clown fish molting?

I

integrus

New member
i just got home to discover my mother clown fish looks like she is molting, breathing heavy and not eating. i am not sure what is going on, the other three clown fish are look normal. could she have been attacked by the anem. she is in a 360 display so there is no way to catch her. does anyone no what this is. i haven't been able to add pics here yet, but i can email a pic if it will help.

thanks devin
 
Doesn't look too good... Maybe a Fungus???

sickclown009.jpg
 
clown fish molting

clown fish molting

it happened between noon and 9:00 today? i don't know how to help her, i can't catch her. she is still swimming around and not just laying.
 
I PMed Matt to come take a look at this and see if he's come across something that looked like your clownfish... I'm at a loss for something that would happen that fast... Hopefully someone else can chime in...

What kind of anemone do you have in the tank???
 
How long have you had her? It looks like a slime coat build up, mostly likely by Brooklynella. But that looks like a lot of build up. Could we have more info please?
 
i have had her for about 3 yrs, what other info are you looking for? she just layed a batch of eggs last week. everything was good at noon today, she was swimming around, twitching with the male. most of the film is comming off but she is still sswimming around but breathing heavily. the lights just went off so i guess i will try to keep an eye on her through the night

thanks
 
if it is Brooklynella how can i protect the rest of the fish. there are about 30 fish in the tank-360 display. i don't have the ability to remove all the fish and my achillies tang has just settled in. are there chemical treatments that are reef safe but also effective?
 
I might say Brooklynella as well from the heavy mucous. It would be unusual for a healthy, established clown to come-down with that since they are generally able to fight-off many problems unless otherwise stressed, but spawning females can be succeptable to pathogens since they are using so much energy creating and caring for their eggs.

Have you made any recent additions to your tank that could have brought in a pathogen?

Have a look here:
http://www.petsforum.com/personal/trevor-jones/brooklynella.html

If you suspect that this could be the cause, the treatments (formalin) are listed there, along with the appropriate dosages/exposures, etc. Hope this helps and good luck with her!

Matt
 
matt,

thanks for the info. i did add the achillies tang and a corse wrasse about a month ago. i just check and she did pass in the night. thanks for everyones input
 
matt,

i read the link you posted, but i couldn't find anything about the care of other fish in the tank. do i need to treat the tank or is this something that i have to hope will work itself out. like i said earlier there are between 25 and 30 fish and about 50 corals. once again thanks for the help
 
I'm sorry to hear that she didn't make it. If the other fish look ok, I wouldn't take any action. The effective treatments for most fish diseases are not safe for inverts/corals. If the other fish are eating and you are able to keep them well-fed, that will go a long way in helping them fight-off pathogens. You may wish to try Fishdoc's fish food recipe found here just to keep their immunity and help them stay strong:

http://reefcentral.com/forums/showthread.php?s=&postid=12348656#post12348656
 
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