Clown going down hill

meadbhb

Member
Hiya,
I'm getting pretty frustrated. I've lost almost every fish I've put into my tank, except my two damsels. Which were added AFTER I cycled and because, well, I like them.
Tank is a brand new 37 gallon eclipse, that's been set up since August 3rd. The only chemical I've added has been for calcium, so copper shouldn't be the issue. Amonia, nitrite, nitrate 0 PH 8.2-8.3 temp 80-82, it does vary a little. I use RO water, feed flakes one day, then frozen mysian shrimp the next. Tank started out with 40lbs base and 25 lbs live...didn't really cycle since the LR was very well cured and I carried from my LFS to my house, which is less then 5 minutes from my where I live. So no die off, and practically no cycle.
I didn't start adding fish until a 4-5 weeks after the tank was set up...don't really remember.
1st - a scooter, bad choice, died just a few weeks ago, probably due to no pods. Was in the store a few days before I brought him homem.
2nd - six line wrasse, had a red flatworm break out, he ate them all up, but I could have sworn he was eatting other food. Lasted about a month. There was no aggression between him and the scooter while they were together. He was also in the store at least a week before I brought him home.
3rd - clown fish...was fine for a few days, then died before I had it a week. Didn't seem to be doing well, kinda like faded away, some bleaching out of his color and kinda got thin. I did take him home the day he came into the store.
4th fish - damsel - still going strong.
5th fish - green clown goby - saw it for a week, never saw it eat, died. Was in the store a few days before I brought him home. LFS said he was eating.
6th fish - damsel - still there.
7th fish - new clown, left it at the LFS for a week to make sure it was eatting. Came home, settled in great, was eatting very well. However, this last week or so, it's starting to act like the other clown was...fading away, has some pale/black splotches on him. Also saw a cottony ball on his side last night. Kinda swims in one spot, but will get active when I come up to the glass.
Please help, my LFS has no idea what's wrong. I've read the sticky and am not sure if he has that dieses that starts out lym...
All my corals are doing well. I've got a peppermint shrimp a pom pom crab, scarlet hermits, nass snails, bumble bees, astrea's and a turbo. The only inverts I've lost are one emerald crab and my fire shrimp.
Please help! I hate to loose any more fish.
Meadbhb
 

lefty

Active Member
Hmm...do you think you could get a picture of your clown? The only two things I can think of that would cause black spots would be black ich or melanism. Black ich is more commonly found on tangs...but I don't think it's impossible for a clown to get it. Black ich can usually be taken care of with a freshwater dip. At this point, I'd be more inclined to say it's melanism, which is a color morph that clowns take on as they age or when inhabiting a host. Stings from anemones can also cause the spots. Melanism can be brought on by environmental stress. If your water were contaminated, I would expect your inverts and corals to be dying as well. But if they're not, then hmm. Something in your tank could be stressing him out. You might want to QT him for closer observation. :)
-lefty
 

meadbhb

Member
Hiya,
I'm at work now and won't be able to get a picture of him, but I don't think it's ick. He looks like he has a white cotton stuff on him now and you can kinda see a line that follows his back, as if his bone was starting to show. Also, no anenomies in the tank that I'm aware of.
I'm almost wondering if I don't have some stray volts in the tank. I'm going to ask my husband to see if we have something to check that out while I'm at work. However, if I did have some stray volts in the tank, wouldn't it be affecting my damsel's or are they just that hardy?
Meadbhb
 

meadbhb

Member
Hiya,
Well, I tried a fresh water bath tonight. He was to weak to take it and has since died.
HOWEVER, I still want to know what was wrong with him? Is this stuff contagious? I'm still working on finding a volt meter to see if there is any stray electricity in the tank, but if this isn't what killed him, then I need to know.
Please...someone give me a good educated guess.
Meadbhb
 

lefty

Active Member
Keep in mind I'm not too sure about this...but from your pictures and more detailed descriptions, it looks like velvet (correct me if I'm wrong, anyone). It is a parasite that attaches to the gills or body of the fish. Infected fish will have a white, black/gray, or tan powder-like substance all over their body. The freshwater dip is recommended...but if your fish could not take it, there is nothing more you could have done.
Still assuming that this was a case of velvet, you have a couple options when it comes to ridding your tank of any remaining parasites.
1.) Allow the tank to remain fallow for 6-8 weeks. Upping the temperature a few degrees can speed up this process.
2.) Drain the tank and let it dry thoroughly.
Sorry to hear about your loss. =(
-lefty
 

elfdoctors

Active Member
It is hard to tell what you have from your pictures.
However, I would suspect Brooklynella before I would suspect marine velvet. This disease is quite common in clownfish (some people call it clownfish disease) and has a characteristic white slime layer on the fish. Check out the diseased fish sticky at the top of this forum to see more pictures.
 

lefty

Active Member
I thought it may have been brooklynella...but I just couldn't see the white slime coat from those pictures. But then again, I have never seen a clear picture of what it should look like. :)
If it is indeed brooklynella, would you not treat the tank in the same ways I mentioned above to ensure it will not infect any new inhabitants?
-lefty
 

meadbhb

Member
Hiya,
I would have considered it more a shedding then a powder. The fish did have a small cotton type growth on the other side of his body. He'd never let me get a picture of that side. Could he have had two illnesses at the same time?
Sorry about the pictures, I'm still learning how to use the silly camera and had to use a magnifying glass to get those.
This fish died just like the last clown and from talking to my LFS he said about 70% of the wild caught clowns he got in would die. I'll be buying captive bred next time. Both clowns were added within a few weeks of each other, so maybe the parasite was still in the water.
So, if it is brook, how does one go about getting rid of it in the tank? The two damsels are still swimming around, color is excellent as is their appetite.
Meadbhb
 

elfdoctors

Active Member
If it was brooklynella, you only need to keep your tank fishless for around 1 week. This disease reproduces right on the fish and generally does not have a long free-swimming phase. It is usually transmitted directly from fish to fish so it is possible for a fish to be in the tank and not get infected. However, if the fish used to regularly interact with each other, you should assume that they are infected.
If it was marine velvet, you need to keep the tank fishless for ~6 weeks.
It is certainly possible to have more than one disease at a time. In my experience, fish from the LFS are much more likely to have a disease (from the multiple mixing of fish and inability to keep a tank fishless for an extended time. I have not had disease problems from the fish that I purchased from swf.com.
 

meadbhb

Member
Hiya,
Thanks Elfdoctor. I think I'm going to play it safe and not buy anything for a few weeks.
Though...my LFS has a tank raised royal gramme. Would love to get him. Hmmm, maybe I'll see if they'll hold him for me.
Meadbhb
 
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