Clownfish illness

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drgold

AC Members
Mar 1, 2006
347
0
0
42
Wausau, WI
Hi everyone,

Two days ago, I noticed both of my percs (TR 1-1.5" babies) had whitish patches all over their fins and bodies and were "hosting" in various corals around the tank. I pulled them out and did a 15 minute freshwater dip and then moved them to a 10g QT tank. I've been treating two days with "ridich" and they seem to be doing very well. They don't have any marks on them at all anymore, they're breathing and interacting normally, and they aggressively come to the glass looking for food whenever I check on them. I've been feeding very sparingly to keep water quality up.

I'm curious what was wrong with them and how long I should keep them in QT? I still have two cardinalfish and a red spotted blenny in the tank (29g biocube) and they're doing just fine with no marks of any kind on them.

Has anyone dealt with this before and if so, how should I proceed?

My QT tank doesn't have a filter, so I've been doing daily 50% water changes with a dash of Prime to neutralize ammonia. So far this seems to be keeping the water OK and the fish are happy, but it's not a long-term solution.
 

Amphiprion

Contain the Excitement...
Feb 14, 2007
5,776
0
0
Mobile, Alabama
Real Name
Andrew
Hi everyone,

Two days ago, I noticed both of my percs (TR 1-1.5" babies) had whitish patches all over their fins and bodies and were "hosting" in various corals around the tank. I pulled them out and did a 15 minute freshwater dip and then moved them to a 10g QT tank. I've been treating two days with "ridich" and they seem to be doing very well. They don't have any marks on them at all anymore, they're breathing and interacting normally, and they aggressively come to the glass looking for food whenever I check on them. I've been feeding very sparingly to keep water quality up.

I'm curious what was wrong with them and how long I should keep them in QT? I still have two cardinalfish and a red spotted blenny in the tank (29g biocube) and they're doing just fine with no marks of any kind on them.

Has anyone dealt with this before and if so, how should I proceed?

My QT tank doesn't have a filter, so I've been doing daily 50% water changes with a dash of Prime to neutralize ammonia. So far this seems to be keeping the water OK and the fish are happy, but it's not a long-term solution.
Could've been several things. If they had whitish slimy patches, it could be anything from some coral mucus that rubbed onto the clowns (especially from the behavior you described) to a bacterial infection. Brooklynella also fits a portion of that description, but Rid-Ich would not have been effective against it, nor would the dip, which leads me to believe it was not, fortunately.
 

Amphiprion

Contain the Excitement...
Feb 14, 2007
5,776
0
0
Mobile, Alabama
Real Name
Andrew
Since I can't see/observe them and I'm not sure if the fishes actually had an issue from the start, I would probably stop treatment, but keep them in quarantine for a couple more weeks for observation. Just keep water quality high, observe, and make sure they eat well in the mean time. It sounds like it won't be an issue, though, just from what you describe.
 
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