White stuff around clownfish mouth

[deedoo]

I’ve had a female clownfish for over a year now (her mate jumped the tank recently and died) and I decided to get her another small male to take his place just over a week ago.

They had some initial spats but now are super close and regularly cuddle up. She did manage to take a good chunk of his side fine off and give him a couple scrapes on his sides before deciding she was okay with him.

I noticed pretty soon after getting the new male that his chin was notably more pale than the rest of his body. It seems like whatever this white stuff is has spread and upon closer inspection looks slightly raised.

He’s been acting and eating normally and his mouth isn’t stuck open. All my tank parameters are normal and no other fish or inverts are looking/acting weird. I don’t have a QT tank available right now so don’t want to have to treat with antibiotics unless I absolutely have to.

Any help is appreciated!

 

[vetteguy53081]

I’ve had a female clownfish for over a year now (her mate jumped the tank recently and died) and I decided to get her another small male to take his place just over a week ago.

They had some initial spats but now are super close and regularly cuddle up. She did manage to take a good chunk of his side fine off and give him a couple scrapes on his sides before deciding she was okay with him.

I noticed pretty soon after getting the new male that his chin was notably more pale than the rest of his body. It seems like whatever this white stuff is has spread and upon closer inspection looks slightly raised.

He’s been acting and eating normally and his mouth isn’t stuck open. All my tank parameters are normal and no other fish or inverts are looking/acting weird. I don’t have a QT tank available right now so don’t want to have to treat with antibiotics unless I absolutely have to.

Any help is appreciated!

While these fish are known to go up and down glass , known as glass surfing, this appears to be heavy mucus associated with brooklynella disease. To first confirm, Please post pics under bright white light intensity, no blue and even a video will be of help

 

[deedoo]

Hopefully these help

 

[deedoo]

While these fish are known to go up and down glass , known as glass surfing, this appears to be heavy mucus associated with brooklynella disease. To first confirm, Please post pics under bright white light intensity, no blue and even a video will be of help

I haven’t noticed my clowns pacing at all. Correct me if I’m wrong, but doesn’t brook kill within a couple days once symptoms start? It’s been several days since I first noticed the white area and my clown is still alive and acting normal and eating.

 

[vetteguy53081]

I haven’t noticed my clowns pacing at all. Correct me if I’m wrong, but doesn’t brook kill within a couple days once symptoms start? It’s been several days since I first noticed the white area and my clown is still alive and acting normal and eating.

Brrok generally builds up and will last a few days before steering the fish in the path of death. The mucus generally starts at the facial area and gets into the gills where problems starts. It then can become secondary bacterial lesions and causing fish to breath heavily, loss of appetite and color and weird swim behavior

 

[deedoo]

Okay, good to know. Do you think that’s what this is? How would you recommend I go about treating? How contagious is it/do I need to worry about my other clown catching it?

Brrok generally builds up and will last a few days before steering the fish in the path of death. The mucus generally starts at the facial area and gets into the gills where problems starts. It then can become secondary bacterial lesions and causing fish to breath heavily, loss of appetite and color and weird swim behaviour.

 

[vetteguy53081]

Okay, good to know. Do you think that’s what this is? How would you recommend I go about treating? How contagious is it/do I need to worry about my other clown catching it?

It is likely what im seeing and a simple and safe treatment is Ruby Rally Pro which is easy to use and safe for coral and invers.

 

[deedoo]

It seems like some people have had bad experiences with this treatment being used in display tanks. I have a nem in this tank that I’m worried about. Is it still safe to use in this case? Will this treatment take of this issue even if it’s not brook? Thanks so much for your help!

 

[Jay Hemdal]

I haven’t noticed my clowns pacing at all. Correct me if I’m wrong, but doesn’t brook kill within a couple days once symptoms start? It’s been several days since I first noticed the white area and my clown is still alive and acting normal and eating.

I don’t see any behaviors associated with a brooklynella infection, so it is either really early in the infection, or it is something else. Given the fish recently sparring, and clownfish known to lip lock each other, I’d lean towards that as the issue, but it bears watching.

 

[deedoo]

My other clown doesn’t have anything around her mouth…not sure if I should expect her to be injured as well. It is just suspicious to be that this white stuff has only gotten much worse in the last day and they have been peaceful with each other for a week or so now.

I don’t see any behaviors associated with a brooklynella infection, so it is either really early in the infection, or it is something else. Given the fish recently sparring, and clownfish known to lip lock each other, I’d lean towards that as the issue, but it bears watching.

 

[Jay Hemdal]

My other clown doesn’t have anything around her mouth…not sure if I should expect her to be injured as well. It is just suspicious to be that this white stuff has only gotten much worse in the last day and they have been peaceful with each other for a week or so now.

There could be a secondary bacterial infection from a previous injury.

Is this clown still eating and breathing normally?

 

[deedoo]

There could be a secondary bacterial infection from a previous injury.

Is this clown still eating and breathing normally?

Fed him this morning and everything seemed normal. He’s not acting particularly strange either, breathing doesn’t seem laboured. Although, I did just see him rubbing his face against the rock.

 

[Jay Hemdal]

Fed him this morning and everything seemed normal. He’s not acting particularly strange either, breathing doesn’t seem laboured. Although, I did just see him rubbing his face against the rock.

Well, rubbing is a sign of flukes, but clownfish are not super prone to developing fluke infections.
If the scratching gets worse, you may want to treat with praziquantel for flukes.