White stuff around Ocellaris clownfish mouth!

[Aaarrrggg]

My B&W Ocellaris has got white "stuff" around her mouth! The best way I can describe it is she looks like she’s been eating flour.

I had a look on the net and found some info about a white mouth disease that maroon clownfish sometimes get... but in those cases the fish also had trouble opening their mouths to eat. Mine is voracious as ever, begging, gobbling up big bits of food and nagging her lil man.

She attempted to host in a Gonoporia a couple of days ago and was burying her head in its tentacles and nipping at them. Could this have caused a "rash"? (*hopes*)

I tried to get a pic but I’m afraid my camera wouldn't focus.

I'm not sure what do to next. Should I wait on the QT until something more concrete happens? (eg it spreads or she starts acting out of sorts?)

All the other fish and inverts are fine (including the male clownfish)

 

[Hattie B]

Hi,

Its hard to say (a pic would help)

She could have the starting of Lymphocystis (sometimes it can start or shows up on the face)

Is it like a growth? Or ?

(BTW-that is a super cute avatar; Im assuming you drew it? )

 

[Aaarrrggg]

She's definitely got something... its worse today

After much battling with the camera, this is the best pic I could get:

Her lips seem swollen, with patches of white, maybe even a bit flaking off. Today there also seems to be a couple of white dots on her fins, but only a couple.

She is still eating and acting more or less normally. She was a little shy at breakfast time but that could have been from me bothering her with the camera (took me a while to find out how to turn red-eye reduction off)

I'm going to QT her today. Couple of questions:
- Does anyone recognize the symptoms? What medication should I use?
- I'm guessing I QT the male too so he doesn't turn in her absence... is this right?

Thanks in advance, this is my first SW illness so I’m a bit freaked out! :eek2:

(Hehe glad you like my avatar, yup I drew it )

 

[Aaarrrggg]

I just looked up Lymphocystis. That *could* be it. If it is would it be better to leave the clowns in there rather than stressing them further with the QT?

 

[Aaarrrggg]

The guy at my LFS reckoned it could be some sort of fungal disease… maybe from the fish nipping at something and cutting her mouth up. He gave me “Myxazin” (treats fin rot, body rot, ulcers & other bacterial infections.) I also picked up some “Para Guard” (parasite control) just in case the white spots do turn out to be ich (I don’t *think* they are yet)

I’m still unsure if I should QT. Any advice would be much appreciated.

 

[Hattie B]

Hi,

Well I have have never used that product so I am not familair with it. What is the active ingredient? (I am not a fan of cure all most of the time they do not work that well).

The para gaurd would be for worms and would not affect ich.

she could be suffering from a bacterial infection. A product like Maracyn-2 (its the gram negative one) or nitrofurazone would be a good one to use if this gets worse.

How is it today? Does it look worse?

Either way good water quality is and the WC are a good start.

You could treat her with either of the above antibotics.

Fungal infections are not all that common in marines, bacterial infections are much more common; can be secondary infection to something else.

Any other symptoms either before this started or something that is new.

 

[Aaarrrggg]

Hmmm that’s odd, there are no ingredients listed for Myxazin… how troubling! I did a search for it and there appears to be a lot of other people wondering the same thing. One site (http://www.goldfishparadise.com/for...iew=next&sid=99ee3567d001d3fef9897cea51200b3d) has the active ingredients as formalin/formaldehyde …yuck!

Lucky I found out about the Para-safe before I got ich! That could have gotten messy. Useless LFS advice.

I’m having trouble tracking down Maracyn-2 & nitrofurazone in the UK… I’ll have a look about what antibiotics I can find over here and get back to you on that one.

The pic was from this morning and she did look worse than yesterday…but this evening she might be looking a little better. I’ve been starring at her so much I’m not sure anymore!

I didn’t notice any symptoms before this started a couple of days ago. I added a sixline wrasse and fire shrimp last week but they haven’t bothered her. She tried to host in that Gonoporia last week and I took it away the next day… do they get upset about stuff like that? I’ve noticed her nuzzling my star polyps the last couple of days… hmmm… sorry none of this is very helpful, just trying to think of anything I can!

Do you think its best to keep an eye on her in the main tank for now? If it is something she can get over without meds I’ll probably have a better chance of keeping the water quality good the big tank than a little QT. What do you think?

Thank you VERY much for your help, my clownfish and I sure appreciate it

edit: I forgot to say how she's looking worse today. There seem to be more specs on her head and pectoral fins. They don't look like white spots, more like a faint white dusting. It's so subtle that it's possible she's not getting worse and I just didn't notice yesterday. Guess I'll have to see how she looks tomorrow.

 

[Aaarrrggg]

Panic over! (I hope!)

I left her in the main tank another night to see if anything new happened and she's looking much better today! Her lips are a little grey but not white like they were. There are still 3 tiny grey specks on one of her pectoral fins, but I think they're scuff marks rather than ich.

It must have been some sort of physical injury. Whew I'm so glad! Thanks for the advice, I'm going to try and get myself some of that maracyn2 for the future.

(sorry for posting the same msg in the clownfish forum, just wanted to make sure I thanked everyone)

 

[andrewsmart]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=9419023#post9419023 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by Aaarrrggg
Hmmm that’s odd, there are no ingredients listed for Myxazin… how troubling! I did a search for it and there appears to be a lot of other people wondering the same thing. One site (http://www.goldfishparadise.com/for...iew=next&sid=99ee3567d001d3fef9897cea51200b3d) has the active ingredients as formalin/formaldehyde …yuck!

Lucky I found out about the Para-safe before I got ich! That could have gotten messy. Useless LFS advice.

I’m having trouble tracking down Maracyn-2 & nitrofurazone in the UK… I’ll have a look about what antibiotics I can find over here and get back to you on that one.

you cant buy those in the uk you need to go to a vet to get antibiotics here.

hope your fish is ok.

 

[Aaarrrggg]

ahhhh that explains it! Thanks for the tip.

She's perfect again today, very odd... not that I'm complaining!