Sick Clownfish? [Archive] - Reef Central Online Community

ReefArtist

11/05/2007, 06:50 PM

Mitch,
here's a photo of what my clowns looked like when they had it. Note the raised area. From the side it doesn't really appear raised at all:

http://www.reefdiversity.com//images/RCMicro/ClownRaisedWhite.JPG

http://www.reefdiversity.com//images/RCMicro/clownwhitespots.JPG

Another article on the subject, if that's what he has:
http://www.aquaticcommunity.com/disease/lymphocystis.php

Mitch529

11/05/2007, 07:39 PM

Thanks for the replies, that may be a possibility it really isn't raised to such an extreme like that its more like swollen around the whole white area. It has been that way for a couple days I have been keeping a close eye on him and there hasn't been any change. I first thought it might be an irritation or something since he has been getting in my frogspawn a little but I don't think thats what it is.

I am keeping close tabs on him to see if there is any change. He is still acting completely normal with no change in behavior, eating fine hunting pods etc...

ichthyman

11/05/2007, 08:05 PM

Look into Brooklynella.

Mitch529

11/05/2007, 09:04 PM

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=11124104#post11124104 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by ichthyman
Look into Brooklynella.

That was my first thought, but he doesn't display the symptoms of it and from what I have read he would be in fishy heaven already if that is what he had.

ReefArtist

11/06/2007, 04:56 AM

"irritation or something since he has been getting in my frogspawn a little but I don't think that's what it is."

Ohhhhh - that very well may be what it is. If he's getting into the frogspawn that is most likely his problem. Mine did that and I thought she was coming down with something also.

The problem you have to watch for is secondary infection. Make sure you keep your water clean - don't let it go. Really watch those spots, if it gets worse you might want to get some medicated food. I know FAOIS carries an array of medication and if it does get to that point, I'm sure John will point you in the right direction.

Good luck - he is soooo cute :D.

ReefArtist

11/06/2007, 05:09 AM

I just checked on the Brooklynella as I to thought it was a quick and deadly parasite. As I was reading, I found that it is not necessarily the case. Even more reason it keep a good eye on the little guy.
======================================

http://www.petsforum.com/personal/trevor-jones/brooklynella.html

The signs of brooklynellosis

"As the parasite causes respiratory difficulties (Lom, 1995), the infected fish show rapid or laboured breathing and may swim close to the water surface in an attempt to get sufficient oxygen. The gills may haemorrhage and small red spots (petechiae) may be present (Lom, 1995). A mild inflammatory reaction may be evoked by a light infection, but a heavy infections will usually cause the death of the fish. Noga (2000) reports that skin lesions are also often associated with brooklynellosis. "

Mitch529

11/06/2007, 08:52 AM

Hmmm it sounds like the closest bet. I am reading up on formalin baths now, I just need to find where I can get some locally. He definitely isn't doing any better today.

W Ellis

11/06/2007, 09:13 AM

Mitch i have some formalin if you need it. I can drop it off to you on my way to Clearwater if you want.

Mitch529

11/06/2007, 09:16 AM

yeah for sure, he's not doing too good this morning breathing much faster, keeping top fin down etc.. When would you be heading this way, I can stop by and grab it I have to be at work by 1 today.

playa0069u

11/06/2007, 11:10 AM

I thought mine had brooklynella, (sp) and he had the raised spots, (not ich) and he was very lazy, wedging himself in places to lay sideways, I thought he was done. I gave him a freshwater dip in quick cure Im almost positive it was quick cure, for a few minutes and he's never had a problem since.

ReefArtist

11/06/2007, 12:19 PM

Mitch529 - I have some formalin also, if you guys don't meet up give me a PM.

Mitch529

11/06/2007, 12:46 PM

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=11128150#post11128150 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by ReefArtist
Mitch529 - I have some formalin also, if you guys don't meet up give me a PM.

Thanks but Billy made it over, got his first dip done today everything went well. I had to go to work shortly after so I will run home later to check on him. But he was doing good before I left hopefully 2 more dips will clear it up otherwise I will be setting up a hospital tank for a few weeks.

Is there anything else I should be doing for him?

ReefArtist

11/06/2007, 12:58 PM

Sounds like you are on the right track - thanks for taking the time to post your little guy. It's reef keepers like yourself that keeps me in it - thanks for caring for the little guy. I'll look up some other sources but you are on the right track.

W Ellis

11/06/2007, 01:00 PM

Glad to hear the dip went well. Hopefully it cures him.

Mitch529

11/06/2007, 01:23 PM

We have our fingers crossed, thanks for the assistance. I will post an update on how he looks later today.

The directions for the dip say every other day 3 times total, so if all goes well he will get his next dip on Thursday.

Mitch529

11/06/2007, 05:15 PM

Well I dropped by home earlier to check on the little guy, he seems to be doing a bit better. He still has the white marks but his breathing is looking better and the mark on his tail is less apparent.

Mitch529

11/07/2007, 08:20 AM

Ok, so latest info he seems to be in the same condition no better or worse. He ate this morning and can swim around normally but he hangs out in the same spots he sleeps now hovering very close to the sand. The white marks are still on him but they do not seem to have changed on his left side but it looks larger on his right.

Here (http://rapidshare.com/files/68065815/Clownfish.mov.html) is a video of him so you can see his breathing up close, its of his left side so I cannot get the main spot but I did zoom in really good on his tail so you can see how the texture of the white looks.
(to download the video click the free link and wait how ever many seconds it says then enter the code to download)

And here are some pictures, again I cannot get a picture of his right side since its facing away from the tank, I did my best.

(slime is not on him nass snail just made his way past)
http://img145.imageshack.us/img145/7786/leftsideqc0.jpg
http://img145.imageshack.us/img145/3098/rightsideub6.jpg

I think I am going to get a tank and QT him today and treat with hyposalinity and continue the formalin dips. I'm going to call FAIOS today and see if John has any other advise for medications or what may be wrong with the little guy.

Side question, if I do QT him should I QT both of them together?

playa0069u

11/07/2007, 08:47 AM

did you dip him in fresh or salt?

budhorse775

11/07/2007, 08:54 AM

I had a battle with Brooklynella earlier this year. I lost 2 clowns, a royal gramma, flame angel, and a mandarin dragonete. All died within a week of each other.

Mitch529

11/07/2007, 09:02 AM

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=11134276#post11134276 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by playa0069u
did you dip him in fresh or salt?

1 Gallon of water from the tank with 20 drops of formalin for 45 mins with an airstone.

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=11134319#post11134319 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by budhorse775
I had a battle with Brooklynella earlier this year. I lost 2 clowns, a royal gramma, flame angel, and a mandarin dragonete. All died within a week of each other.

Yikes sorry to hear that, I am hoping it's nothing serious as he has had the marks for about a week the other fish in the tank show no signs. I still don't know for sure if its brooklynella, I'm no expert and I am just making my best educated guess off of what I have read and others opinions.

playa0069u

11/07/2007, 09:10 AM

i wasnt sure either, but i used freshwater with some quick cure which I believe is formalin

Mitch529

11/07/2007, 09:12 AM

I see, I haven't read about using formaldehyde with freshwater would that not be too much stress for the fish? I was worried about just the formalin in saltwater.

playa0069u

11/07/2007, 09:20 AM

Idk, it says it has formalin and malachite green in it. I remember not using very much, like half a drop or something. I did it and checked on the fish alot, and if he starts freaking out I would take him out but he never did he seemed chill the whole time. then I dripped him back to salt water. I think clowns are pretty tuff. i read somewhre that brooklynella will kill them within hours, so i wasnt taking any chances. idk if it was that or not though. i dont remember how long i left him in there though, I think it was a few minutes.

Mitch529

11/08/2007, 11:18 AM

Here are some shots of him from a few mins ago, he is doing well in his QT. The white spots are pretty much gone, a tiny bit on his tail on some on his right side (stupid glare makes it hard to see) Only hitch is none of the fish like the medicated food, they all take in a bit and spit it out. It probably doesn't help that I don't feed flake. Hopefully I will be able to ween them all on to eating flake.

http://img88.imageshack.us/img88/2905/img1062oe9.jpg
http://img88.imageshack.us/img88/918/hospitalclownom8.jpg

He pretty much hangs in that one corner, he can still swim fine but rarely leaves that corner.

W Ellis

11/08/2007, 12:11 PM

Man im glad to see its clearing up. Glad to see you got a qt setup too. He probably hangs out in the corner because he feels safer there.

Mitch529

11/08/2007, 12:20 PM

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=11142323#post11142323 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by TTRex94
Man im glad to see its clearing up. Glad to see you got a qt setup too. He probably hangs out in the corner because he feels safer there.

Me too, I needed to get a QT setup anyways and now I have everything for future. Now I just need to get him to eat the medicated food.

ReefArtist

11/08/2007, 05:41 PM

That is great news Mitch - remember if he flat refuses to eat the medicated make sure you give him what he likes. He needs to stay health to fight this off. I mixed mine with the food I would normally feed - they would get at least a little of the medicated.

WarDaddy

11/08/2007, 05:45 PM

is this the guy that mixed it up with the carpet, open wounds could have become infected.

Mitch529

11/08/2007, 05:55 PM

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=11144276#post11144276 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by ReefArtist
That is great news Mitch - remember if he flat refuses to eat the medicated make sure you give him what he likes. He needs to stay health to fight this off. I mixed mine with the food I would normally feed - they would get at least a little of the medicated.

I did he only ate a little earlier so I am going to try to feed him again tonight.

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=11144308#post11144308 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by WarDaddy
is this the guy that mixed it up with the carpet, open wounds could have become infected.

Nope :( he is doing good, just a few little dark marks left... I would have thought he would come down with something before the other.

Mitch529

11/09/2007, 02:04 PM

Update: He is doing good today, swimming around much more... He has taken home to the PVC and hangs out inside of it. He still doesn't like the flake food but he scarfed down his normal helping of oraglo. White marks look to be mostly gone and he is holding his top fin up like normal too.

How long after the spots are gone should I stop dosing the formalin?

ReefArtist

11/09/2007, 02:51 PM

That is wonderful news Mitch. From my understanding and what I have done in the pass is:
Dose every other day until the spots had disappeared. Then I repeated the treatment 10 days after the last spots. Make sure you change the water properly. So - he'll need to be in QT for a few weeks but that is great news. My little clowns were in QT for two months - that was very hard with a 10g tank!

If John keys in or if you call him - please follow his advice as this is just what I have done.

That is great news!

Mitch529

11/09/2007, 05:02 PM

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=11150172#post11150172 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by ReefArtist
If John keys in or if you call him - please follow his advice as this is just what I have done.

I have, he printed out a write up he did on brook with treatment procedures for me I am following all steps he advised me to do. Only thing that is a big pita is the QT doing a 50% WC daily is going to take its toll fast, especially since I don't have a RODI.

We will see how it goes but at this rate its going to be tough to keep him in there for 30+ days.

30 days x $1.50 for 5 gallons = $45 and 150gal worth of salt mix.. thats just under $100 + medications. Not to mention I have to go get the 5gal every day, mix and heat it.

ReefArtist

11/10/2007, 05:23 AM

Mitch - I know what you are going through with all the water changes, medication etc. The main thing at this point is to make sure all of the spots are gone. Once that is accomplished if I were you I would try to keep him in for another week at least - doing a final treatment before he goes back into the tank. PLEASE I'm not telling you to do this and you will be taking a chance of it coming back or giving it to your other fish (if you have others). I'm just saying if you can't afford it, this is the mininum treatment I would attempt. If you do put him back in and it starts again - then you'll have to start all over again.

Hopefully it will all workout for you and the little guy, but if you get into trouble please give me a PM. Keep us posted on how he is doing.

NewNanoDude

11/10/2007, 05:39 AM

Mitch,

i got a RO/DI, you live litterally 5 mins away. I will bring you a big jug today if you would like?????

Let me know bud.

NewNanoDude

11/10/2007, 05:40 AM

Oh and yes I can bring you 5 gallons a day if needed. Actually can bring you at least 10 gallons today. Let me know..

Mitch529

11/10/2007, 07:38 AM

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=11153871#post11153871 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by ReefArtist
Mitch - I know what you are going through with all the water changes, medication etc. The main thing at this point is to make sure all of the spots are gone. Once that is accomplished if I were you I would try to keep him in for another week at least - doing a final treatment before he goes back into the tank. PLEASE I'm not telling you to do this and you will be taking a chance of it coming back or giving it to your other fish (if you have others). I'm just saying if you can't afford it, this is the mininum treatment I would attempt. If you do put him back in and it starts again - then you'll have to start all over again.

Hopefully it will all workout for you and the little guy, but if you get into trouble please give me a PM. Keep us posted on how he is doing.

I am going to keep him in there as long as possible, cost really isn't a big deal its just a pain going to the store to get 5gal of water each day lol. I talked to john about it and he said it would be Ok to drop down to 5gal total so its only a 2.5 gal water change a day. Payday is the 15th and I think I am going to finally bite the bullet and get an RODI.

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=11153889#post11153889 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by NewNanoDude
Oh and yes I can bring you 5 gallons a day if needed. Actually can bring you at least 10 gallons today. Let me know..

Thanks! I don't need any right now I actually have 10gal made up on hand. I will let you know if I get in a bind though thanks.

Mitch529

11/10/2007, 08:20 AM

UPDATE: He is not doing so well this morning... There are no spots on him but he is breathing very heavily and keeping his mouth open. He would not eat anything, I just changed his water out to see if that will help. Removed about 7.5 gal and added 2.5 from tank so he's at 5gal now. The water is heavily aerated with 2 airstones and I have a fan blowing in there to keep his water temp stable.

I cannot do any tests because the water is colored from the medication but I have not been over feeding him (just what he eats then immediately syphon up anything he dropped) and doing daily 50% water changes so it cannot be ammonia or the water.

Is there anything I should do for him, maybe the parasite is in his gills :( Going to call John at 11.

Mitch529

11/12/2007, 10:16 AM

RIP

He did not make it, over the last 3 days he began breathing very heavily and not eating. Yesterday we decided to start Hyposalinity to see if that would help him out some, his condition never changed. Finally he stopped swimming and just laid on his side. I thought he was going to make it since his spots had gone away and he became active eating etc... then it all went down hill.