Clownfish white turning black

[Worthy1]

Hi All,

I noticed a couple of months ago my clownfish were getting some black dots here and there. After doing some research i was fairly confident they were sting marks from laying in corals surrounding where they base themselves (mainly Zoas). I noticed the other day part of the white towards the tail was darkening, almost as if it was turning black. It seems now half of the female's white has gone dark. This doesnt seem to be happening with the smaller male.

They are 7 years old (had them since babies) Parameters havent really changed recently and none of the other fish are showing any signs of anything (Tang, butterfly, angel). She doesnt seem to be breathing heavily and is acting as normal as always.

Any thoughts on what it could be?

 

[ScubaFish802]

Is it possible to get a closer picture of the tail? Is the white end deteriorating up to the black stripe?

 

[Jay Hemdal]

Hi All,

I noticed a couple of months ago my clownfish were getting some black dots here and there. After doing some research i was fairly confident they were sting marks from laying in corals surrounding where they base themselves (mainly Zoas). I noticed the other day part of the white towards the tail was darkening, almost as if it was turning black. It seems now half of the female's white has gone dark. This doesnt seem to be happening with the smaller male.

They are 7 years old (had them since babies) Parameters havent really changed recently and none of the other fish are showing any signs of anything (Tang, butterfly, angel). She doesnt seem to be breathing heavily and is acting as normal as always.

Any thoughts on what it could be?

View attachment 1830260 View attachment 1830268 View attachment 1830269

She has a notch out of her soft dorsal fin - perhaps had a run-in with the tang? Many older fish develop "artifacts of captivity", where they change coloration, body shape, etc due to age and issues with captive diets, etc. One thing clownfish are noted for is depositing melanin at the site of an injury (or a sting as you noted).

I can't see what you are describing on the caudal fin, perhaps another picture?

Jay

 

[Worthy1]

Thanks for that. Its funny you both mentioned the fin as i only noticed that when uploading the pics. I am pretty sure it has been there a while though but will need to dig up some old pics to find out.

Yes she has had run ins from the Coral Beauty i have in the tank. It is a nasty fish that bullies everything, have been meaning to catch it and get rid of it when i can. Im pretty sure one of the run ins resulted in a cut a few months back, possibly that has turned into an infection? Just have tried to look at diseases and things to see if it matches but couldnt really put it down to anything myself.

 

[Worthy1]

So i had a closer look at the tail and if you didnt know it was missing a section you wouldnt think anything of it. In that i mean there is no wound around it, no discolouration like there is an infection or anything. Like i said im pretty sure she lost that a number of years ago which explains why it looks fine in that area