dashielle89
New member
2 of my clownfish are sick, and I don't know what they have as their symptoms don't seem to be specific to one disease.
Tank info:
I have a 65 gal tank, it has been running for a year. Some months back I upgraded to a 90 gal and moved most fish into there except for a pair of percula clowns, a couple damsels, and some inverts I couldn't catch.
Since getting the 90 I don't really do much with the tank, I just didn't want to tear it down and I wanted a second pair of clowns so I kept it, but it takes care of itself, never any ammonia, nitrites, or nitrates (and the sg is 1.025 in case it matters). No new fish have been added to the tank for 9 months but none were qtd before.
Story of the illness:
The issue started about 3 weeks ago, the male clownfish started to get what seemed like a minor bacterial infection. His one eye was popping and a little cloudy. I heard these things can usually resolve themselves so I just left him and kept watch. For the next 2 weeks the popeye would come and go, but he was acting and eating normally, though he also started to get some slime on him and his fins looked a little frayed.
At that point I knew I would probably need to treat with antibiotics but I had some melafix for coral dips and figured I'd give it a try first since he still seemed to be doing pretty well otherwise. I know it doesn't cure them but I thought it would help with his fins healing and I didn't mind adding it to this tank (though I wouldn't add it to my reef).
Well then I started having issues with the female, who was acting and looked fine before. Within an hour of adding the melafix to the tank (very low dose, 40 gal worth) she hid under an overhang and was breathing more quickly. I know melafix can deplete oxygen so I didn't really think anything of it, some people said fish would act like this with it. A few hours later the lights went off and she went back to her normal spot with the male to sleep and she was normal for the day. The next night when I added it the same thing happened though.
First I though maybe the melafix messed with the water quality but it wasn't that. Then I started to think the melafix thing was just a coincidence (still weird though) and that she and the male both might have brook. He had had the body slime and she was breathing rapidly so it seemed like that might be it. But when I read about it people said they will usually die quickly and stop eating if it's brook, so I thought the male just had a bacterial infection since it had been for 3 weeks and no breathing issues.
Just today with the female I noticed that her gills looked damaged, so there's definitely something wrong with her. Again it could be brook or marine velvet, but I'm not sure. I read about both and both supposedly kill the fish very quickly like in a couple days after they show it, but she has already shown the symptoms for a week. So is she already a goner? And which one would she have? She hasn't really been hiding as much the past couple of days but her breathing still isn't right and her gills look pretty gross, like they're frayed, I'm surprised I didn't notice it. She is also still eating well. Can bacterial infections affect the gills or is it definitely a parasite? She does not have any visible slime, color change, dust, or white spots so maybe more likely to be brook but idk? And if it isn't too late what should I treat her with?
Then also what antibiotics should I treat the male with? And I suppose I will have to treat him for whatever disease the female has at the same time, will that be more stressful for them?
I'm not worried about the damsels. They are not showing any symptoms of illness, but even if they did I wouldn't be able to catch them and I wouldn't care as much about them, they're the only fish in the tank otherwise. If the clowns do survive treatment they won't go back in that tank so it shouldn't be a problem.
Sorry for the long story buy can anyone help with the diagnosis and treatment?
Tank info:
I have a 65 gal tank, it has been running for a year. Some months back I upgraded to a 90 gal and moved most fish into there except for a pair of percula clowns, a couple damsels, and some inverts I couldn't catch.
Since getting the 90 I don't really do much with the tank, I just didn't want to tear it down and I wanted a second pair of clowns so I kept it, but it takes care of itself, never any ammonia, nitrites, or nitrates (and the sg is 1.025 in case it matters). No new fish have been added to the tank for 9 months but none were qtd before.
Story of the illness:
The issue started about 3 weeks ago, the male clownfish started to get what seemed like a minor bacterial infection. His one eye was popping and a little cloudy. I heard these things can usually resolve themselves so I just left him and kept watch. For the next 2 weeks the popeye would come and go, but he was acting and eating normally, though he also started to get some slime on him and his fins looked a little frayed.
At that point I knew I would probably need to treat with antibiotics but I had some melafix for coral dips and figured I'd give it a try first since he still seemed to be doing pretty well otherwise. I know it doesn't cure them but I thought it would help with his fins healing and I didn't mind adding it to this tank (though I wouldn't add it to my reef).
Well then I started having issues with the female, who was acting and looked fine before. Within an hour of adding the melafix to the tank (very low dose, 40 gal worth) she hid under an overhang and was breathing more quickly. I know melafix can deplete oxygen so I didn't really think anything of it, some people said fish would act like this with it. A few hours later the lights went off and she went back to her normal spot with the male to sleep and she was normal for the day. The next night when I added it the same thing happened though.
First I though maybe the melafix messed with the water quality but it wasn't that. Then I started to think the melafix thing was just a coincidence (still weird though) and that she and the male both might have brook. He had had the body slime and she was breathing rapidly so it seemed like that might be it. But when I read about it people said they will usually die quickly and stop eating if it's brook, so I thought the male just had a bacterial infection since it had been for 3 weeks and no breathing issues.
Just today with the female I noticed that her gills looked damaged, so there's definitely something wrong with her. Again it could be brook or marine velvet, but I'm not sure. I read about both and both supposedly kill the fish very quickly like in a couple days after they show it, but she has already shown the symptoms for a week. So is she already a goner? And which one would she have? She hasn't really been hiding as much the past couple of days but her breathing still isn't right and her gills look pretty gross, like they're frayed, I'm surprised I didn't notice it. She is also still eating well. Can bacterial infections affect the gills or is it definitely a parasite? She does not have any visible slime, color change, dust, or white spots so maybe more likely to be brook but idk? And if it isn't too late what should I treat her with?
Then also what antibiotics should I treat the male with? And I suppose I will have to treat him for whatever disease the female has at the same time, will that be more stressful for them?
I'm not worried about the damsels. They are not showing any symptoms of illness, but even if they did I wouldn't be able to catch them and I wouldn't care as much about them, they're the only fish in the tank otherwise. If the clowns do survive treatment they won't go back in that tank so it shouldn't be a problem.
Sorry for the long story buy can anyone help with the diagnosis and treatment?
