Clownfish with bump near face - should I be worried?

[Ollie67]

Hello all. I am pretty new to the hobby and have just started my first tank this year. I have had it up for about 27 days now, it is a 13.5 gallon. I did a fishless cycle and tested relatively often. I added two juvenile snowflake clowns (exactly a week ago) which are about 7 months old, and have been paired for that time. I currently also have a fire shrimp and 2 snails + hermits in the tank. One of my snails has died today for unknown reasons. The others are fine and moving, could've been natural or hermits?

When feeding today, I noticed that one of my clowns has developed a (white-looking) bump near its face/chin. The clown is acting normally and eating like it has been the past couple of days while being introduced in the tank. I feed with frozen brine shrimp at the moment. The other clown seems to be fine. When I first got the clowns, there were a few days where they would hang out near the corner of the tank and sometimes bump into the glass/sand. I have looked at a few other related threads but cannot come to a conclusion and am getting worried. I don't have a QT available.

Should I consider using a product like Fritz Maracyn Two or Seachem Metroplex? Or just wait it out and keep an eye on the clown. Any help would be appreciated, thank you.

Aquarium Parameters:
Type: Fish and coral (current coral: xenia, gsp, button polyps)
Water Volume: 13.5 Gal
Filtration: Filter floss, carbon, ceramic media
Lighting: AI Prime 16hd (currently at 41%)
How long has the aquarium been established? 1 month

Water Quality:
Temp: 77.5-78.0F
pH: ~8.0
Salinity: 1.025-1.026 SG
Ammonia: 0ppm
Nitrite: 0ppm
Nitrate: 10.0ppm (may be different as I did a water change today)

Other information:
Have you lost any fish to this problem? No
Respiration rate - Unknown
Are the affected fish still feeding? Yes
What remedies have you tried so far? None

 

[vetteguy53081]

Hello all. I am pretty new to the hobby and have just started my first tank this year. I have had it up for about 27 days now, it is a 13.5 gallon. I did a fishless cycle and tested relatively often. I added two juvenile snowflake clowns (exactly a week ago) which are about 7 months old, and have been paired for that time. I currently also have a fire shrimp and 2 snails + hermits in the tank. One of my snails has died today for unknown reasons. The others are fine and moving, could've been natural or hermits?

When feeding today, I noticed that one of my clowns has developed a (white-looking) bump near its face/chin. The clown is acting normally and eating like it has been the past couple of days while being introduced in the tank. I feed with frozen brine shrimp at the moment. The other clown seems to be fine. When I first got the clowns, there were a few days where they would hang out near the corner of the tank and sometimes bump into the glass/sand. I have looked at a few other related threads but cannot come to a conclusion and am getting worried. I don't have a QT available.

Should I consider using a product like Fritz Maracyn Two or Seachem Metroplex? Or just wait it out and keep an eye on the clown. Any help would be appreciated, thank you.

Aquarium Parameters:
Type: Fish and coral (current coral: xenia, gsp, button polyps)
Water Volume: 13.5 Gal
Filtration: Filter floss, carbon, ceramic media
Lighting: AI Prime 16hd (currently at 41%)
How long has the aquarium been established? 1 month

Water Quality:
Temp: 77.5-78.0F
pH: ~8.0
Salinity: 1.025-1.026 SG
Ammonia: 0ppm
Nitrite: 0ppm
Nitrate: 10.0ppm (may be different as I did a water change today)

Other information:
Have you lost any fish to this problem? No
Respiration rate - Unknown
Are the affected fish still feeding? Yes
What remedies have you tried so far? None

Looks like either excess mucus or an ulcer/cyst. Can be bacterial in nature and you dont want maracyn 2 and I dont recommend Metro which must be used precisely by weight and often makes food taste bitter to the fish. Best in a separate tank would be Seachem Kanaplex which is absorbed by the fish and is a broad spectrum treatment.

 

[Ollie67]

Looks like either excess mucus or an ulcer/cyst. Can be bacterial in nature and you dont want maracyn 2 and I dont recommend Metro which must be used precisely by weight and often makes food taste bitter to the fish. Best in a separate tank would be Seachem Kanaplex which is absorbed by the fish and is a broad spectrum treatment.

Got it. Do you think it could spread to the other clown? And should I be concerned?

I can look into a QT, but it may take a few days to set up. Could I possibly dose Kanaplex in the main tank or would that not be good?

Thanks

 

[JClic]

Sometimes when clownfish fight, they lock lips and damage. Usually heals by itself with pristine water conditions and good foods. Just watch for any redness, or necrosis that would mean an infection requiring treatment.

The other is it could be lympho. Is the white bump cottony, in texture? Same treatment as above. Adding Beta Glucan can help. Condition usually cfixes itself over time. Make sure it doesn’t grow or it can affect the fishes eating.

 

[vetteguy53081]

Got it. Do you think it could spread to the other clown? And should I be concerned?

I can look into a QT, but it may take a few days to set up. Could I possibly dose Kanaplex in the main tank or would that not be good?

Thanks

Not in the main tank
Contagious- should not be. Could have evolved from an injury and became infected

 

[Ollie67]

Not in the main tank
Contagious- should not be. Could have evolved from an injury and became infected

Gothcya, I'll keep an eye on it for now. If need be, I have a friend with a 10 gal and will borrow for quarantine/treatment with Kanaplex. For now, I'll let them be in the main tank.

 

[Ollie67]

Sometimes when clownfish fight, they lock lips and damage. Usually heals by itself with pristine water conditions and good foods. Just watch for any redness, or necrosis that would mean an infection requiring treatment.

The other is it could be lympho. Is the white bump cottony, in texture? Same treatment as above. Adding Beta Glucan can help. Condition usually cfixes itself over time. Make sure it doesn’t grow or it can affect the fishes eating.

I'm not sure if it was a fight, but it could have been some type of injury. They have been paired together for a while and seem really nice around each other (like friends). But as you know, clowns can be aggressive so you never know. Maybe something happened at night or when I was not home...

I am getting hanna checkers in this week (ordered) so I will get accurate parameters (over API). I just did a water change so hopefully that stabilized everything. I feed spirulina brine shrimp (frozen), and they eat that up.

The bump looks clear/white, I do not see any odd texture or redness. I will see if it will heal on it's own as of now, I will keep an eye.

 

[Ollie67]

Not in the main tank
Contagious- should not be. Could have evolved from an injury and became infected

Could I consider Rally Pro (Ruby) as a just-in-case?

 

[Ollie67]

I will attach a picture of the clowns a few days ago in the corner they liked to hang out at. I also will add a picture of the spot they are in now, where they usually sleep/rest at night.

 

[Ollie67]

The clown with the bump looks a little more skiddish today and is breathing a little bit more heavily. He is opening his mouth a lot more. The bump still looks similar but appears to be slightly pink? It could be because of lighting. Is there anything I can do at the moment?

I am considering Ruby Rally Pro but am not sure if I should put it in my DT. Any other treatment suggestions?

 

[Ollie67]

Could this be Lymphocystis? I'm thinking it could be that, a bacterial infection, or just a mouth fungus. Going to keep my eye on him still. Some help would be appreciated.

 

[Ollie67]

Another thing to note is that my nitrate HR test came back to 70.4ppm. I will be administering a large water change tomorrow afternoon.

 

[JClic]

Could this be Lymphocystis? I'm thinking it could be that, a bacterial infection, or just a mouth fungus. Going to keep my eye on him still. Some help would be appreciated.

I am 75% sure it’s lymphoma. It has a long incubation period and stress can cause it aswell. Stress from being moved to its new home could have triggered it. The nitrate level is way too high. Are you over feeding? Looks like you have the Fluval 13.5 so if there is food in the floss in the media chamber or it’s brown after one day your feeding too much. How often are you water changing and approximately what percentage of the water? Are you making your own water or buying it? I have almost exactly the same setup. I do 20-30% RODI water 1.025 salinity every week and I top off the water once everyday or two. About an inch or two below where the little hole pattern on the glass of the tank is.The tank is new and the fish went through a lot before during and after getting to its new home. If it is lympho there is nothing you can do except maintain perfect water quality and feed vitamins to the fish. Good news is if it is lympho it’s nearly never fatal. Should start clearing up in a few days but could take a while depending on how well the tank is maintained.

 

[Ollie67]

I am 75% sure it’s lymphoma. It has a long incubation period and stress can cause it aswell. Stress from being moved to its new home could have triggered it. The nitrate level is way too high. Are you over feeding? Looks like you have the Fluval 13.5 so if there is food in the floss in the media chamber or it’s brown after one day your feeding too much. How often are you water changing and approximately what percentage of the water? Are you making your own water or buying it? I have almost exactly the same setup. I do 20-30% RODI water 1.025 salinity every week and I top off the water once everyday or two. About an inch or two below where the little hole pattern on the glass of the tank is.The tank is new and the fish went through a lot before during and after getting to its new home. If it is lympho there is nothing you can do except maintain perfect water quality and feed vitamins to the fish. Good news is if it is lympho it’s nearly never fatal. Should start clearing up in a few days but could take a while depending on how well the tank is maintained.

Thank you very much for your response. It's good to hear that it's usually not fatal and can clear up with proper care. I will be trying to keep the parameters in check. I did a 60% water change last night to try and mitigate the nitrate level, and added a chemo-pure blue nano bag into the media chamber (this will be the second carbon bag in the media). I will retest nitrate today.

The nitrates could be from over-feeding. I have been feeding only once a day in the evening. I use frozen spirulina brine shrimp cubes, which I cut into 4 pieces, feeding only 1/4 of the cube a day. My floss was pretty brown yesterday and I changed it after my water change. However, that floss has been in the media chamber for 3 days already. I may try to feed every other day for a week to try and lower nitrates.

My first water change was on the 21st this month, which was a 20% change. It was completed a week after my cycle has completed. The next day (yesterday) I did the emergency 60% change to try to lower the nitrates. However, on a normal schedule, I plan to do weekly 10-20% changes in my tank. I currently buy pre-mixed saltwater at my LFS. They use a good salt, I checked with them, and I double checked the salinity before adding it (I had to dilute with RODI a little). I keep my salinity at 1.025 (may rise to 1.026 before ATO kicks in) and maintain it with my ATO.

Last night I also ordered DKI B-Glucan and Selcon, it should be here by Monday. How do I administer/dose these supplements? I would figure that I can just add a little bit of the Seclon over the frozen piece and then toss it in the tank when I feed. How would I dose the glucan? Sprinkle it in the food? The water?

Thanks again

 

[Ollie67]

Tested my Nitrates today again and looks like my water change has brought it down to 9.7ppm. Very happy I could bring it down, as at 70ppm that was crazy high... I will try and keep nitrate in the 5-10ppm range.

@JClic

 

[Ollie67]

Everything has pretty much been the same until feeding today. I fed my frozen shrimp serving as normal, this time with a squirt of selcon. The clowns ate a good amount as normal, but after eating they are sitting very low. I also noticed the the one clown with the bump, who now has a second one on the other side of his face now, has an elevated breathing rate. Is there anything I can do? Does this still appear to by lypho?

Here is a short clip of them:

@JClic @vetteguy53081

 

[vetteguy53081]

Everything has pretty much been the same until feeding today. I fed my frozen shrimp serving as normal, this time with a squirt of selcon. The clowns ate a good amount as normal, but after eating they are sitting very low. I also noticed the the one clown with the bump, who now has a second one on the other side of his face now, has an elevated breathing rate. Is there anything I can do? Does this still appear to by lypho?

Here is a short clip of them:

@JClic @vetteguy53081

Appears to be a cyst on or at its gill plate and may have stemmed from either injury or infection. The best course of treatment is both clean tank water and treatment using Seachem Kanaplex in an external treatment tank.