I have a wild pair of true percula clowns that I have had for around two weeks. They appear to be healthy. The female developed black sports/specs in the orange area of her body. It looks like it is in the pigment of her skin. Does anyone know what this could be? Otherwise, she seems healthy and is eating. Any help will be appreciated!
Black spots/specs on Clown Fish
- Thread starter robw28
- Start date
michellejy
New member
Well, assuming you have either corals or anemones, they are changes in the skin pigment from coral stings. 
CaliReefer12
New member
agreed. Clowns hosting in corals that sting tend to develop spots like that. Especially clowns in a tank with zoanthids. But most stringing corals will do it.
Black spots/specs on Clown Fish
I hope that is all that it is, but I have a blue carpet anemone that I have not seen either the male or female go near. I only have live rock in the tank thus far. Only one piece of rock has very small zoanthids attached, so I don't think spots are coral stings. They are definitely in the skin pigment. It is really bizarre. See photo below.
Thanks for any help,
Rob
I hope that is all that it is, but I have a blue carpet anemone that I have not seen either the male or female go near. I only have live rock in the tank thus far. Only one piece of rock has very small zoanthids attached, so I don't think spots are coral stings. They are definitely in the skin pigment. It is really bizarre. See photo below.
Thanks for any help,
Rob
Last edited:
michellejy
New member
I still think it is coral/anemone stings.
Check out the fourth post in this thread for pictures of hyper-melaninization.
Check out the fourth post in this thread for pictures of hyper-melaninization.
Black spots/specs on Clown Fish
Michelle,
Thanks for the info. It does look like that is the issue. The strange thing is, I only have lots of live rock and no coral in the tank right now. I bought a really nice blue carpet anemone that neither of the clowns seem interested in, which is really disappointing. The male is now starting to develop the spots. They most be going in or near the anemone at night. Does it take a while for the clowns to go into an anemone? Will they always be stung by the anemone, and will the spots go away?
Thanks again,
Rob
Michelle,
Thanks for the info. It does look like that is the issue. The strange thing is, I only have lots of live rock and no coral in the tank right now. I bought a really nice blue carpet anemone that neither of the clowns seem interested in, which is really disappointing. The male is now starting to develop the spots. They most be going in or near the anemone at night. Does it take a while for the clowns to go into an anemone? Will they always be stung by the anemone, and will the spots go away?
Thanks again,
Rob
michellejy
New member
Some clowns just take a while to find the anemone. They may even be checking it out when you aren't around. I've heard of people putting a picture facing the inside of the tank of clownfish in an anemone to sort of clue the clowns in about how things should be done. Tank-raised clowns have often never seen an anemone, so they can have trouble figuring out it is a host, although instinct generally kicks in eventually. Over time, they'll build up a bit of an immunity to the anemone stings.
As far as the spots, they should fade with some time. My flame angel can't seem to keep his nose out of the corals, and he used to have those marks a lot, but they've gone away over the past month or so.
Tank-raised clowns have often never seen an anemone, so they can have trouble figuring out it is a host, although instinct generally kicks in eventually. Over time, they'll build up a bit of an immunity to the anemone stings.As far as the spots, they should fade with some time. My flame angel can't seem to keep his nose out of the corals, and he used to have those marks a lot, but they've gone away over the past month or so.
michellejy
New member
Oops, just saw you said they were wild caught and not captive bred, but either way, it can take a while for them to find the anemone if it isn't what they used as a host in the wild.
