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Zenonymous

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I have a 6.5" lightning maroon clownfish. She is about 6 years old. She was laying big clutches of healthy eggs every 9 days. A couple months ago, i noticed the eggs were starting to die off. I blamed the male eating them. A few weeks later, I noticed she was bottom sitting. She eats well so I wasnt thinking much of it until I noticed her oviposter and surrounding area had some sort of infection. I gave her kanoplex and focus (mixed with food) for 7 days, as recommended by someone but no changes and I'm sure she was eating majority bc she feeds from a syringe. Next step, I gave her 3 baths (one each day) with methylene blue for 20 minutes. She STILL has this and all of her eggs die almost immediately. It has now spread from her under belly, to her left side/fin. I would assume I can rule out brook and velvet because she shares the same water column with 10 others and everyone, including her partner, is perfectly fine.

I run a barebottom tank, clean the bottom weekly so it's kept fairly clean and Nothing has changed, no new fish or change in food etc. Parameters are within normal limits except the Nitrates, which stay high, consistenly around 60-80 but it's because I feed heavy due to breeding. I'm fairly positive it's not related to that. I do water changes every 2 weeks to help with that.

Can anyone PLEASE help me identify the issue and what the proper meditation/treatment would be. I tried to get video from the side and underneath but shes fast. Screenshot_20250602_190051_YouCut - Video Editor.jpg Screenshot_20250602_190002_YouCut - Video Editor.jpg
 

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Offgrid_Reefing

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Looks like some external parasite. I would say next step would be a FW dip for 5 minutes and see if any fall off. Make sure it’s dechlorinated tap water and not RO.

If they do you, try and get a pic of them for ID, if nothing comes of it, it could be internal.

If it is not an external parasite it looks to be the start of bacterial infection. By the looks of it, it reminds me of the signs of Furunculosis which is a gram-negative bacteria. Furunc is typically seen in salmonids, but the similarities lead me to believe that it is at a minimum a bacterial infection if it fails the external test. Hope this helps.
 

MnFish1

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I have a 6.5" lightning maroon clownfish. She is about 6 years old. She was laying big clutches of healthy eggs every 9 days. A couple months ago, i noticed the eggs were starting to die off. I blamed the male eating them. A few weeks later, I noticed she was bottom sitting. She eats well so I wasnt thinking much of it until I noticed her oviposter and surrounding area had some sort of infection. I gave her kanoplex and focus (mixed with food) for 7 days, as recommended by someone but no changes and I'm sure she was eating majority bc she feeds from a syringe. Next step, I gave her 3 baths (one each day) with methylene blue for 20 minutes. She STILL has this and all of her eggs die almost immediately. It has now spread from her under belly, to her left side/fin. I would assume I can rule out brook and velvet because she shares the same water column with 10 others and everyone, including her partner, is perfectly fine.

I run a barebottom tank, clean the bottom weekly so it's kept fairly clean and Nothing has changed, no new fish or change in food etc. Parameters are within normal limits except the Nitrates, which stay high, consistenly around 60-80 but it's because I feed heavy due to breeding. I'm fairly positive it's not related to that. I do water changes every 2 weeks to help with that.

Can anyone PLEASE help me identify the issue and what the proper meditation/treatment would be. I tried to get video from the side and underneath but shes fast. Screenshot_20250602_190051_YouCut - Video Editor.jpg Screenshot_20250602_190002_YouCut - Video Editor.jpg
I cannot see the orientation of what you're looking at - So I'm just going to make a quick comment - kanamycin is not a medication to use within food. Clowns can get lymphocystis that looks like this but that would be odd IMHO. The lesions almost look like a larger external parasite - but again - I can't tell the size. The main reason I posted - was to recommend you stop feeding kanamycin. Looking at all the pictures - I guess it could also be sand - but that is extremely unlikely. It could be bacteria with an odd reaction to the antibiotic. I wouldn't put too much emphasis on the eggs dying. I'm sure @Jay Hemdal or @vetteguy53081 will have some answers - I don't know if you posted full body pictures - I cannot see them if you did. Another consideration would be a tumor or other internal injury - or another viral infection (other than lymphocystis). The picture below is a clown with an odd lymphocystis (usually more on the fins - its from the university of FL
Figure 2. Clownfish with lymphocystis nodules on fins and body.
stis.

Will my Clownfish make it? - Pest and Disease Treatments - Nano-Reef  Community
 

vetteguy53081

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I have a 6.5" lightning maroon clownfish. She is about 6 years old. She was laying big clutches of healthy eggs every 9 days. A couple months ago, i noticed the eggs were starting to die off. I blamed the male eating them. A few weeks later, I noticed she was bottom sitting. She eats well so I wasnt thinking much of it until I noticed her oviposter and surrounding area had some sort of infection. I gave her kanoplex and focus (mixed with food) for 7 days, as recommended by someone but no changes and I'm sure she was eating majority bc she feeds from a syringe. Next step, I gave her 3 baths (one each day) with methylene blue for 20 minutes. She STILL has this and all of her eggs die almost immediately. It has now spread from her under belly, to her left side/fin. I would assume I can rule out brook and velvet because she shares the same water column with 10 others and everyone, including her partner, is perfectly fine.

I run a barebottom tank, clean the bottom weekly so it's kept fairly clean and Nothing has changed, no new fish or change in food etc. Parameters are within normal limits except the Nitrates, which stay high, consistenly around 60-80 but it's because I feed heavy due to breeding. I'm fairly positive it's not related to that. I do water changes every 2 weeks to help with that.

Can anyone PLEASE help me identify the issue and what the proper meditation/treatment would be. I tried to get video from the side and underneath but shes fast. Screenshot_20250602_190051_YouCut - Video Editor.jpg Screenshot_20250602_190002_YouCut - Video Editor.jpg
Thia can be mucus separation, bacterial or irritation but need to start with much clearer pics to best determine
 

Jay Hemdal

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I have a 6.5" lightning maroon clownfish. She is about 6 years old. She was laying big clutches of healthy eggs every 9 days. A couple months ago, i noticed the eggs were starting to die off. I blamed the male eating them. A few weeks later, I noticed she was bottom sitting. She eats well so I wasnt thinking much of it until I noticed her oviposter and surrounding area had some sort of infection. I gave her kanoplex and focus (mixed with food) for 7 days, as recommended by someone but no changes and I'm sure she was eating majority bc she feeds from a syringe. Next step, I gave her 3 baths (one each day) with methylene blue for 20 minutes. She STILL has this and all of her eggs die almost immediately. It has now spread from her under belly, to her left side/fin. I would assume I can rule out brook and velvet because she shares the same water column with 10 others and everyone, including her partner, is perfectly fine.

I run a barebottom tank, clean the bottom weekly so it's kept fairly clean and Nothing has changed, no new fish or change in food etc. Parameters are within normal limits except the Nitrates, which stay high, consistenly around 60-80 but it's because I feed heavy due to breeding. I'm fairly positive it's not related to that. I do water changes every 2 weeks to help with that.

Can anyone PLEASE help me identify the issue and what the proper meditation/treatment would be. I tried to get video from the side and underneath but shes fast. Screenshot_20250602_190051_YouCut - Video Editor.jpg Screenshot_20250602_190002_YouCut - Video Editor.jpg

That's really tough to say if the issue is mucus or bacteria. I wonder if the eggs "dying soon" just means that the male isn't fertilizing them? I also wonder if the fish is just burned out from laying eggs so often? I know that clownfish breeders need to turnover their broodstock fairly often.

Many older fish develop Mycobacterium infections. This isn't treatable, and can have a bunch of different symptoms. Here is some text that I wrote on this:

Mycobacterium infection (AKA "Fish Tuberculosis") is a common, yet often misdiagnosed bacterial disease of freshwater and marine fish. It has zoonotic potential as it can infect humans through cuts in the skin.

Symptoms are varied and non-specific, and can include darkened coloration, popeye, emaciation, fin erosion, skin ulcers, and granulomas on the internal organs (which will stain for gram positive, acid-fast bacteria). In most cases, the disease is chronic and slow acting, with most fish succumbing due to "old age". However, in some species, held under crowded conditions, acute Mycobacterium infections have been seen, where a high percentage of the population will die, even at a young age. This has been noted in cichlids, pupfish, pirate perch and zebra danios.

Many treatments for Mycobacterium infections in fish have been proposed, but none work well. Antibiotics that have been used include rifampicin. It is probable that any drug used would need to be dosed orally, especially if freshwater fish are being treated. Control is the best course of action; maintain optimal water quality, avoid overcrowding, and remove any dead fish promptly.

Atypical Mycobacterium, M. chelonae, M. fortuitum, M. marinum are very common in the environment, and therefore are found in aquariums. They are difficult to culture but can be isolated from virtually every aquarium if you sample properly. They are commonly found in frozen seafood items, so the chance of them being introduced into aquariums is consistently high.

Sterilization of infected tank decorations and equipment is difficult, and not strongly advised since these bacteria are already in the environment, but > 200 ppm sodium hypochlorite for > 1 hour has been shown to be effective (Noga 2010).
 

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