1-2 days and then go away but unlike the first time they haven't yet fully disappeared. The spots only appear after the 20% water change.
Everyone is eating robustly (as I'm writing this they're glaring at me demanding dinner). No signs of flashing. Breathing is normal. Nothing is out of the ordinary except for the spots.
The mystery fish has been terrorizing the larger chromis who was previously the tank bully (I started with three chromis and now am down to two). I also observed the two chromis having a stand off today (circling each other, touching mouths, moderate chasing) and the clowns are trying to sort out who is going to be the female (it's going to be the black one because it's larger, but they haven't figured that out yet). No signs of any issues on the other three fish.
The chromis has 3 of these spots. One is on the tail and the other are on the upper body. The orange clown has one near the eye and one by the tail and the black clown as a couple on the dorsal fin and one on the anal fin. The spots don't remain in a single place and disappear after a day or two. Initially I only noticed spots on the clowns, but that may be because it's tougher to see on the chromis because of its coloring and scales. I've attached a photo of a dorsal fin spot on the black clown just simply because it's easiest to see and she (??) is kind of a model and will pose in front of the camera. The other clown's spots are hard to see but are similar -- slightly raised and small. I've also attached a photo of the spot on the chromis' tail. It's directly above the upper fork of the tail; it's near impossible to catch the chromis not moving to see the two body spots, but they're below the dorsal fin. Again, each are roughly the same size as those on the clown and slightly raised.
I'm assuming because of the timing and the location of the spots this all has something to do with a combination of water change stress and dominance negotiations, but I wanted to be sure. @Jay Hemdal do you have any ideas? Any recommendations of if they need treatment, if needed? Or do I just observe and make sure it isn't getting worse?
Since it's a FOWLR I can do a freshwater dip and hyposalinity in the DT fairly easily if it is ICH, but I'd rather not stress everyone out if I can avoid it.
Thanks in advance!
#FishDisease #HELP
I've been stalking the forums and trying to figure out what's going on with my fish and if I need to worry. I have a 55 gallon FOWLR. It's relatively new. I started setting it up in mid-December. I have 7 fish, mostly captive bred: two chromis (first fish, introduced after the tank cycled, now about 2.5"), two juvenile clownfish (observation tank for 3 weeks/treated with Prazi, added mid-January, now about 2"), a forktail blenny (@Biota_Marine mid-February observation only for 10 days, about 1.5"), a starry blenny (@Biota_Marine mid-February observation only 10 days, 2.25"), and a 1" mystery fish who showed up about a month ago and seems to be doing fine. There are also various inverts added over the last four months, three hermits added with the chromis (two survived), and various others (snails, hermit crabs, two emerald crabs) added about 2 weeks after each fish introduction with no observation. I also have macro-algae. Inverts and macro came from "clean" systems like @AlgaeBarn or Indo Pacific Farms.
Parameters are all normal for a FOWLR (Ph between 8.2-8.4 ppm, 0 ppm on ammonia and nitrite, nitrite between 10-20ppm). Salinity is at low-ish, at 1.023. I've been doing a 10% water change weekly and a 20% once a month. During each change I do detrius vaccuming, and during the 20% water change I also turn off the aeration and heater on the tank until all the work is done.
After the mid-February 20% water change I noticed a raised small white spot on my black clownfish which went away in a day or so. I did the next 20% water change on Saturday (3/26) and similar white spots have appeared on both clowns and one chromis. The spots are on the tail/dorsal fin and bodies of the fish. There are no spots in the gills. The spots last 1-2 days and then go away but unlike the first time they haven't yet fully disappeared. The spots only appear after the 20% water change.
Everyone is eating robustly (as I'm writing this they're glaring at me demanding dinner). No signs of flashing. Breathing is normal. Nothing is out of the ordinary except for the spots.
The mystery fish has been terrorizing the larger chromis who was previously the tank bully (I started with three chromis and now am down to two). I also observed the two chromis having a stand off today (circling each other, touching mouths, moderate chasing) and the clowns are trying to sort out who is going to be the female (it's going to be the black one because it's larger, but they haven't figured that out yet). No signs of any issues on the other three fish.
The chromis has 3 of these spots. One is on the tail and the other are on the upper body. The orange clown has one near the eye and one by the tail and the black clown as a couple on the dorsal fin and one on the anal fin. The spots don't remain in a single place and disappear after a day or two. Initially I only noticed spots on the clowns, but that may be because it's tougher to see on the chromis because of its coloring and scales. I've attached a photo of a dorsal fin spot on the black clown just simply because it's easiest to see and she (??) is kind of a model and will pose in front of the camera. The other clown's spots are hard to see but are similar -- slightly raised and small. I've also attached a photo of the spot on the chromis' tail. It's directly above the upper fork of the tail; it's near impossible to catch the chromis not moving to see the two body spots, but they're below the dorsal fin. Again, each are roughly the same size as those on the clown and slightly raised.
I'm assuming because of the timing and the location of the spots this all has something to do with a combination of water change stress and dominance negotiations, but I wanted to be sure. @Jay Hemdal do you have any ideas? Any recommendations of if they need treatment, if needed? Or do I just observe and make sure it isn't getting worse?
Since it's a FOWLR I can do a freshwater dip and hyposalinity in the DT fairly easily if it is ICH, but I'd rather not stress everyone out if I can avoid it.
Thanks in advance!
#FishDisease #HELP
