Frayed Gill Tissue

ReefTECK

New member
Well, looking back I can't say that I'm surprised, but my clown fish has frayed looking gills and seems to be hanging out at the surface looking grim lately. Stresses include: removal of host because the anemone was a nusciance among the corals, an ornery, yet not ridiculously territorial, starry blenny.

Enough about causes though, but let's talk about solutions. Quarantine must wait until tomorrow, could this be gill flukes? Prazipro? Copper?

Whatta ya think?
 
How long have you had this fish?


What else is in the tank?

What are you feeding the clown?

Any recent additions - fish, inverts, corals?
 
Shes been with me for 4 years, I have a harem of three bartlett anthias, a melenurus wrasse, and the starry blenny. lots of corals. Last addition was a toadstool, which I hoped the clown would host to. Haven't added any fish for two years now.

The male clown died about a year ago, I assume from overworking himself and not getting enough food, he was always busy fanning the eggs and the female was a total glutton.

The fish get formula two flakes from ocean nutrition, new life spectrum thera a+a daily (an anti parasitic formula), sally's spirulina brine shrimp once a week, and steal some hikari mysis shrimp while I'm feeding the sun polyps.

My data logger reports relatively stable parameters for as long as the data goes back. Ph is controlled with a kalkreactor and calcium reactor (8.18-8.25), I have a huge kent nautilus ex24 skimmer, 1/15 hp chiller, water remains @77-79.

Hope somebody can draw some conclusions from this.
 
<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=10879201#post10879201 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by ReefTECK
Shes been with me for 4 years, I have a harem of three bartlett anthias, a melenurus wrasse, and the starry blenny. lots of corals. Last addition was a toadstool, which I hoped the clown would host to.

Was the toadstool quarantined?
Any aggression - possibly unwitnessed?
Haven't added any fish for two years now.

The male clown died about a year ago, I assume from overworking himself and not getting enough food, he was always busy fanning the eggs and the female was a total glutton.
possibility but without a necropsy - hard to say for sure....could have been a pathogen??

The fish get formula two flakes from ocean nutrition, new life spectrum thera a+a daily (an anti parasitic formula), sally's spirulina brine shrimp once a week, and steal some hikari mysis shrimp while I'm feeding the sun polyps.
Do you add any vitamins to the food?
Do you refrigerate the flake & pellet food?
 
No the toadstool was not quarentined, I don't know that I've ever heard anybody mention quarentining corals. I could see why that would be wise though.

I have witnessed a little agression, the starry blenny likes to seat himself in the toadstool, and on the clam and etc. he thinks everything is his personal throne. Although I've only seen him pester the wrasse, who's a good 5" and doesn't seem terribly bothered by the blenny. I kind of suspected him as well.

The male didn't show ANY physical signs of illness, but he did exhibit loss of weight, which is cause of suspicion for an internal parasite, although it seems that this type of slave/master relationship is regular of breeding clown fish. The female is exhibiting something completely different from the male though. Her slime coat seems a little thin, not like I can tell until I can look under a microscope, but scales look a little more shimery. If she turns to one side and then back you get a flash of white reflection from the scales. Not like shes flashing sideways like a goldfish. The gills have a ragged but patterned appearance, she is still eating though.

Yes I soak flakes and pellets in selcon twice a week also, no I don't refrigerate it, but not a bad idea, these are both less than two weeks old, I'm gonna go stick them in the fridge. Thanks for your insight btw. Where do we go from here though?
 
<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=10879476#post10879476 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by ReefTECK
No the toadstool was not quarentined, I don't know that I've ever heard anybody mention quarentining corals. I could see why that would be wise though.

Anything wet can transmit disease pathogens.

With the recent introduction and the change in clown behavior - might consider a parasite. Parasites will infest/infect the gills first as this is the area where the greatest water passes....also the hardest to detect.

I have witnessed a little agression, the starry blenny likes to seat himself in the toadstool, and on the clam and etc. he thinks everything is his personal throne. Although I've only seen him pester the wrasse, who's a good 5" and doesn't seem terribly bothered by the blenny. I kind of suspected him as well.
chronic stress as well as acute can weaken a fish's immune system and leave them vulnerable to pathogens.

The male didn't show ANY physical signs of illness, but he did exhibit loss of weight, which is cause of suspicion for an internal parasite, although it seems that this type of slave/master relationship is regular of breeding clown fish.

Definitely could be a combination of things.

The female is exhibiting something completely different from the male though. Her slime coat seems a little thin, not like I can tell until I can look under a microscope, but scales look a little more shimery. If she turns to one side and then back you get a flash of white reflection from the scales. Not like shes flashing sideways like a goldfish. The gills have a ragged but patterned appearance, she is still eating though.
Have to consider brooklynella or velvet.

Where do we go from here though?

Gill scraping could help determine diagnosis/plan of action.
If that is not possible - I would perform daily formalin baths for 5 days. (treatment for brooklynella). I would then place the clown in a separate hospital tank and treat with Seachem cupramine. (treatment for velvet).

I would add beta glucan to the clown's diet as this will help boost its immune system.

Best of luck.
 
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