Stings or Brookynella?

[violaceous]

Well, I have had this oscellaris clown for well on 6 months now and since about the first month he began developing dark spots on his tail and sides. These cooincide with the time that he began hosting in some green/brown frilly mushrooms, so I have concluded that this must be caused by stinging.

Now, although he has been healthy enough in his eating and behavior (beyond the fact that he looks dreadful) I am still nervous about adding any fish to the aquarium in the off chance that he has something that will infect them. I don;t think it could be Brooklynella because he would be long dead by now from what I have read about how quickly that disease acts.

Does anyone have any experience with similar situations?

His coloring is otherwise bright orange.
No frayed fins.
Some areas of his fins appear to be slightly transparent.
Dark area on his tail and a few dark spots on his sides.
He sleeps and wallows in the frilly mushrooms part of the day and all night.

Should I be concerned? If this is possibly disease, any recommendations on treatments?

I think I am going to put him in quarantine this weekend away from the mushrooms and see if that makes a difference in his appearance after a few weeks.

Any help appreciated! Thanks!


PS: I have tried to get a photo of him but my digital camera doesnt work for fish because of the blurring from movement.

 

[TOURKID]

i havent delt with the experience myself. but ive seen pics of clowns that had black spots from corals and zoas. i guess a mushroom could too!

I would def. rule out brook. definately.

the only other thing id look at is 'black ick' i dont know anything about it. but thats the only other thing i can think of

make sure to qt your new fish so they dont get her sick too

 

[violaceous]

Yeah, this clown I picked up ages ago when I was still learning which LFS has the healthiest livestock. I now QT everything for at least 2 weeks and have found an LFS that has a good supplier for the most part.

Black Ich is hard for me to figure out... From the photos I have seen of it, it appears as tiny dark specs on the fish rather that larger oddly placed ones. I could be totally wrong though. :\

Thanks very much for the input! Its a little embarrassing when I have people over to view my tanks and they see the sick looking little clown. I feel like a bad parent. lol He seems to be in no discomfort or unhealthy in any other way though. Lets hope separating him from the mushrooms changes his luck.

 

[dantodd]

black spots are quite common on clowns that host corals. As long as he looks healthy otherwise just think of them as freckles.

 

[violaceous]

LOL He's a giant swimming freckle. I wonder if the spots are permanent now or if he was separated from that particular bunch of mushrooms if they would start to heal?

Is it possible that he hasn't built up resistance to the sting of the mushrooms? I was thinking that perhaps the sting of these are more potent or somehow different than a normal anenome sting. [These are the green mushrooms that have the reddish brown frills all over them. They appear mostly brown when fully opened. Not sure if this is a Rhodactis or not]

Thanks for the response! I feel better knowing that others have experienced this and that I'm not just neglecting treatment on a sick fish.

 

[traveller7]

Not to worry, the dark spots will likely fade as it takes up new homes over the years. Even some hosting anemones will trigger such a response.

 

[violaceous]

Thanks so much, Scott! My mind is at ease again.