What is this?

repru04

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I did not see anything wrong with my clowns earlier today. After I messed with my tank, I noticed what looked like sand on my clowns. I don't think it's sand.

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repru04

repru04

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currently on hand:
prazipro
maroxy
cupramine
malachite green
melafix
 

Humblefish

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How long have you had the clowns? Looks like it could be the onset of brook, but I'm not 100% certain of it at this point. More info on brook below:

Brooklynella:

Symptoms – This is most often seen in clownfish, but it can afflict any fish. The fish’s skin will appear to be peeling or sloughing off, oftentimes causing excessive white mucous to form around the affected area(s).

Treatment options - Formalin or acriflavine bath, followed by additional baths (as needed - but give the fish a day to recuperate in-between baths). You can use formalin in a QT (at a much lower concentration than the bath), but great care must be taken to provide plenty of gas exchange as formalin will quickly deplete the water of oxygen. For this reason, doing baths is the safer option as the fish can be pulled from the formalin if showing signs of distress. Acriflavine is probably the better option for in-tank QT use.

The following products contain formalin: Formalin-MS (preferred), Quick Cure, Aquarium Solutions Ich-X, Kordon Rid-Ich Plus.

Acriflavine can be found in Acriflavine-MS (preferred) and Ruby Reef Rally.

Metronidazole (exs. Seachem MetroPlex, Metro-MS, Hikari Metro+) is considered an alternative treatment for brook. A freshwater dip may provide temporary relief if you are unable to locate any of the aforementioned medications right away. Some even claim total eradication of the disease is possible just by performing multiple FW dips on the fish. o_O
 
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repru04

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I've had them over a year. So far there is no sloughing. After looking around I'm thinking velvet. I panicked when I first saw it. It looks like sand particles. I did mess with the sand earlier, but it should have brushed off them by now.
 

Humblefish

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I've had them over a year. So far there is no sloughing. After looking around I'm thinking velvet. I panicked when I first saw it. It looks like sand particles. I did mess with the sand earlier, but it should have brushed off them by now.

Not necessarily. Clownfish have an incredibly thick mucous coat and debris easily gets trapped on their skin.

Are you noticing any heavy breathing, swimming into the flow of a powerhead or staying out of the light? Those are other symptoms of velvet.
 
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repru04

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I've been hesitant to act on treatment because they don't act like different. And like I said, it wasn't until after I messed with the sand that I saw it. I'll be gone all day tomorrow so I won't be able to observe them and that makes me nervous. I am attached to my clowns.
 

Humblefish

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I look at the pics, and it could be sand but it could also be something else. Have you added any new livestock recently? Fish, corals, inverts? Anything wet?
 
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repru04

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Just today I moved some smaller clowns from my fuge in my sump to the DT. They are in a floating colander. They have been in the system since others day.
 

Humblefish

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It's been more than 30 days since Mother's Day, so velvet or brook should have shown up before this. Ich is still possible, but the fact that you messed with the sand today suggests that's all this is. Personally, I wouldn't do anything until you come back. See if the spots are still there.
 

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Agreed. Wait and see approach advised. Looks to me like either sand or ick
 
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repru04

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The grains are off his face, but the skin underneath looks dirty. Perhaps sloughy. ugh. Maybe it really is dirty.
 

Humblefish

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You might have a problem; I can't see just sand making his skin look dirty. But I have seen that happen with velvet (pic below). I wouldn't get too excited though until you see him under lights.

 
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repru04

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So I'm home and the fish look a little better. The 2 clowns who are not hosted by a nem (they previously had spots too but were too active to photograph) have almost not spots left. The clown in the nem (He's not so active so I can get the most pics of him) still has spots but they have changed again. Sorry for the bad images. My water has a lot of floating particles right now.

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repru04

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I only included the mandy because he's being active and is too cute.
 

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