Clownfish spots...

[divecj5]

Although I've never posted on here before, I have been here on RC for about 6 months now. I thought that you all might be able to help me answer this question I have about my two false percs.

Just some background, I have had my 55 gallon reef tank going now for about 4 1/2 months and I've had my 2 false percs for about 3 months now. They have been doing great and are doing great now. They feed like crazy and they are both really comfortable in the tank.

Recently (3 days ago) I was giving them a good visual inspecition and noticed that one of them had a couple really small black spots developing on it's body and also on it's top dorsal fin. It also has some black areas behind it's side fins (caudal).

So that you all know, I took params yesterday and they were:

Alk: 3.5 meq/L
Ca: 420 ppm
pH: 8.1 (want to bring up a bit)

No NH3, NO2, or NO3

Here are some pics where you can see what I'm talking about:

I have read that clowns can get what is called "black ich" which is Tubularia parasites. I just want to find out what this is and help the little guys out.

Let me know what you think it might be and also how I might go about treating it. Thanks

Adam

 

[Jake15]

What corals do you have in your tank? Most likely they are sting marks from a coral. If this is the case then the will disapear over time.

 

[divecj5]

Thanks for the reply Jake. Here are the corals that I have:

1. Large Purple Tipped Frogspawn
2. Candy Cane Colony
3. Two Heads of Blue Green Candy Cane coral
4. Assorted mushrooms
5. Zoanthids
6. Blue Anthelia
7. Pulsing Xenia
   [/list=1]
   
   The only one that I could think of that might have stung them is the Frogspawn. They have started getting a little closer to it at times so that might be it.
   
   Any other thoughts.
   
   Adam

 

[Doni]

I had a very healthy pair of ocellaris that got black spot really bad. I did a lot of research and determined that it was NOT a disease but instead were sting marks. Apparently, the clowns were getting stung by something in the tank. The spots got really bad then slowly went away; all the while the clowns behaved normally, spawned every 10 days and ate like pigs. I had that pair for over 5 yrs when I gave them to a friend (who still has them to this day).

Here is a pic of the female with the spots just prior to her spawning...

 

[divecj5]

Wow that is a lot of spots. Thank you for the response and alleviating some of my worries. I think that they are getting stung as well and glad to hear that yours turned out alright.

The fact that they were eating like normal and swimming as usual was what really had my confused. I will keep my eye on them and make sure that they continue to eat and act normally. Thanks for the help and the pic.

Adam

 

[Amphiprion]

They are also prone to having localized melanistic spots. Mine had several that lasted the entirety of its life.

 

[Waxxiemann]

My female has the black spots as well. Not as many as the one in the pic but quite a bit. She seems to be eating and acting totally normal so I am not REALLY worried.

Just my 2c.