New Clownfish has white stuff under eye

[zbk]

So I just recently got my first saltwater tank setup. After a 3 day cycle I decided to get a single Percula Clownfish to help get that ammonia spike for the full cycling process. But, just yesterday, I noticed it had this white stuff start appearing under it's right eye. I'm only more familiar with freshwater diseases and I'd really appreciate to have a diagnosis and what I can do. Just for other reference, I've been keeping tabs on the levels for ammonia, nitrite, nitrate, pH, and Salinity and the levels all seem to be looking really good. My clownfish also hasn't been eating well while I'm present, he only seems to eat when I'm away or asleep. He's in a 10 gallon tank with 12 pounds of live rock total with the live sand along with a small Xenia coral frag. I also have been adding the turbo start bacteria every other day. Am I doing something wrong? (below is an attached image of what the poor guy is looking like right now)

Thanks a bunch,
~zbk

 

[vetteguy53081]

So I just recently got my first saltwater tank setup. After a 3 day cycle I decided to get a single Percula Clownfish to help get that ammonia spike for the full cycling process. But, just yesterday, I noticed it had this white stuff start appearing under it's right eye. I'm only more familiar with freshwater diseases and I'd really appreciate to have a diagnosis and what I can do. Just for other reference, I've been keeping tabs on the levels for ammonia, nitrite, nitrate, pH, and Salinity and the levels all seem to be looking really good. My clownfish also hasn't been eating well while I'm present, he only seems to eat when I'm away or asleep. He's in a 10 gallon tank with 12 pounds of live rock total with the live sand along with a small Xenia coral frag. I also have been adding the turbo start bacteria every other day. Am I doing something wrong? (below is an attached image of what the poor guy is looking like right now)

Thanks a bunch,
~zbk

Looks to be mucus as well as noticeable mucus on the overall body. Fish also Slightly thin. Can you provide a 20-25 second video under white light intensity to allow viewing further?
If brook indeed, 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.
With the advanced stage of this- I recommend immediate quarantine of all inhabitants and leaving display without fish for 4-6 weeks.
A quarantine system if you dont have one can be as easy as a second hand tank from a thrift store or as simple as a starter tank kit from walmart which has most of the essentials

 

[Jay Hemdal]

Welcome to Reef2Reef!

Yes, as @vetteguy53081 said, this clownfish is thin and may have an infection of some sort. If you are not seeing it eat, it won’t be eating when you aren’t in the room, clownfish aren’t shy about that.

A video is going to help us diagnose the problem.

Jay

 

[zbk]

Hi Jay and vetteguy, I just woke up this morning and found him dead (I am on PST and I started the thread at night before I went to sleep).
It does seem to of been brooks just off of the physical description of the parasite. I'll hold off for 4-6 weeks before getting another fish like vetteguy has told me. Is there any other precautionary steps I should take to ensure the tank will be safe for any future fish? Is this a parasite that will linger after a fish has died?

Thank you both for responding previously and trying to help,
~zbk

 

[Jay Hemdal]

Hi Jay and vetteguy, I just woke up this morning and found him dead (I am on PST and I started the thread at night before I went to sleep).
It does seem to of been brooks just off of the physical description of the parasite. I'll hold off for 4-6 weeks before getting another fish like vetteguy has told me. Is there any other precautionary steps I should take to ensure the tank will be safe for any future fish? Is this a parasite that will linger after a fish has died?

Thank you both for responding previously and trying to help,
~zbk

Since we are not 100% sure what disease killed your clownfish, the best thing to do would be to run the tank fishless (invertebrates are ok) for 60 days at around 80 degrees F. Then, you can add new fish with little to no risk that they will become infected with the same disease. However, you might consider quarantine new fish, or buying pre quarantined fish, as any new fish could easily carry a disease into the tank just as the first one did.
Jay

 

[zbk]

Since we are not 100% sure what disease killed your clownfish, the best thing to do would be to run the tank fishless (invertebrates are ok) for 60 days at around 80 degrees F. Then, you can add new fish with little to no risk that they will become infected with the same disease. However, you might consider quarantine new fish, or buying pre quarantined fish, as any new fish could easily carry a disease into the tank just as the first one did.
Jay

K, I'll make sure to do that. Thank you so much. For my tank, I haven't gotten the ammonia spike yet, should I hold off on invertebrates for that reason? I was told by the place I go for my equipment and livestock that it wouldn't be a good idea to add any until the spike has happened. And should my Xenia frag still be okay in the current conditions? And one last question but my roommate was wondering if there would be any way to speed up the sterilization process from whatever disease my clownfish had?

Thanks again,
~zbk

 

[Jay Hemdal]

K, I'll make sure to do that. Thank you so much. For my tank, I haven't gotten the ammonia spike yet, should I hold off on invertebrates for that reason? I was told by the place I go for my equipment and livestock that it wouldn't be a good idea to add any until the spike has happened. And should my Xenia frag still be okay in the current conditions? And one last question but my roommate was wondering if there would be any way to speed up the sterilization process from whatever disease my clownfish had?

Thanks again,
~zbk

Correct - let the ammonia drop to zero, then add a couple or hardy invertebrates like small hermit crabs. Wait a week or so and them maybe add a shrimp.

You already have Xenia in the tank though? They don’t do well in uncycled tanks.

Higher water temperatures speed up the fallow process, but that can harm the invertebrates.

 

[zbk]

Correct - let the ammonia drop to zero, then add a couple or hardy invertebrates like small hermit crabs. Wait a week or so and them maybe add a shrimp.

You already have Xenia in the tank though? They don’t do well in uncycled tanks.

Higher water temperatures speed up the fallow process, but that can harm the invertebrates.

Oh, interesting. One of the employees at the place I go to said that Xenia's are hardy and are really good options when starting tanks, it's been looking really well so far, so I guess I'll see how it plays out? Thank you for all of your help, I really appreciate it.

~zbk