Not Ich, White/Clear spots on clownfish with abnormal behavior

[MightyCasey]

Hi, Reef2Reef!
Long time reader and hobbyist. I have a mature clown that is having some issues. LFS is stumped and so am I. I'll start with tank params.

Salinity 1.023
Ammonia 0
Nitrite 0
Nitrate 0-5
PH 8.2

40 gal aquatop has been up and running for about 8 months. Everything else in tank (citron goby, peppermint shrimp, CUC, Zoas, toadstool leather, hammerhead) is seemingly thriving and healthy.

Last week the clown attempted to jump out of the glass top, and now is doing it 3-4 times a day. He clearly becomes in shock, floats around the bottom for about 20 mins before recovering. Rinse, repeat for the other few times a day. The fish is still eating.

Today I finally noticed these clear/white spots on the fish. They were not there for the past six months he has been in the tank, and it is clearly in distress. Any thoughts? PICS:

 

[Jay Hemdal]

Hi, Reef2Reef!
Long time reader and hobbyist. I have a mature clown that is having some issues. LFS is stumped and so am I. I'll start with tank params.

Salinity 1.023
Ammonia 0
Nitrite 0
Nitrate 0-5
PH 8.2

40 gal aquatop has been up and running for about 8 months. Everything else in tank (citron goby, peppermint shrimp, CUC, Zoas, toadstool leather, hammerhead) is seemingly thriving and healthy.

Last week the clown attempted to jump out of the glass top, and now is doing it 3-4 times a day. He clearly becomes in shock, floats around the bottom for about 20 mins before recovering. Rinse, repeat for the other few times a day. The fish is still eating.

Today I finally noticed these clear/white spots on the fish. They were not there for the past six months he has been in the tank, and it is clearly in distress. Any thoughts? PICS:

Welcome to Reef2Reef!

I’m not sure what is making the fish act skittish like that. If nothing has changed about the tank and its environment, I don’t know what that is from.

Couple of possibilities for the visual symptoms; these could be Mycobacterium cysts. They could also be xenoma cysts from an internal Microsporidan infection. If they look more like clear blisters (they look white to me though in the pictures) there is an unknown disease that causes this in fish.

Trouble is, no real treatments exist for any of those three possibilities. Good news is that they also are not always acutely fatal and are not super contagious to other fish.

 

[MightyCasey]

It is hard to tell, but they do seem more clear than white. He has been hosting the two heat sticks inside the tank. I’ve never heard of it, but is there any possibility he is burning himself on them? Although that would seem strange given the marks are all sort of grouped in the same area.

 

[MightyCasey]

Welcome to Reef2Reef!

I’m not sure what is making the fish act skittish like that. If nothing has changed about the tank and its environment, I don’t know what that is from.

Couple of possibilities for the visual symptoms; these could be Mycobacterium cysts. They could also be xenoma cysts from an internal Microsporidan infection. If they look more like clear blisters (they look white to me though in the pictures) there is an unknown disease that causes this in fish.

Trouble is, no real treatments exist for any of those three possibilities. Good news is that they also are not always acutely fatal and are not super contagious to other fish.

It is hard to tell, but they do seem more clear than white. He has been hosting the two heat sticks inside the tank. I’ve never heard of it, but is there any possibility he is burning himself on them? Although that would seem strange given the marks are all sort of grouped in the same area.

 

[Jay Hemdal]

It is hard to tell, but they do seem more clear than white. He has been hosting the two heat sticks inside the tank. I’ve never heard of it, but is there any possibility he is burning himself on them? Although that would seem strange given the marks are all sort of grouped in the same area.

You hear about heater burns on fish, but IMO, the water draws the heat off of the tube so well, they never get really hot.

 

[MightyCasey]

You hear about heater burns on fish, but IMO, the water draws the heat off of the tube so well, they never get really hot.

Yeah. I’m lost here. Is a freshwater dip for flukes worth it?

 

[Jay Hemdal]

Yeah. I’m lost here. Is a freshwater dip for flukes worth it?

FW dips are primarily a diagnostic tool, not an effective treatment. If you have a microscope, you can do a dip, then settle the water and look for flukes.
FW dips do have some limited use in cases of flukes to buy some time before a full treatment can be started.
Dips can be stressful, especially if you bang a fish around trying to catch it up.