Sick Clown?

SigEpLucas

Nano Reefer
So my tank is well on it's way, hadn't lost anything, got done upgrading with a 10 gal sump, new skimmer, fuge with mud and chaeto, starting supplementing KH and Calcium, water parameters are great!

Just the other day one of my nassarius snails was eaten by my emerald crab and peppermint shrimp, not too worried about that but I also noticed some small spots on my clowns. 1 has one or two random black spots on it mid body not on the fins, the other has 1 black spot and 1 or 2 white spots. The only thing thats been added in the past 3 months was a decent sized zoanthid rock with about 30 polyps on it. It's been in for about a week now. I'll try to get a pic but don't think i can get a good one of the spots. Any ideas?
 
I don't have a good enough camera to get a clear shot of the fish but here are my parameters.

Temp 80
Salinity 1.025
KH 11
Calc 390ish i've been trying to get it at about 400
pH 8.3
Ammonia 0
Nitrite 0
Nitrate 0
Phosphate 0

These are very stable and I haven't seen much of any changes at all.
 
if everyone is still eating, i wouldnt worry about it to much just yet, just keep giving a good healthy varied diet. it will prolly pass on its own if its anything.
 
Everyone is still eating great, I feed a mixture of frozen mysis shrimp, frozen plankton cubes, frozen marine cuisine combination cubes, and freeze dried cyclops powder stuff, I have flakes and they're never very interested in them. Any other good foods?

Also the temperature is probably the least stable of my water parameters but it never fluctuates more than a degree or so. I would say 98% of the time its between 79-80
 
Your params all look great. How long have you had the clownfish? Besides the spots, is he acting sick? Does he scratch on the rocks or bottom? Does he stay at the top of the tank, or in the flow of a powerhead? Does he shiver?

I agree with xXknuckleheadxX, I wouldn't worry too much, but I would keep a close eye on him and the tank's parameters.
 
It's looking worse, just went home and tried to feed them for the day. No new spots on either fish and 1 is still eating great, The other now has a swollen eye that looks like it's about to pop out and is hanging out in the back corner of the tank, swam around a bit when I put food in and ate alittle but nothing compare to normal.

I've had the 1 with the big eye now for about 3 months and the other one for a week less...the only new recent additions was the zoanthid I put it and it's been in for a little over a week now.

and yes ndepratt that is correct, are you a SigEp??
 
It's looking worse, just went home and tried to feed them for the day. No new spots on either fish and 1 is still eating great, The other now has a swollen eye that looks like it's about to pop out and is hanging out in the back corner of the tank, swam around a bit when I put food in and ate alittle but nothing compare to normal.

I've had the 1 with the big eye now for about 3 months and the other one for a week less...the only new recent additions was the zoanthid I put it and it's been in for a little over a week now.

and yes ndepratt that is correct, are you a SigEp??

I was, the house pretty much went under. I'm going to Senior Wills to will off all my stuff in a couple days. I have some very nice stuff ;)
 
Looks like your clown has popeye. Popeye results from a bacterial infection, that can be brought on by poor nutrition, dirty tank, bad water quality, physical injury, or as a secondary condition from a disease/parasite. Since your water parameters are gorgeous, I would guess that the cause stems from poor nutrition. What are you feeding your clowns? I would recommend some pellets, frozen mysis, zooplankton, etc.

Here is what to do. Move the fish to a hospital tank, lower the salinity to a specific gravity of 1.016. Then treat with Maracyn Two for Saltwater fish. Read the directions on the medication. Double the first recommended dose and make the second dose in the amount recommended. You should do daily water changes in the hospital tank until the treatment is completed. If done properly, and if the medication is working, you can expect to see improvement within 72 hours.

Maracyn antibiotics fight different kinds of bacteria. These antibiotics will and do treat systemic bacterial infections and get to the internal source of the infection. Also, the fish doesn't have to be eating to be treated. So if the fish isn't eating, or if it stops eating, it will still get the full benefit of the medication.

Good luck!
 
Looks like your clown has popeye. Popeye results from a bacterial infection, that can be brought on by poor nutrition, dirty tank, bad water quality, physical injury, or as a secondary condition from a disease/parasite. Since your water parameters are gorgeous, I would guess that the cause stems from poor nutrition. What are you feeding your clowns? I would recommend some pellets, frozen mysis, zooplankton, etc.

Here is what to do. Move the fish to a hospital tank, lower the salinity to a specific gravity of 1.016. Then treat with Maracyn Two for Saltwater fish. Read the directions on the medication. Double the first recommended dose and make the second dose in the amount recommended. You should do daily water changes in the hospital tank until the treatment is completed. If done properly, and if the medication is working, you can expect to see improvement within 72 hours.

Maracyn antibiotics fight different kinds of bacteria. These antibiotics will and do treat systemic bacterial infections and get to the internal source of the infection. Also, the fish doesn't have to be eating to be treated. So if the fish isn't eating, or if it stops eating, it will still get the full benefit of the medication.

Good luck!


doesn't Maracyn have copper in it? from what i've heard copper is deadly to clowns and meds with copper should never be put into the tank... i have clowns and avoid all meds with copper in it... i cant offer much advice but just keep an eye on him, i had a clown that had spots and a buggy eye but it passed and hes as good as new now
 
doesn't Maracyn have copper in it? from what i've heard copper is deadly to clowns and meds with copper should never be put into the tank... i have clowns and avoid all meds with copper in it... i cant offer much advice but just keep an eye on him, i had a clown that had spots and a buggy eye but it passed and hes as good as new now

I don't think Maracyn 2 has copper in it. The active Ingredients are Minocycline, Pantothenic acid, Riboflavin, Thiamine Mononitrate, and Pyridoxine Hydrochloride.
 
Popeye is usually the result of a physical injury to the eye. This could have happened a number of ways, another fish bit it, he ran into a rock, etc. Usually it will go away on its own without you needing to intervene. In some cases, they end up starving to death because they can't see their food, or they will end up losing the eye; but these are rare cases. It usually is not a cause for concern.
 
I agree with Bifferwine re popeye, but since the popeye is in conjunction with white spots, I wonder if this is simply the result of a physical injury.
 
I don't think Maracyn 2 has copper in it. The active Ingredients are Minocycline, Pantothenic acid, Riboflavin, Thiamine Mononitrate, and Pyridoxine Hydrochloride.

hmm okay, i was advised to not use maracyn 2 because it all contained copper or so i was told by my LFS. i had a friend use the stuff in his clown tank and ended up losing his mated pair :( i don't know if it was directly resulted from the meds but i tend to avoid anything that i'm told not to use...
 
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