White-ish/clear film on clownfish body?

[MHannon]

I have 2 oscillaris clowns in a nano cube. I just got them 2 days ago. Now one has a whiteish opaque film over his body and its peeling off in some places. He is still acting normal ie. swimming in the current and eating. The other one is starting to look bad too.

What is this and how can it be fixed?

The nano cube has been set up for about two months now. Although it is still a new tank, there was never really a cycle because I used rock, sand and water out of my 90 gallon reef that has been established for several years. about a month ago I added a fire shrimp and a bunch of coral and they are all doing really well. The clowns are the first and only fish added to the tank.

I tried to get a picture but none of them were clear enough to show what im talking about. I cant post water parameters either because when I came home and saw how the fish looked, I immediately did a 50% water change. Now the Ammonia, nitrates, nitrites, and phosphate are all undetectable, the pH is 8.3, Salinity is 1.022 and the temp is 79.8F The parameters are all fine now, but there is no knowing what they were before the water change.

Does anybody know what this is?

 

[JHemdal]

Mhannon,

Check out the thread at the top of this forum called "brook time". Any time I hear of somebody with an ocellaris clownfish that has a white film peeling off it, I immediately think - Brooklynella hostilis... a really nasty protozoan. I haven't seen it myself in many years, so I'd rather just point you to that thread and see if their treatments will work for you, rather than to give you old advice.....

Jay

 

[MHannon]

thanks, I checked it out and that does seem to describe it. Sadly the one clown did pass away. The other one looks ok........ for now. Im going to try to get some formalin but nobody sells it. I see that formalin is a solution of formaldehyde and water. Is this what I should be using? and what ratio of formaldehyde to water do I use?

Formaldehyde is a little tricky to buy also. Online I see that it comes in different % solutions from 2% to 40%. If I were to buy some, which percentage should I go with and how much water should I mix in it?

 

[screwsloose]

i think the api brand of furan-2 is mainly formalin. dont qoute me on this though

 

[marcus.breaux]

Could this be Ick?

 

[screwsloose]

ich generally forms like salt grains pertruding from the scales. i would not attribute what you are describing to ich. velvet maybe but not ich but i think you were already pointed in the right direction..

 

[MHannon]

Thanks but I have had several outbreaks of ich and this definitely isn't one. This is a very scary and rapid deterioration of the fish. They were both perfectly fine at the store and during their first day in the tank. Then, within 48 hours both fish were showing extreme symptoms then were dead.

If this was brooklynella (still cant be positive, but it does seem likely) how long until other fish can be added? The only thing in the tank is a fire shrimp, pom pom crab, hermit crabs, and assorted corals. No fish just inverts. And since brook. only affects fish it should starve itself out without any other hosts right?

 

[MHannon]

any info on how long until I can add fish would be greatly appreciated.

 

[MHannon]

I have been doing some research on brooklynella and there is not much info on the web. Especially concerning how long to wait until other fish may be added. I'm just going to do several water changes over a month and then try again....... unless somebody suggests otherwise.