Clownfish, Please help I.D.

[koddyVT]

Hey guys my clownfish has developed this white-ish raised place on its gill (circled in black, only on one side- the other "white specks" on the rest of his body are from stuff on the glass). He doesn't seem to have any other white/odd things on the rest of his body. He's still acting normal (eating, swimming around, etc). He's had it for 1-2 weeks. Does anyone know off hand what this is and how to treat it? I've researched online but can't quite pinpoint exactly what I think it is...

 

[xcorallusx]

Did anything happen 2 weeks ago that may have started it? I would say some sort of bacteria? I think I have some maracyn you can use, if you find out what it is.

 

[Der ABT]

looks like a flat worm

30sec to 1min in ph buffered fresh water should get rid of em. I had similar interaction wtih these buggers about a year ago.

i could be wrong but thats what it looks like to me.

 

[koddyVT]

xcorallusx - I don't think so? I can't remember anything happening then...

Der ABT - I gave the fish a freshwater bath today for 2.5 minutes (I read some places online that as long as you kept an eye on the fish it would be okay to do longer than a minute). The area is looking slightly better. Should I try it again in a couple days if it doesn't go away or what would you recommend?

Thank you both for your help!

 

[ade]

You shouldnt have to FW dip again. I could run FW maracyn if yo want in case of secondary infection. You can place it in your reef system if you want just turn off skimmer and carbon before use. after doing a four day dose ( 1-2 tabs a day for 4 days) run fresh carbon and do a 20% water change.

 

[Der ABT]

agree with ade
you should only have to do it once, the osmotic pressure basically destroys their sells.

just keep an eye on em for secondary infections and treat if needs be.
I only had to dip once, havent seen em since.

Check your other fish, especially any new additions as they came from somewhere and may affect other fish. if this is the guy you added recently hopefully you caught them before any others are affected.
but good eye, if they latch on to the wrong point you cant see em. glad you caught it and he is looking better, now just watch the others
When i had the issue only the two new clowns were affected, the rest of the fish never got them

 

[eengmd]

Allow me to play the role of an eye doc. The corneal scarring makes me suspicious for flukes. I would second ade and DerABT recommendation of a fresh water dip looking for multiple "flakes of dandruff" in the water after the dip. If that is present, it is likely flukes is the cause. Look for a medication called prazipro or praziquantel. You may see recurrences since they are likely now pervasive in the water. Prazipro works great but your skimmer will go crazy. Many LFS and online retailers will run Q tank now with prazipro prior to selling their fish. Most other parasites cause much less eye scarring or white spots. I keep prazipro around if you have a hard time finding it. You never know when you will get a tapeworm or something! Actually, it is not FDA approved for human consumption (my legal disclaimer).

The eye finding is common in third world countries where the fluke scars the eyes due to infested water.

 

[koddyVT]

I gave the male clownfish a FW dip last Tuesday and white flakes appeared to fall off. One white flake did not fall off. I noticed that the white spot moved upward and towards the center of his gills (it was near the bottom). Then I noticed yesterday the female clownfish was starting to develop similar white dots on her body so I got PraziPro and dosed the tank today. I shut off the protein skimmer (as it says in the directions) and will do a big water change in 5 days. PraziPro claims to treat flukes, tapeworms, flatworms, and turbellarians so hopefully it should kill any of the suggestions of what it might be. The plan is to try a second dose after a big water change and if that doesn't work then I'll have to go back to the drawing boards. I'll keep you guys update, thanks for the help!