First Clown acting different and noticing white on him

Luxorth · Jun 27, 2023

Hey all, first clown in brand new cycled tank. Noticed some white blotches along his body, any help is appreciated. The guy was a little beat up on his tail from the LFS, he has been staying in generally 1 spot all day, yesterday he was totally normal, but did notice white mucus like on his body.

The_Paradox · Jun 27, 2023

I’m gonna say it before someone else does. It’s Brook! Could be several things but first steps would be get him in a hospital tank. Have you seen him eat? He is very skinny.

Luxorth · Jun 27, 2023

The_Paradox said:
I’m gonna say it before someone else does. It’s Brook! Could be several things but first steps would be get him in a hospital tank. Have you seen him eat? He is very skinny.

He has been eating fine, may up the amount if that is the case. Did I catch this early enough and what would you recommend to start him on now?

Jay Hemdal · Jun 27, 2023

Oh, the poor little guy is in pretty bad shape. Aside from the fin damage, it is really emaciated.

How long have you had it?
Do you know the salinity it was at in the store’s tank compared to yours?

Jay

Luxorth · Jun 27, 2023

Jay Hemdal said:
Oh, the poor little guy is in pretty bad shape. Aside from the fin damage, it is really emaciated.

How long have you had it?
Do you know the salinity it was at in the store’s tank compared to yours?

Jay

I have had him less than a week, not certain on salinity in store’s tank. Mine is a tad high looking at it again. Water change should help that.

vetteguy53081 · Jun 27, 2023

Luxorth said:
Hey all, first clown in brand new cycled tank. Noticed some white blotches along his body, any help is appreciated. The guy was a little beat up on his tail from the LFS, he has been staying in generally 1 spot all day, yesterday he was totally normal, but did notice white mucus like on his body.

This fish is awefully thin and needs treatment for brooklynella along with secondary bacterial lesions.
what are you feeding it? I cant believe any LFS would sell a fish with bitten tail amongst other issues. This mucus generally starts at the facial area as well as gills and spreads across the body producing lesions as it progresses often confused with ich and can turn into secondary bacteria. Other symptoms will be lethargic behavior, refusing to eat and heavy breathing from the mucus.
Typical treatment is a formalin solution is mixed with in a separate container with either fresh or saltwater. Start with a quick dip in the formalin at a higher concentration then performing treatment in a prolonged bath of formalin base at a lower concentration in a quarantine tank. The longer the fish are exposed to the formalin treatment the more effective it will be at eliminating this issue.
If a formalin solution is not available for immediate use, temporary relief can be achieved by giving the fish a FW bath or dip in water same temperature as display tank. Even though this treatment will not cure the disease, it can help to remove some of the parasites, as well as reduce the amount of mucus in the gills to assist with respiration problems.
Treatment is best done in a QT tank using either quick cure (more effective but now harder to find) or Ruby Rally Pro. Ruby takes a little longer and initial treatment generally takes 2-3 days to really start going to work.

The_Paradox · Jun 27, 2023

How much equipment and reef experience do you have? Not trying to be harsh but even with quick formalin bath and qt, you are fighting an uphill battle and looking at a fallow period. Sometimes there just are no good options.

Luxorth · Jun 27, 2023

The_Paradox said:
How much equipment and reef experience do you have? Not trying to be harsh but even with quick formalin bath and qt, you are fighting an uphill battle and looking at a fallow period. Sometimes there just are no good options.

First tank, first fish, very new. Lacking in equipment, about to go get some equipment to try what I can to save this guy.

The_Paradox · Jun 27, 2023

In addition to medication, pick up a cheap all in one 3-5 gallon tank. Also may want to pick up something like seachem prime and baby brine shrimp as even sick fish tend to eat those. I know you said he is eating but that can change in an instant. Best of luck just remember, whatever the outcome, the odds were against you.

Luxorth · Jun 28, 2023

The_Paradox said:
In addition to medication, pick up a cheap all in one 3-5 gallon tank. Also may want to pick up something like seachem prime and baby brine shrimp as even sick fish tend to eat those. I know you said he is eating but that can change in an instant. Best of luck just remember, whatever the outcome, the odds were against you.

Not looking great at this point, he has gotten significantly worse is a short time. I appreciate the help, I find it unlikely he will make it through the night. Thanks for your help, and now I know where not to buy fish from.

pepper89 · Jun 28, 2023

Luxorth said:
Not looking great at this point, he has gotten significantly worse is a short time. I appreciate the help, I find it unlikely he will make it through the night. Thanks for your help, and now I know where not to buy fish from.

Please be careful though, I don't know much, but I know if it's Brooklynella, you will need to sanitize everything before you get a new fish. Brook if I remember right can live up to 6 weeks in a tank without a fish to host. So if it does die, you might want to wait a while before getting a new one. Others will also recommend a small quarintine tank to monitor any new ones you get before adding them to the display for that reason. Luckily you didn't have a ton of fish in there that will get sick, but

I'm sorry it happened with your fish though. That has to still be hard.

The_Paradox · Jun 28, 2023

pepper89 said:
Please be careful though, I don't know much, but I know if it's Brooklynella, you will need to sanitize everything before you get a new fish. Brook if I remember right can live up to 6 weeks in a tank without a fish to host. So if it does die, you might want to wait a while before getting a new one. Others will also recommend a small quarintine tank to monitor any new ones you get before adding them to the display for that reason. Luckily you didn't have a ton of fish in there that will get sick, but I'm sorry it happened with your fish though. That has to still be hard.

Agreed. If there is no other livestock to consider, I would just nuke tank and re-cycle. That will be quicker than a 2 month fallow. Either way, you did everything right. You just caught a bad break. For what it’s worth you may want to let the pet store know there is a fair chance their tanks have brooklynella.

Luxorth · Jun 28, 2023

Thank you everyone for your help and guidance here. Unfortunately, he did not make it through the night as expected. I will be informing the LFS of this, as they are a newer shop in the area. I will also be doing a Fallow for a while as I have a kid on the way, would most likely be better cost-wise and stress-wise. On top of all of this I have learned my lesson on being more selective with my fish, and ensuring I have the appropriate equipment for triage if something like this happens again. It was a heartbreaking experience seeing the little guy suffer the way he did.