Clownfish belly exploding

[Creetin]

Dunno if this is a tumor or what. All fish have been treated 2+ weeks with prazipro before acclimation. The female has been paired up for over a year and i thought eggbound till i seen that her belly has ruptured. She seems fine and eating, No problems swimming.
Its a nice size rupture, and it is about half the size of a dime. I tried to take pics but they just come out blurry.
I am thinking she is blocked up inside eggwise, She poops and eats.

 

[Creetin]

Heres a bad pic sorry for the dirty glass.

 

[shabreeson]

i had a fish with this a year ago but could never figure out what it was. didn't spread to the other fish. it seemed to be fine for a while. then it started to do some heavy breathing and ultimately died. my only guess was that it was a bacterial infection of an organ.

 

[MarinaP]

It happens Mine died, too. You can try Maracyn II at double dose.

 

[akindbro4u]

it appears to me that possibly she had an internal rupture somewhere her reproductive system, and "layed" the eggs inside her self. The picture appears to have many small shapes inside the bubble. Is this correct. If so it can not be a digestive problem, as damsels have a straight digestive tract, and would not show any folds if herniated. It may be possible for you to excise the mass your self, but the risk of mortality is very high. She may live for a long time with that mass intact, as unfertilized eggs are sterile, and damsels have been know to carry them in there ovaries for considerable lengths of time. If you could get a close up picture of her mass It would be very helpful. You could try taking her out of the water to take the picture. She will be fine for the few seconds it would take to do this.

 

[Creetin]

Thanks, You are correct those are folds, It looks to be intestines folded up. (Like a brain)
I'll take her out in a little bit i am in the middle of some work i have to finish ATM.
She eats like a pig, Poops, and is aggressive with the other damsels. I would not know anythingis wrong if i did not see the rupture.

 

[akindbro4u]

Thanks, You are correct those are folds, It looks to be intestines folded up. (Like a brain)
I'll take her out in a little bit i am in the middle of some work i have to finish ATM.
She eats like a pig, Poops, and is aggressive with the other damsels. I would not know anythingis wrong if i did not see the rupture.

The intestines in a damsel are straight, so it is not that. They are to short to even fold if they needed to. If you can get someone to hold her when you take her out it will be helpful for taking the picture, and keep her a little calmer. Just try to be sure the room temp is close to the temp of your tank as well, it will ease her transition as well.

 

[Conrad25]

I always put my fish straight into a water container when moving. moving out of water in nets can be harmful to fins

 

[shabreeson]

It may be possible for you to excise the mass your self, but the risk of mortality is very high.

after looking at my own fish post mortem, the mass wasn't connected to any tissue towards the front, but was well connected in the back. that's what led me to think it was an infected organ. excising the mass imo would cause more unneeded pain than good. even if properly removed a fish with an ulcer that large and under that much stress would likely die.

let us know what happens whatever u decide.

 

[akindbro4u]

after looking at my own fish post mortem, the mass wasn't connected to any tissue towards the front, but was well connected in the back. that's what led me to think it was an infected organ. excising the mass imo would cause more unneeded pain than good. even if properly removed a fish with an ulcer that large and under that much stress would likely die.

let us know what happens whatever u decide.

So in your postmortem, did you conclude it way the liver? Did you by any chance take pictures of your autopsy? I would love to see more info on this. It appears to be a somewhat common illness that effects damsels in captivity. If we could document postmortem finding, we may be able to find a root cause.

 

[shabreeson]

sadly no i did not take pictures. The fish in my case was an female anthias. i only suspected it was the liver but don't know enough of fish anatomy to be positive.

The growth was a grey, brain-like in appearance, hard, and was piece by piece flaking out of the cavity.

honestly made me sick just looking at it

 

[Creetin]

Sorry for the lack of pictures, Just busy working on house prodjects that i have to get done.
It looks worse today, I will probably cull her soon. Still feeding and acting normal which is odd.

 

[Creetin]

On looking at it with a mag glass it does not look like intestines anymore, It looks like a tumor mass.
I am pretty sure now thats what it is. I always looked for clutches of eggs and never seen any from her.
Too bad i have to terminate her, But it will be done humanely.
Such a good looking fish too.
Thanks for the help, I'll take pics when i cull.

 

[shabreeson]

the mass on my fish happened in the exact same area. sorry you have to put down a lovely fish.

 

[akindbro4u]

shabreeson, and Creetin what are you feeding, and any other conditions, that may be useful in determining what causes this cancer would be helpful to the hobby. Just for curiosity now, but could be a trend. It's worth the investigation.

 

[Creetin]

I feed frozen clams,mysis, and spectrum pellets. Mostly pellets though.
Funny thing a piece of the lump has fallen off, and theres rooughly 1/3rd of it left on the fish.
She is still acting normal so i decided to wait on any actions and just watch.

 

[shabreeson]

i feed a mix of hikari mysis shrimp and brine shrimp. mainly the mysis

 

[ezhoops]

I would never cull until she is laying on the substrate, may sound cruel but clowns survive many things.

 

[CockyBrock]

I would never cull until she is laying on the substrate, may sound cruel but clowns survive many things.

I agree with this. Clowns, especially tank-raised, are very very tough little buggers and can survive many things. Give her some time and she could fight it off. Only when she begins to struggle would I take action.

And yes, she's a beautiful fish!

 

[krak256]

I agree with this. Clowns, especially tank-raised, are very very tough little buggers and can survive many things. Give her some time and she could fight it off. Only when she begins to struggle would I take action.

And yes, she's a beautiful fish!

agreed as well. no reason to cull her if she appears to not be suffering and is acting normal.