Sick Baby Clown, reading  6/25/08 I brought two baby clowns (false Perculas) three days ago. Each are about 4 weeks to 6 weeks old. <? Very young> Unfortunately, when I brought them home and started acclimating them to quarantine I noticed the bigger one had something weird covering its tail. Like some sort of white slime. The tip of the tail was split into little strands. His body is darker than the other clown fish and has a dark spot around the head. As for behavior, he stays pretty much in a corner in the tank near the ground. <Bad signs> Never goes away from the ground. He seems as if he was eating from the ground but he is not (at least not to my knowledge.) This makes feeding him a lot harder. What could be wrong with him and what kind of medication can I give him? Any particular foods that baby clowns will eat? <Live baby brine at this size... Read here: http://wetwebmedia.com/marine/fishes/part2.htm toward the bottom... Bob Fenner>

White stringy feces. Clown dis., Flagyl use  6/25/08 I got another question for the experts. <Got? Experts?> I have a 75 gallon FOWLR with the following livestock: yellow tang, asfur angel, <Needs MUCH more room than this> blue flasher wrasse, 2 clownfish, and some snails. The clownfish has recently shown to have white stringy feces. <Mmm, how long have you had this fish? Was it wild-collected (vs. captive produced)?> I have tried Prazi-pro but it has not resolved the issue. It is safe to use Metronidazole soaked foods or a product like Jungle's Anti-Parasite Medicated Fish Food in the main tank? <Mmm, yes... safe enough IMO. Please read re this symptom in Clownfishes, the use of Metronidazole on WWM for further input, cautionary remarks. Bob Fenner> thanks, L

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>

Growths on clowns   5/4/08 Hey guys, <Albert> Long time reader - first time writer. These pages are actually what gave me the confidence to move from freshwater to saltwater. Thank you all so much for what you do. <Welcome> Now a little background: 110 gallon display with 120 #s live rock and 1" live sand, 20 gallon sump with EuroReef skimmer, 20 gallon fuge with ~6" live sand. Total flow is around 2000 gallons/hour. 6 40watt NO tubes on the display, 1 60watt CF on fuge with a 12/12 lighting period. I have a half-dozen hermits, about 50 assorted snails and two tank-raised percula clowns in the display. In the fuge is Caulerpa <Mmm, I'd move this out (freeze, toss it) or at least keep it trimmed down to an absolute minimum> and another handful of red macro that I grabbed from the LFS without identifying. SG:1.025, PH:8.2, Ammonia, Trites, Trates: 0. The larger of the two clowns has a growth on its anal fin that it has had since I brought it home from the LFS a month ago (I know, I know - I just missed it). It looks like a very small cluster of 3-4 white bumps. After reading through these pages, my best guess was lymph so I decided to do nothing. <Is what I would do as well> Since I brought the fish home, they have been eating like pigs and seem to enjoy their new home. The white cluster has not grown so I thought everything would be OK. About a week ago, I noticed a white pimple on the gill of the other smaller clown. At first I thought it might be the same thing that the larger clown has, but it didn't cluster and just started to grow larger. I decided that I should try to do something. I gave them both a freshwater dip (just temperature adjusted RODI water and baking soda) for about 5 minutes each. They both seemed to deal with the treatment well. I saw no change in the larger clown. The cluster remained. The pimple on the smaller clown separated from the gill and hung, but I could not get it all the way off. After a day back in the display tank, the pimple on the smaller clown reattached although it was smaller. A day later, I decided to try the same treatment again on the smaller pimpled clown. The same thing happened, the pimple separated but it would not come completely off. I even stuck my hand in the dip dish to try and physically remove it. The fish and the pimple are both so small, I was unsuccessful. The pimple has reattached for a second time. The fish have gone from completely calm and happy to mildly frantic. The larger clown is beginning to settle but the smaller one that I dipped twice is racing around the tank. Neither of them are eating as much as before. I seemed to have stressed them out. I feel like I have done more bad than good. Can you help to identify their conditions and recommend a course of action? Thanks, Al Conti <Not able to determine what the material may be from the description... could be protozoan, other pathogen... But I would try a purposeful cleaner... likely a Lysmata sp. shrimp or two here. Bob Fenner>

Clownfish - possible fungus, Lined Wrasse comp.  5/1/08 Hello! I have a fairly new 29 gal FOWLR tank (4 weeks). Water parameters are great. I incorporated a small Ocellaris clown initially, then two weeks later a 6 line wrasse. I noticed almost immediately after I got the clownfish some white spots on his fin. Could have been there when I got him but it was hardly noticeable. Originally I thought it was a stress-induced secondary infection, or perhaps that he had been picked on in the LFS tank. Upon closer inspection, the bottom of the fin is feathered and ragged and there are some white, almost fuzzy areas. There has been little change over the past 4 weeks but it definitely isn't going away... maybe getting a tad worse. The fish seems totally healthy otherwise, eats, swims, sleeps normally and is energetic. I wondered if the wrasse was harassing it <Could well be... in such a small volume... this species can be a terror> however I have never noticed that type of behavior. I thought of treating with some MelaFix <Worse than worthless... may well upset the cycling of the system, alter pH... of no medicine value> but I am afraid of harming my beneficial bacterial. <You are wise here> Any suggestions? <Patience, observation... possibly the removal of the Wrasse. Bob Fenner> Melissa L. Hetzer

Sick Clownfish: 4-28-08 Hello, I am in need of some advice. <Allright.> I have a 20 gallon fish only tank containing only a pair of clown fish. When I first brought these fish home they behaved normally for about a week. Then the larger one (the female I assume) stopped eating, was breathing rapidly and would occasionally lie on the bottom of the tank. Even though there were no other symptoms I guessed that it was either ich or velvet and I had caught it early. <Ich or velvet would produce other symptoms like increased mucus or white specks along the body. If these were not present I doubt it was either of the two.> I did not plan on ever having any coral or other reef creatures so I decided to treat the whole display tank with CopperSafe according to the instructions. After another two weeks went by, the larger clown was doing very well. It stopped the rapid breathing and started eating normally. (The smaller clown always looked and behaved normally, and that never changed) It has been about a month since the start of the copper treatment and the large clown has had a large appetite and is relatively active. <Have you done any water changes since then? Let me stress that treating in the main display is never recommended. As you subjected the other healthy clown to medication that it did not need. That can cause adverse side effects in the long run. Always medicate in a quarantine tank. > But three things still bother me. First, when the large clown first became sick, it lost its color. The color never returned to normal. It is pale compared to the smaller clown. <Pale color can be a lack of nutrition and poor water quality. What kind of foods are you feeding?> Second, the large fish will still sometimes lie on the bottom of the tank (especially at night), but immediately wakes up when anyone goes near the tank. <This may be it's sleeping spot. Are you providing any shelters for it? Ie: rocks, pipes. Also are the male and female sleeping together or separately?> Third, recently very, very faint spots have appeared on the body of the fish. There are three of these spots and they are faint enough that they can only be seen in the right lighting. I have been watching these spots for about a week now and they have not changed. <Raised spots? Let me ask this'¦Do you notice any aggression between the two fish? Were they bought as a mated pair? Perhaps these can be injuries from fighting.> My question is, should I continue copper treatment until the large fish behaves and looks completely normal? Or is the odd behavior and spots caused by something else like a fungus or bacteria that copper cannot treat? I have been testing the water quality constantly during the whole process. The ammonia/nitrites both have been zero, and the nitrates have been very low <0.5 ppm. <I would stop the copper as soon as possible and do a good water change on the tank. I think that pristine water and a good nutritional menu will help the clown get back on the right track.> Another quick question I just thought of. The pair of clownfish will "vibrate" at one another. Is this normal behavior for a clown fish? <Yes, it is not too abnormal. When this occurs, do you witness any submissiveness from either of the two? Is this a mated pair?> Thanks for your help. <Not a problem. --Yunachin> -Ethan
Sick Clownfish? 04/28/2008 Hello, I am in need of some advice. <<Hello, Andrew today>> I have a 20 gallon fish only tank containing only a pair of clown fish. When I first brought these fish home they behaved normally for about a week. Then the larger one (the female I assume) stopped eating, was breathing rapidly and would occasionally lay on the bottom of the tank. Even though there were no other symptoms I guessed that it was either ich or velvet and I had caught it early. I did not plan on ever having any coral or other reef creatures so I decided to treat the whole display tank with CopperSafe according to the instructions. <<Ok>> After another two weeks went by, the larger clown was doing very well. It stopped the rapid breathing and started eating normally. (The smaller clown always looked and behaved normally, and that never changed). It has been about a month since the start of the copper treatment and the large clown has had a large appetite and is relatively active. But three things still bother me. First, when the large clown first became sick, it lost its color. The color never returned to normal. It is pale compared to the smaller clown. <<Should return in time given a staple diet>> Second, the large fish will still sometimes lay on the bottom of the tank (especially at night), but immediately wakes up when anyone goes near the tank. <<Quite normal, most clowns will act "odd" sometimes>> Third, recently very, very faint spots have appeared on the body of the fish. There are three of these spots and they are faint enough that they can only be seen in the right lighting. I have been watching these spots for about a week now and they have not changed. My question is, should I continue copper treatment until the large fish behaves and looks completely normal? <<Could be either really. try taking a look at the following page including linked articles and FAQ's. http://www.wetwebmedia.com/clnfshdisart.htm >> Or is the odd behavior and spots caused by something else like a fungus or bacteria that copper can not treat? I have been testing the water quality constantly during the whole process. The ammonia/nitrites both have been zero, and the nitrates have been very low <0.5 ppm. <<Do please read the above linked article to pin point your clown fish "spots". >> Another quick question I just thought of. The pair of clownfish will "vibrate" at one another. Is this normal behavior for a clown fish? Thanks for your help. -Ethan <<Yes, very normal indeed>> <<Thanks for the questions Ethan, hope this helps. A Nixon>.

Red Spot on Clownfish, using WWM  -- 03/18/08 Hello Crew. I will make this fast. I cannot find this anywhere in the faq's. I have two tank raised clowns and the one seems to have a red spot on the side of its mouth. It almost looks like blood. It is raised also. It is about in the area where a white spot once was and has disappeared. My param.s are: pH = 8.2 Ammonia = 0 Nitrites = 0 Nitrates = 20ppm (just did a water change 30 min.s ago) <Too high...> phosphates = 1.0 ppm <Ditto> What in the world could this be? Should i be concerned? The fish is still eating by the way. Thanks a million for all of your help Matt <Go here: http://wetwebmedia.com/WWMAdminSubWebIndex/question_page.htm insert your title: "Red Spot on Clownfish"; read the cached views. RMF>