Bacterial Infection

[RhiannonB]

I believe I have a bacterial infection and lost one perc to it last night (its moved fast). I have a second perc in a QT tank right now while I try and figure out what is going on. I have read the stickies about what to use but my question is do I only need to treat the fish who appear to be infected? Or do I need to remove all the fish and treat them in a QT and then place them back in the DT? Any other pointers? THANKS!!

 

[snorvich]

Why do you think you have a bacterial infection? Describe the behavior and appearance of the fish that died. When did you acquire these fish?

 

[RhiannonB]

I have had them for several years. They have cloudy eyes and light spots on their scales and the male has what appears to be a white bump by his mouth. I know that the light spots are not ich, it's more like there are cloudy spots of color in their scales. There is nothing on them, like a fungus, its just the coloring of the scales. And they have been very lethargic, and she was out in the open but swimming upside down when I got home last night but he was hiding in the rock (which is very uncommon for him, he is typically very friendly and comes to me when I walk up to the tank and will eat from my hand). He wouldn't eat last night or this morning. There is nothing in the QT so no where for him to hide but he is staying on the bottom, not really swimming. ETA: He also kind of twitches

 

[Mrscribbled]

Could be Flukes. Were there any new fish added recently?

 

[RhiannonB]

Yes, I just added a pair of Tomato Clowns about a week ago, they seem to be doing well and thriving though.

 

[MrTuskfish]

Yes, I just added a pair of Tomato Clowns about a week ago, they seem to be doing well and thriving though.

It sounds like they weren't quarantined; if that's the case, I imagine they brought something in with them. I wouldn't be surprised if this turns out to be brooklynella; a deadly & parasite that can present many symptoms at first. Any fish showing peeling or sloughing skin? A pic would really help. Mixing species of clowns, or even more than a pair of the same species, is usually a big mistake. I don't think it will take long for the female tomato to eliminate the smaller percula; especially if the tomatoes are mature.

 

[jwolcott]

Tomato Clowns are super aggressive, and don't mix with other clownfish... That could be your issue.

 

[RhiannonB]

No other fish seems to be having an issue. I have seen the larger of the two Tomatos be aggressive but typically only if another fish gets near the anemone that has hosted it, in this case it is even aggressive to the other Tomato. But we are only a week in and I can see how the aggression could get worse. The larger of the two Tomatos is still less than half the size of the Percs and the LFS said that they should all be ok together, apparently this is not true.

 

[MrTuskfish]

No other fish seems to be having an issue. I have seen the larger of the two Tomatos be aggressive but typically only if another fish gets near the anemone that has hosted it, in this case it is even aggressive to the other Tomato. But we are only a week in and I can see how the aggression could get worse. The larger of the two Tomatos is still less than half the size of the Percs and the LFS said that they should all be ok together, apparently this is not true.

Yeah, your LFS really should know this. Next to an adult maroon clown, an adult tomato clown may the most territorial fish we commonly keep. They will claim all the territory they can too. Years ago, before I knew better, I had a female maroon kill another while the newcomer was still floating in the LFS bag.

 

[RhiannonB]

Yeah, your LFS really should know this. Next to an adult maroon clown, an adult tomato clown may the most territorial fish we commonly keep. They will claim all the territory they can too. Years ago, before I knew better, I had a female maroon kill another while the newcomer was still floating in the LFS bag.

WOW! Ok, so I was trying to decide do I keep the tomatos and allow the perc to heal and trade him in or vice versa. You just answered that for me. Tomatos are heading back!

 

[snorvich]

Yes, they are super aggressive, right up there with GSM.