Not a great start... sick clowns with what?

[sk51332]

Hello all - I cycled my tank for 6 weeks then added two juvenile clowns. Not paired but don't appear to be aggressive. I added a banggai cardinal, yellow assessor and green chromis last week (week 8). The chromis and cardinal died within 4 days because I suspect the acclimatisation was too quick and they went into shock within 12 hours (lesson learnt). My most recent parameters were amm: 0, nitrite: 0, nitrate 5, pH 8.2 and salinity 1.025. Think my alk is low at 6.5 but I haven't focused on this yet as corals won't come until I turn my lights on (4-6 months in). I have a RS 425 g2 tank with skimmer and reefmat. Heap of rock and sand.

For the last few days, one of the clowns has had its mouth open and it his face has slowly turned white. He has also had stringy white poo even though only fed on frozen brine shrimp. I spoke with my LFS who said it had worms, so I'm day two into dosing the dt with Vertonex. Both clowns are still eating although testing my lights today I took this video and they look horrendous. Would love everyone's opinions!

 

[Townes_Van_Camp]

I'm not gonna be any help here. Just moral support. The folks here are smart. Listen when Jay Hermal and vetteguy show up. They will help.

 

[Kmst80]

While you wait for the experts, have a look at this.

Brooklynella

Brooklynella hostilis What You Need To Know: * This is most often seen in clownfish, but it can afflict any fish. The fish’s skin will appear to be peeling or sloughing off, oftentimes causing excessive white mucous to form around the affected area(s). * Treatment of choice is a 45 minute...

www.reef2reef.com

Could be Brooklynella but i am not an expert.
The stringy poo is intestinal worms. Again not an expert, i treat mine with metroplex and focus added to the food.

Good luck.

 

[sk51332]

While you wait for the experts, have a look at this.

Brooklynella

Brooklynella hostilis What You Need To Know: * This is most often seen in clownfish, but it can afflict any fish. The fish’s skin will appear to be peeling or sloughing off, oftentimes causing excessive white mucous to form around the affected area(s). * Treatment of choice is a 45 minute...

www.reef2reef.com

Could be Brooklynella but i am not an expert.
The stringy poo is intestinal worms. Again not an expert, i treat mine with metroplex and focus added to the food.

Good luck.

Thanks for this. It appears that there is a combination of things going on. There is malachite green in the Vertonex which might assist if it is brook. I also have Blue Planet Tri-Sulfa which maybe does the same thing as metroplex.

Frustrating that these products in Australia don't come with more information/explanation...

Think I might do a fresh water dip tomorrow but I don't want to cause them more stress.

 

[Townes_Van_Camp]

Thanks for this. It appears that there is a combination of things going on. There is malachite green in the Vertonex which might assist if it is brook. I also have Blue Planet Tri-Sulfa which maybe does the same thing as metroplex.

Frustrating that these products in Australia don't come with more information/explanation...

Think I might do a fresh water dip tomorrow but I don't want to cause them more stress.

Freshwater dip stress is better than brook stress.

 

[sk51332]

Did the freshwater dip today. Did it with some blue planet tri-sulpha. Matched the temp but dont bother about pH.

The clown with the whitening face lay flat a couple of times but I kept him moving. The other clown with the dots on his face was very skittish. Both completed 5 mins in the dip.

I noticed the one with dots appears to no longer have dots. Which is a great sign.

The whitening face one has been pretty quiet since he got back to the DT but his face is no worse today. Both eating okay.

They are both now wise to the net. Tomorrow's dip maybe more tricky. Last day of Ventonex too. I'll keep you all posted.

 

[Kmst80]

Sounds promising. Hope you're successful.

 

[sk51332]

Update: the Ventonex / malachite green, appears to have wiped out my pod population Price you pay I guess. Hopefully dead pods don't cause spikes. So far so good, ammonia seems to still be at zero.

My clown with the sick face has been hiding ever since the freshwater dip but comes out now and then and is still interested in food. I'm not brave enough to put him through another fw dip. His face is no worse today, perhaps even better than the video from 2 days ago.

Rightly or wrong, my skimmer went on today when I was at work. It had a melt down due to the meds in the water. Sprayed water all over the sump walls and refugium light. Is there an overflow work around for the non self leveling ones? Note to self, always drain the skimmer when there is build up. The film inside it has turned blue. I assume I need to wipe it out and do some decent water changes???

Hopefully crisis over but likely back to the drawing board with bacteria and pods.

 

[Kmst80]

Update: the Ventonex / malachite green, appears to have wiped out my pod population Price you pay I guess. Hopefully dead pods don't cause spikes. So far so good, ammonia seems to still be at zero.

My clown with the sick face has been hiding ever since the freshwater dip but comes out now and then and is still interested in food. I'm not brave enough to put him through another fw dip. His face is no worse today, perhaps even better than the video from 2 days ago.

Rightly or wrong, my skimmer went on today when I was at work. It had a melt down due to the meds in the water. Sprayed water all over the sump walls and refugium light. Is there an overflow work around for the non self leveling ones? Note to self, always drain the skimmer when there is build up. The film inside it has turned blue. I assume I need to wipe it out and do some decent water changes???

Hopefully crisis over but likely back to the drawing board with bacteria and pods.

That's why i think 5 times before i throw chemicals in the Tank. I use Continuum Bacter gen M, you can either seed a system or maintain, might be worth a look into.
Wouldn't be to concerned about pods right now, get your clowns healthy first. Then you always can get a piece of life rock, comes with pods and might get the coralline algae started on your rock.
If the clown is still eating that's good.
You should have started this thread in the fish disease section, there are experts there that answer and can point you in the right direction.

 

[Kmst80]

@Jay Hemdal
@vetteguy53081

 

[Jay Hemdal]

@Jay Hemdal
@vetteguy53081

The fish is on the mend? I don’t want to step in and change the direction then.
For future reference, here is a post I made about how to post fish diseases questions:

Some Helpful Hints When Posting or Responding to Threads in the Fish Disease Treatment and Diagnosis Section

Aquarium Fish Disease Problem Solving Determining the best course of action for a problem with your aquarium can be a difficult task. Even advanced aquarists will often need to seek the help of others for complicated or unique issues. Our intent here on Reef 2 Reef is to offer expert advice...

www.reef2reef.com

Jay

 

[sk51332]

The fish is on the mend? I don’t want to step in and change the direction then.
For future reference, here is a post I made about how to post fish diseases questions:

Some Helpful Hints When Posting or Responding to Threads in the Fish Disease Treatment and Diagnosis Section

Aquarium Fish Disease Problem Solving Determining the best course of action for a problem with your aquarium can be a difficult task. Even advanced aquarists will often need to seek the help of others for complicated or unique issues. Our intent here on Reef 2 Reef is to offer expert advice...

www.reef2reef.com

Jay

Thanks Jay - very useful reference! So great we have this forum and access to experts.

I suspect we are 50:50 with the clown. Parasites are hopefully gone. Just what ever happened to its face is still to resolve itself.