Bad beginnings.., Sick Clowns 5/24/08
Hello,
<Hi>
I have a QT tank running with two juvenile false Percula fish. The bigger one of the two was just added about three days ago to the QT tank and the little one has been for about 5 days. I was having a little trouble feeding the little one when I first brought since it only took small bites that I brought live brine shrimp and began feeding them this food. The second day the bigger one was swimming abnormally. Like a little titled to the side staying near the ground and sometimes even putting his head down tail up. Seeing how this was right after I feed them live brine shrimp I thought that it was a swimming bladder problem.
<Odd swim patterns are pretty common with clownfish, and are normal.>
Than today he has stayed the entire day with the little one in a front corner of the tank laying on the ground. I feed them food and they will not get out of the corner. So, I got my net and tried moving them out of the corner and only the little one stayed away while the big one returned.
<Not a good sign.>
I have no idea what is wrong with him besides that bladder problem. I was thinking maybe since all the quarantine tank had to hide was two pieces of pipes that together that maybe they stayed their because of stress or to protect each other. By the way, water parameters are normal.
<Numbers please, most likely these symptoms are environmental in nature.>
Please give me some advice. I really don't want the big one to die. He was the replacement of another juvenile smaller false Percula that was sick before I brought him in the tank and died before I could find out what he had. These were my first fish after 6 months of research and cycling and to have them die on me is really having me having think twice about everything that I have done so far.
Thank you for giving me your time.
<Are these wild caught clowns? In so check out the article on Brooklynella, but otherwise I would bet on poor water quality here. Try daily water changes for a few days and see if their condition continue. Also check out here to see if it helps diagnose the problem. http://www.wetwebmedia.com/clnfshdisart.htm .>
<Chris>

Clownfish, fin rot 05/23/08
I have a dilemma with my maroon clownfish. He is wild caught, but I have had him since Sept. 07. My tank went down hill due to a pump malfunction, by the time I figured out the issue, my clown had slimy white coating on his fins, and cloudy eyes. I have corrected everything, and all is well except for him. I have been doing wc, many. I was hoping to clear this up without medicine. This has been going on now for about 2 weeks, I thought he looked better, but now one fin has the white slime back and the patch is close to his body where it attaches. I have a QT tank but it is housing a purple tang, who is definitely ready to go in the DT, but will he catch this?
<No. It's environmental... not pathogenic>
He battled ick in the QT back in Jan. and has recovered with flying colors with hypo salinity approach.  What can I treat the maroon with ( I have furan2 on hand), and where. I would like to do baths and put him back in DT, I am afraid he would freak and die for sure without his anemone. Will this medicine some how remain on him and kill the anemone? OR should I switch him to the QT and put the tang in the DT? Could the clown then catch ick from the QT? There have been no signs of this since Jan. 25, 08 in the QT and I have never seen any in the DT.
Greatly appreciate the advice,
Renee
<I would leave the Clown in place. NOT move, nor treat it per se. Bob Fenner>

Clownfish with Internal Parasites – 5/21/08
Hey Guys,
<Hello Adrian, Brenda here! >
Great site, excellent for beginners to learn from others mistakes. First and foremost tank info and water analysis: 55 Gal. 2 inches of Crushed Coral 40 lbs. live rock SG: 1.026 Ammonia: 0 Nitrite: 0 Nitrate: 10
<Work on getting nitrates down to zero. >
PH: 8.0 Temp: 80-84
<Work on getting temperature stable. I don’t recommend going above 82 degrees. Perhaps a fan would help. >
Tank Inhabitants: 1 Torch Coral 2 Turbo Snails 2 Nassarius Snails 10 Small Hermit Crabs.
<That’s a lot of crabs. Crabs can become predators. >
1 Purple Starfish 1 Coral Beauty 1 Striped Sailfin Tang 1 Yellow Tang
<Tangs need a much larger tank. >
2 Green Chromis Damsels 2 Clownfish (TR) Recently we added a small false Percula clownfish to our established tank which contained a few other inhabitants; none of which was a clown. He did well and never seemed to have any problems. Then feeling he needed a friend we added another false Percula clown which was larger (mistake).
<Yep! >
At first they seemed to get along with no problems, then suddenly the smaller clown became lethargic and stayed in the bottom corner swimming minimally and breathing heavily. I had noticed thin stringy feces from him and suspected parasites, however the timing of the addition of the new clown seemed too convenient. The other clown wasn’t aggressive towards him and actually came to check on him frequently. We scrambled to try and solve this problem, but he would not eat anything (Mysis, brine, formula one, flakes) and in a matter of days he died. We were very sad to see him go and frustrated. After some time with the new clown flourishing and doing well we decided to add another clown again larger (mistake), but we wanted this clown in particular because he was our new clowns original tank inhabitant from our LFS and we thought they'd fair well together. Again, the fished seemed well together and I even noticed some signs of pairing or acceptance (twitching, and side by side swimming). But, again the smaller of the two clowns (the second one, not the new one) began showing the same signs as the original clown. He will stay in the corner breathing heavily all day, he wont move, or eat. Overall, he looks healthy maybe a little dark, but overall good shape and appearance. He tends to stay in the vicinity of a specific rock (which he does sleep in at night) though during the day he is always in the corner. I also noticed white stringy feces from him this morning.
<The white stringy feces is a sign of a internal parasite. >
Again the larger (or newest) clown will come and check on him and even defend him and that area. The new clown appears fine, swimming around enjoying the current and feeding normally. It feels like its deja vu and this is happening all over again. Is this being caused by the fact that both times we introduced a larger clown to a tank where a smaller clown was already established? Do you think the stringy feces is coincidence maybe from stress or lack of feeding? Or is it some mysterious parasite that attacks only small dominated clowns?
<Internal parasite. >
I'm at a loss, and my main concern at this point is trying to get my small clown to eat before he perishes. Also I don’t know if his lack of appetite is caused by this mysterious parasite, or some psychological reason perhaps from the larger clowns dominance?
<It is caused by the internal parasite. >
It seems safe to say it's one of those reasons considering it did fine on its own before the larger clown came into play. On a side note: I had suspected the green Chromis damsels were bullying everybody (I originally had four), I removed two to see if this would even the playing field or at least remove some territorial issues from the tank. Much to my surprise shortly afterwards the smaller clown began swimming with the larger clown and seemed as though he was back to normal. But, by the end of the day he was back to his corner and has remained there ever since. I don’t know if that's related and if removing the damsels altogether would help (I had originally intended to take them out before I inhabited the tank, as they were mainly for cycling, but they are difficult to catch.) Again thanks so much for your help and sea of useful information. Adrian S.
<This fish needs to be moved to quarantine immediately and treated. More information found here for disease and treatment: http://www.wetwebmedia.com/clnfshdisart.htm and here: http://www.wetwebmedia.com/clnfshdisfaq3.htm Brenda >

Sick clowns... yep you guessed it.  05/20/08
In treating Brooklynellosis I am confused as to what you suggest as a dose for dips / baths.
http://www.wetwebmedia.com/formalinart.htm
States: "For dips/baths 125-250 ppm (about 2.7 ml. of 100% soln.)((C1/C2= V1/V2 -- 100/37 = 1/X) and came up with 2.70mL of 37% stock Formalin solution per a gallon of aerated/temp. adjusted salt water.)"
http://www.wetwebmedia.com/brooklynellosisart.htm
Suggests: "Stock solutions of formalin (formaldehyde) are generally about 37% composition, and can be used as dips/baths of one cc. per
gallon" So do you suggest 2.7 ML or 1 ML?? Thanks!!
<Mmm... actually (and I am hoping this is not continuingly unclear) either one... Clowns are "more" sensitive to formalin... so, either dosage is "about" right. Bob Fenner>
I have on-hand "Organi-Cure" which is copper and formalin. With poor labeling I can not be sure of the concentration... I would guess 37% like most products seem to have. You don't know the concentration, do you?
<I do not... I would not be surprised to find that this/it is about full-strength... i.e with just copper (CuSO4 pentahydrate) added though... I would NOT treat clowns, other fishes with (apparent) Brooklynellosis with copper compounds... not of use, and may well just add to toxicity. BobF>
Thanks!!

Maroon clown fin discolored 05/19/08
Hello!,
<Greetings>
I got a new maroon clown fish about 10 days ago. When I bought him he had a slight "thinning" of a small part of the dorsal fin and now it's changed slightly (a bit bigger?) and there is a splotch in the middle.
<I see this>
See pics. Did a search but couldn't find anything similar on-line. I have him alone in a quarantine tanks (10gal, no sand or rock, pvc tubes, hypo-saline at 23ppt,
<Mmm, I'd raise this to seawater strength>
ammonia was 0 but has gone up to almost . 2 for the last 3 days (doing water changes to keep down); AquaClear 20 filter w/ sponge, charcoal + bio-filter material from main tank; nitrites: just a hint, nitrates: 0, temp: 77, pH: 8.13 (adding a couple drops of B-Ionic Alk sup to keep up pH as it drops down to 8ish by morning)). He's active and hungry! Isn't scared of me and comes to the surface when I put my hand near tank, waiting for food. Feeding him on various days: Cyclopeeze, Arctic-pods, Prime Reef flakes & mysis shrimps. Eats them all! Is this dorsal fin thing anything to worry about? What's concerns me is that it's changing, which may be good/healing or bad/deteriorating. Not sure.
Thanks in advance for your help!!
-john
ps- the web site is a great resource!
<Thank you John. By the looks of it, this is a wild-collected male Premnas... I suspect the spot is resultant from an injury... and will heal of its own accord in time. I would summarily (perhaps with an enroute dip/bath) place this specimen in your main display... the likelihood of "bringing something in" with it is much less than the stress/strain of its current circumstances and isolation. Bob Fenner>

Re: maroon clown fin discolored 05/20/08
Thanks Bob! Yes, (s)he's a beauty!
Would that be a Formalin or Methylene Blue dip?
<Just the pH adjusted freshwater and MB>
I've read great things about Hyposaline conditions for fish only (not corals, etc) especially against ich. I've also read your bit against it. Why don't you like it or think it's effective?
<It has proven to not be of much use in most circumstances long(er) term>
I'll start raising the salinity, keep changing the water and get him in soon. Probably not good to pop him into 35ppt without slow adjustment.
Thanks again,
-John
<Not usually a problem given the species, conditions presented, but best/better to be cautious here (as usual). Cheers, BobF>

clownfish health/condition Qs 5/16/08
Hi crew, I have a Ocellaris clownfish and when I bought it, it was really hyper and active but now about four weeks of owning it he began to slow down and now about half of the day he is swimming in a small area in front of the tank.
<This is typical. Clownfish often settle into one small part of a tank.>
When I wake up in the morning and turn the light on about 6:30-7:00am his color is really pale whitish, purple but then about ten minutes later he returns back to normal,
<This is also normal.>
but lately the top half of his body is slightly darker than when bought. Also the black line on his tail fin has slightly disappeared, but on his left fin the black has disappeared all the way. He also has a very dim white dot behind his second white line on both sides and a very dim, small white stripe from above his eye to above his fin on both sides also. Any idea of what this could be and if it is anything to worry about?
<Is this a small clown fish? Young fish often change color as they grow.>
Tank equipment:
55 gallon tank
4.5 gallon CPR refugium
maxi-jet 1200 powerhead
current nova extreme 48" 108 watt T5 high output light w/10,000k daylight T5HO and 460NM actinic T5HO
18 pounds live rock
Livestock:
Fish: 2 Ocellaris clowns, 1 green Chromis, 2 Firefish gobies.
Inverts: 1 red sea star, 1 reef Haitian anemone, 2 turbo snails, 2 trochus snails, 1 hitchhiker abalone.
<Best,
Sara M.>

Ocellaris Clown has freckles 05/15/08 Good Afternoon, Wet Web Crew! <Hi, Jessica - Mike I here with you today> First, I must say "Thank You" for your site! The archives and information you have provided has been beneficial to us and our tank (and the inhabitants in our tank) for several years. <Very glad to hear it, and thanks or the thanks!> We recently purchased a pair of Ocellaris Clowns. They are eating well and VERY active. I am enjoying their antics!! <Excellent stuff!> My question is about the large black "freckles" that they now have. I have attached a picture for your diagnosis. I do not think it is 'ich' and I read somewhere on the net that perhaps the"zoas" are stinging them. <Could be.....? I must apologize for the blurriness of the picture - but she won't stay still! :) <Did you ask politely though?...> I want them to be happy in their new home and want to make sure that I am doing my best to be a good hostess. Any and all information would be greatly appreciated. Thank you kindly for taking the time to answer my question. Warm Regards, Jessica <Well, Jessica, as the picture is a little blurred, you'll have to accept this information with a proviso on it, so here goes.... Providing you are not seeing any behaviour normally related to illness (scratching, flicking, loss of appetite, loss of weight, rapid breathing etc) from that picture is appears to be something that happens fairly frequently. There are a couple of things that can cause it. First, is as you say, a hyper-melanism (increased black pigments) caused by certain hosting relationships - zoas and mushrooms being a common trigger, as do some anemones. In other cases it is caused by the larvae of a fluke - the black markings are the fish walling off the parasite. That last one a bit concerning, but let me assure you that you shouldn't worry - if it is indeed the latter, the parasite needs a further host (not found in the marine aquarium) to complete it's life-cycle, and therefore the problem usually goes away on it's own as the parasite it either rejected or ceases to be. It doe snot appear to have a great affect on the animals. I hope that helps - again, don't worry too much if you're not seeing other symptoms. Enjoy your clowns! Mike I>