Clownfish - Brown Spot Disease? White, Stringy Feces?

[_Mitch_]

Hello,
On saturday I purchased a pair of Ocellaris Clownfish from my LFS, Greenwich Aquaria, which I think is very reputable store. They both appeared to be healthy when I purchased them. I acclimated them to my tank and they were eating (Rod's Fish-Only Blend) just a few hours later.
The next day both of the Clownfish had white, stringy feces. Obviously I was concerned so I called up Greenwich Aquaria. I was told this this has seemed to be the norm for the Ocellaris Clownfish they were getting in lately. I was told it was a digestive tract parasite that will die off within one week. I then asked if the parasite could spread to my other fish and I was told no. They told me that if the white, stringy feces does not go away within one week I could return the fish for a full refund. I do trust my LFS, being that they have a very good reputation.
Both of the fish are swimming fine, eating with gusto, and acting like normal clownfish. Yesterday morning I peer into my tank when the lights turn on to see that the female clown has brown spots all over her. I have no clue what the cause of this is, and an extensive search did not bring up much. The only thing I saw was a tidbit of information about something called "Brown Spot Disease," although I still don't know much about it or if it even exists. The female is still swimming and eating fine but is acting a bit sluggish. Here are two not-so-great pictures of her so you guys can see what I'm talking about:

http://img32.imageshack.us/img32/2008/dsc04396t.jpg

http://img844.imageshack.us/img844/2955/dsc04395xq.jpg

The parameters for my tank are as follows:
Temperature: 78ºF
SG: 1.025
pH: 7.8
Nitrate: 0 ppm
Nitrite: 0 ppm
Ammonia: 0 ppm

It would be greatly appreciated if you guys could help me out here and offer some insight into this. I do not have a QT tank set up. I'd rather bring the fish back for a refund if it comes to that.

Thanks in advance!

[_Mitch_]

Bump!

[b0bab0ey]

I think your clownfish probably have "Black Ich". It matches both of the symptoms you described. Have a read here and see what you think:

http://reefcentral.com/forums/showthread.php?t=1996184

[sandwi54]

agree with the above. that is black ich and can be cured with either formalin dip or freshwater dip. you will need to do this to all the fish in the tank, not just the affected one.

[_Mitch_]

I think your clownfish probably have "Black Ich". It matches both of the symptoms you described. Have a read here and see what you think:

http://reefcentral.com/forums/showthread.php?t=1996184

Thank you for the response. I have read the attached thread. It seems I need to set up a QT tank at this point, which isn't really an option.

agree with the above. that is black ich and can be cured with either formalin dip or freshwater dip. you will need to do this to all the fish in the tank, not just the affected one.

Catching all of the fish in the tank would be near impossible. I could do a freshwater dip to the affected fish but that's about it.

Now, how viable would it be to just return the affected fish to the store? Is it too late at this point?

[_Mitch_]

I returned the female to the LFS today. I am keeping the male for now and will monitor it closely. The employee I talked to at the LFS said that they have a dewormer to threat the black ich. Thanks for the help guys!

[sandwi54]

Catching all of the fish in the tank would be near impossible. I could do a freshwater dip to the affected fish but that's about it.

Now, how viable would it be to just return the affected fish to the store? Is it too late at this point?

And that is why we strongly suggest the use of a quarantine tank, so you don't run into situations of having to catch all of the fish to treat. The black ich has a similar life cycle as as cryptocaryon, so it's still recommended to treat all of the fish in the display.

There are ways to catch fish without tearing the whole tank apart. run a google search to see how most people do it (mostly with fish traps).