Small grey patch on pectoral fins?

[W1ngz]

So to the day, it's 4 weeks I've had 2 captive bred black ocellaris clowns in QT. They've not been medicated with anything, and it's strictly been observation. Things were great, until yesterday, when I noticed some grey-ish patches on one of the two fish.

What I'm seeing has to be in the WORST place to capture any photo, but is only on the inside of the pectoral fins. I tried for 2 hours to get a picture, and it's just not happening.

These are definitely not white spots or dots, so I'm guessing it's not ich. There seems to be no lesions, so I'm unsure if it's bacterial or fungal. It does seem to be raised. It's grey-ish, and only seems to be on the fins. The fins are intact.

Since a 100% water change yesterday, and leaving lights off, it seems less pronounced. Both fish are active and eating.

I'd been keeping up with 50%-75% water changes every 2-3 days and in between, using an ammonia detoxifier (being temporary and only 10gal, fully cycling didn't seem necessary). But life got in the way, and I missed a cleaning, water change and ammo-lock dose this week, so levels went up. Could this just be a minor benign infection from stress? It seems to be improving in the last 36 hours, since I fully cleaned the tank and 100% water change. I've also left the lights off to let them relax. I've also switched strategies, and gone to a bacterial supplement to try and get a cycle going and limit the necessary water changes and disturbance.

Either way, it looks like I'll be extending my quarantine, but should I be medicating for anything specific, or just wait and see, and hope it either becomes more evident what it is, or clears up?

 

[HumbleFish]

Anytime I hear "patches on the fins" I think Lymphocystis. So, I would suggest Googling that and seeing if it looks like a match to what you're seeing on the fish.

However, Lympho is usually white it color - so your saying it looks "grey-ish" could be it's actually a bacterial disease of some sort.

 

[W1ngz]

That could be it, but thankfully very light case, or just early on. Nothing to do but what I already started doing and wait. It apparently can't be treated with anything other than good water conditions and a stress free environment. I might just leave them in there another week or two and hit them with an anti-bacterial to make sure nothing else can take hold while it clears up. Maybe ParaGuard for a couple days.

It could well be white, but being underneath a blackish-brown juvenile fish it's hard enough to catch a glimpse, let alone get it well lit.

 

[snorvich]

Anytime I hear "patches on the fins" I think Lymphocystis. So, I would suggest Googling that and seeing if it looks like a match to what you're seeing on the fish.

However, Lympho is usually white it color - so your saying it looks "grey-ish" could be it's actually a bacterial disease of some sort.

That would be my guess as well.

 

[W1ngz]

Thanks guys. For now the ammonia is under control with some Seachem Stability, I'll leave the lights dim and keep them calm. I'm treating preventatively with Paraguard for a couple of days and see how things go.

Looks like it's something minor, but these are my first 2 fish, so I'm happy I decided to start QT from the beginning

 

[W1ngz]

Now that I think of it, is lympho something that would come up, or become evident, because of stress and/or poor water conditions like high ammonia levels?

 

[HumbleFish]

Now that I think of it, is lympho something that would come up, or become evident, because of stress and/or poor water conditions like high ammonia levels?

It's a virus that "comes and goes" and a lot fish seem to have it. I noticed the last time I moved, several of my fish had "flare ups" - so it's possible the "stress" of being moved and living in storage containers for a few weeks lowered their immune systems. Conversely, I've noticed feeding nori & vitamin enriched foods, and maintaining pristine water conditions seems to expedite the "going away" process.

 

[W1ngz]

This seems to have cleared up quicker than I expected it to. Good news I guess. Would 'come and go' be over the span of 3-4 days? Or is all of this maybe just a light case of ammonia poisoning from my lack of attention to the tank during the couple of days prior to?

 

[HumbleFish]

This seems to have cleared up quicker than I expected it to. Good news I guess. Would 'come and go' be over the span of 3-4 days? Or is all of this maybe just a light case of ammonia poisoning from my lack of attention to the tank during the couple of days prior to?

Usually takes longer than 3-4 days, but I've seen it 'come and go' in less than a week, so it's entirely possible.

 

[W1ngz]

Things seem ok. I've been treating with ParaGuard for the last 4 days. The marks are gone, the ammonia is gone, they're eating and swimming about casually. The larger one occasionally charges the smaller one, in what seems to be typical dominant/submissive behaviour of juvenile clowns. I put a carbon pouch in the filter last night to clear out any leftovers from the ParaGuard.

At this point I'm going to assume/hope this was either the beginnings of ammonia poisoning or lympho, and that the Paraguard was unnecessary.

I'm away this weekend, so will take advantage of the 3-4 days of idle time to hit them with a dose of Prazipro tonight, and maybe a second early next week. I have no reason to think they need it, but may as well be safe.

They should finally be moved to the DT mid next week!