Any Ideas???

[astrogazer]

Any ideas on what this might be, she's an otherwise healthy 4 year old clownfish, she just developed these symptoms after a water change, temp was off 4 deg F(warmer), and SG was off .002(higher). there is nothing else I can think of that may have changed the equation...

Any ideas...???

 

[leebca]

You also want to always check the new water pH and match it to the pH of the tank water, before a change.

You've allowed a variation on the water chemistry for this change, but unless the pH was off, I'd say the change is not the cause of this. This is of course, IF the water change was a routine change. If you tank has gone a long time without a water change, and you make a water change, the changes in the water can have an impact on the health of fish.

You say it's 4 years old. Have you had it that long?

I would want more information:
How old is your tank? When did it originally cycle?
What kind of system do you have (tank volume, dimensions, bio-filtration method, the equipment you use, any carbon or other chemical filtration, kind of substrate, etc.).
List all specimens & sizes in the tank (fish, inverts, corals, clams, snails, crabs, shrimp, etc.).
If you have a refugium and/or sump, what is living in it?
Do you use a quarantine tank and procedures for ALL recent additions?
Foods you use and feeding schedules.
Do you use any vitamins? Fat supplements? Any elemental or other additives? Please list all.
Chemistries ââ"šÂ¬Ã¢â‚¬Å“ please give actual numbers (Ammonia, Nitrite, Nitrate, Phosphate, Silica, Ca, Alk., and any others you have)
Water parameters ââ"šÂ¬Ã¢â‚¬Å“ please give actual numbers (pH and your pH range, salinity or sp. gr. & range, temperature range)
Do you see any of the following in your system: hair algae; micro algae; cyanobacteria growths (red slime algae); dinoflagellate (zooxanthellae) growths; brown algae; diatom growth; slimes; off-colored patches on rock or substrate that are not coralline; etc.?
Water changes (how much and how often). Kind of artificial salt youââ"šÂ¬Ã¢"žÂ¢re using. Kind of source water you are using? Have you analyzed your source water for the above chemistries? When did you do these tests last? What is the TDS of your source water?
List what you added or taken out of your aquarium system (living, decorations, and equipment) during the past 6 weeks.
Maintenance schedule. What have you done lately besides the water change?

 

[astrogazer]

I bought the clownfish in 2002, moved it into a recently cycled 29 gallon Hex (hated that tank). Replaced that tank and moved its 2 inhabitants, the clown and a cardinal about 2 months ago into a new 65 gallon oceanic. I moved ~80 lbs.of LR and added about another 50 lbs. Used sea water for the initial fillup. All has been good over the last 8 weeks. This clown has never had a mate, I figured since I had moved her, now was my chance, so I picked up a small male. They hit it off from the start. Two days later he was missing, I went thru everything, not even a fin turned up. The next day I noticed her moping, she picked up the slime on her face and appeared to be very depressed. She hasn't eaten since.

water parms:

temp maintained 79.5-80
Na - undetectable
PO4~.1
SG - 1.023
Ca 440
Amonia-0
Nitrite-0
PH-8.34

As far as supplements i use 1 for all the trace elements, but I can't rember the brand or the name.

tank inhabitants:
Female Maroon 3"
Yellow tang 3"
Powder Blue tang 4.5 - 5"
Flame Angel 2"
Mandarin 3.5 - 4"
3 pepermint shrimp - small 1.5"
1 Cleaner Shrimp 1.5 - 2"

RBTA
Carpet Anemone
Sun Coral
Montipora Digita

 

[leebca]

Thanks. The picture is becoming clearer.

It sounds like the new anemonefish brought a disease with it. I was going to say that the fish you pictured had an appearance of Brooklynella at an early stage, but a 4-year old fish would not likely have this condition suddenly develop.

The use of quarantine and treatment, especially with anemonefish is very important. I believe that all new anemonefish should be quarantined AND treated for Brooklynella. Brooklynella is so common amongst anemonefishes that treating any new anemonefish for that should be routine.

More info on a quarantine process is here:
http://reefkeeping.com/issues/2004-10/sp/feature/index.htm

Information on Brooklynella is here:
http://www.petsforum.com/personal/trevor-jones/brooklynella.html

Some good guidelines on how to administer a formalin bath is found here:
http://www.marineaquariumadvice.com/formaldehyde_friend_or_foe.html

The fish needs to be moved to a treatment tank and treated as noted above.

Good luck!

:rollface:

 

[astrogazer]

I want to thank everyone for their king advice. I have posted this in numerious forums so please forgive me if you stumble accross this more than once. This has diagnosed as brooklynella by numerous posters. This could be the case as I made a rash call and introduced another clownfish into the system without following proper quarantine procedures.
I must note however that the clownfish in question has shown significant positive progress. I have heavied up on chemical filtration (carbon) and aside from observation that's about it. My female seems to be improving and I will supply new images this w/e if the condition continues to improve. Thank you to all that took an interest in helping me in an hour of need. This is truely a great place filled with wonderfully informative and helpful people. Thanks again.