whats wrong with my clowns? Red spots on head...

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burntricer

Member
hey guys, i just noticed some red spots on my 2 clowns on their heads. they've been kinda acting weird latley and eating alot of gravel. heres the specs on my tank

55gal
40-50 lb LR
Nitrate - 5
Nitrite - 0
Ph - 8.2
SG - 1.026
Phos - 0
AMM - 0


heres a pic

DSCF0761.jpg



on the first stripe of both fish, have been eating and not showing any signs of stress.

have been feeding a mixture of Spirualena enriched brine shrimp, misys and cyclop's twice a week and they still eat like mad...

can someone point me in the right direction?? they are the only fish in the tank, so kinda quarantined already, can quarntine furthur if needed!
 
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DaveK

Well-Known Member
It it tough for me to tell from the photo, but the spots to me would indicate some sort of parasite is or was attached there. Check your clowns over carefully for signs of disease. Especially ich and velvet.

If the spots don't get better, treat the fish, all of them in a QT tank.
 
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burntricer

Member
what would i be treating for? and with? i looked them over and the dots seem to only be in those isolated locations on both fish. i recently had added a naso, i didnt qt him. i think thats where this came from, as he died and took my firefish with him.

what should i look at treating this with?
 
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DaveK

Well-Known Member
burntricer said:
what would i be treating for? and with? ...
Click to expand...

This is where your going to need to do some diagnosis and treatment yourself. Look for these three major parasitic diseases that clownfish, and for that matter most other fish tend to get a lot.

1. Ich, officially known as Cryptocaryon irritans - look for small white dots that seem to fall off in a day or two, sometimes leaving behind small circular wounds. Treatment is by hyposalinity or copper.

2. Velvet, or gold dust disease, officially known as Amyloodinium occellatun. Looks like the fish is covered in a coating of gold dust, and the fish is often going around scratching. Treatment is by copper.

3. Clownfish disease, officially known as Brooklynella hostilis. Looks like gray irregular patches. Treatment is Formalin.

All treatments must be done in a quarantine tank.

As a corollary, or possibly "corallary" (grin), I will add the following -

Never, ever medicate a reef system to treat a fish disease.

No matter what the LFS says, no matter what it says on the bottle or package, no matter what someone else may tell you, in my opinion there are no "reef safe" treatments that are effective against fish diseases.

Always treat in a quarantine tank, as described above. Although, if you are treating a different disease, you might use a different medication. In addition, you may also get secondary bacteria infections. Keep an eye out for these too.

Just so everyone is clear on this, I shall repeat this advice -

Never, ever medicate a reef system to treat a fish disease.

Since you had a tang in your tank, and they are noted for carrying ich to the point of sometimes being called "ich magnets", I would consider this disease as most likely.

I can see the basis of DaveK's standard lecture #3 here - common parasitic diseases. (grin)
 
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burntricer

Member
i agree that i would be treating in a QT tank. however none of the spots are white on the fish, nor are they coated in a gold dist. The only spots of irratation were on their head.

However this morning i notice that the red spots are gone. im wondering if they got too close to my zoo's and got stung? (they seem to be hiding in the back of the tank alot latley)
 
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leebca

Well-Known Member
They don't look so much red to me. Are you sure they aren't just very dark in nature?

Could they be the 'smudges' that are covered in this post?
http://www.reefsanctuary.com/forums...343-black-small-smudges-your-anemonefish.html

What happens is that the fish can be stung/irritated so badly that they spots are actually beginning to bleed, which can give some of them a red to reddish coloring.

I'd like to see photos of the fish in the water, if you could.

 
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burntricer

Member
thank you so much lee for responding, however the spots seem to have disapated and there isnt any sign of them today. i will try to get better pics if they seem to re-surface
 
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burntricer

Member
hey, well there back, this time they are white and even on the side of the body, my other clown is breathing fast...Ich... I think so!

im going to QT them and start the Copper treatment...
 
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burntricer

Member
oh! and can i still add inverts (LPS, Polyps, etc) to my DT without worrying about them getting ICH for the 8 weeks my DT is empty?
 
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burntricer

Member
i have read that, actually have it open now, and it does say to run 2 seperate qt tanks, and that i can add inverts and stuff because they dont get affected by the disease. however i was asking just to confirm.

Im going to be doing the treatment with Cupramine, my LFS wont bring it in, so i have to order it tomorrow. Im seeding my filters for my QT now.
 
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leebca

Well-Known Member
No problem. Just a note. . .After you make additions of life forms, then start the 8 week fishless time.
 
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