Help with clownfish.

J

Jennifer Taylor

New Member
Hey guys, I have a concern about one of my clownfish. She has this powdery looking stuff on her. Now I have read about velvet and brookanella. However, when I read about these things they say that once symptoms are spotted these things can move very fast. They also say that signs include not eating, scratching, breathing heavy, ext. She however is not doing any of this. She eats great, is not scratching on anything, breathing fine, and has had this on her for over a month. I posted this on another section of this site but did not get any replies so sorry if you see this twice. Any ideas what this might be. And should I leave her in main tank or set up qt just to be safe.
 

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Connorer

Connorer

Member
I'd set up a QT, purely because if you do want to try treatment it won't kill anything else in the tank (i.e. invertebrates).

I can't identify it, can't really see from the pictures and i'm not that good at diseases, but the diseases moving quickly also depends on the health of the fish before they got the disease, so if they are strong and eating well, they will be able to fight off the disease better, or at least slow down the process.
 
pegasus

pegasus

Well-Known Member
Connorer said:
I'd set up a QT, purely because if you do want to try treatment it won't kill anything else in the tank (i.e. invertebrates).

I can't identify it, can't really see from the pictures and i'm not that good at diseases, but the diseases moving quickly also depends on the health of the fish before they got the disease, so if they are strong and eating well, they will be able to fight off the disease better, or at least slow down the process.
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+1. I'm pretty sure it isn't velvet, but I can't rule out brookanella. Either that, or a severe case of Ick. Either way, the fish should be removed from the display tank, quarantined, and treated for both to be on the safe side. This should apply to all fish that appear to be infected. If those two clowns are the only fish, then it will be much easier to eradicate the disease. Without knowing exactly what the disease is, it'll be much better to try various treatments outside of the main display.
 
J

Jennifer Taylor

New Member
OK, so here is where I am at so far I only have the two clownfish so I took them both out and did a 5 min freshwater dip. Question 1: after 5 min fresh water dip there is no visible change. Whatever it is, it is still there. I thought the freshwater bath would knock it off. Fish are now in 10g quarantine tank and swimming around as happy as can be. They even ate great. Is this normal?
Question 2: I have ordered some formalin from amazon but it will not be here till between Mon and wed of next week. Should I keep doing freshwater baths till then? Also, in case it is ich can I go buy rid-ich from lps and treat with this till other stuff gets in?
 
pegasus

pegasus

Well-Known Member
1 & 2. That is a good sign that the fish are still very healthy. Freshwater dips don't necessarily "knock the parasites off"... it kills the parasites. If it were flukes, you could actually see them turn white and fall off. Ick is a bit different. Ick imbeds itself under the slime coating of the fish and attaches to the skin. It may take several dips to rid the fish completely of live ick, and perhaps a few more days before they all fall off. It can take 3-4 dips over several days, and it's best to follow up with the formalin just to be sure you get all of it. They display tank will need to be fish-free for at least 4 weeks to allow the parasites to die, so be prepared to keep your clowns in the QT for that length of time. Small, frequent water changes in the QT will come in handy.

Since you're already aware of freshwater dips, I hope you're following the proper procedure in preparation of dipping. The two main goals are to match temp, and more importantly, the pH of the tank water.
 
pegasus

pegasus

Well-Known Member
If the fish doesn't appear to be too stressed from the dips, it can be performed daily. If it shows signs of stress, every other day...
 
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