Regmanabq
Community Member
I never wanted my first post here to be a sick fish....
but I could use some help with my black ice clown who is going through a thing and it's got me stumped. Any assistance is greatly appreciated as I'm new to reef / saltwater and have not kept any fish for many years now. Feeling a little out of my element as I jump back into fish keeping and toss in all the fun saltwater stuff on this new tank too!
Tank: BioCube 32 / 32 gallons
Filtration: Intank media basket and refugium with floss, carbon, Marine pure hex balls in a bag in media basket, four marine pure blocks in refugium. Some copepods. No chaeto at the moment. 1" sand bed of caribsea special grade and 30lbs? Caribsea life rock
Date Tank Started: April 1 2023 started cycle
Date first inhabitants added: June 11 2023
Current Parameters:
Salinity: 35ppt measured with refractometer calibrated with 35 ppt solution
Salt: ESV AQUARIUM PRODUCTS B-Ionic
Water Change Schedule: 3-5 gallon water changes weekly (3 gallons if all is well, more if I'm pulling out hair algae)
Temp: 79 low at night / 80 max during the day
Flow: Maxspect Gyre XF 330 set to a max of 40%. Random half the time and Alternating forward / reverse sine wave half the time. / Twin return pump nozzles, one pointed at the surface towards front of tank, other pointed down in tank towards over flow and circulating in back of tank behind rockwork.
Amonia: 0
Nitrite: 0
NItrate: .5
Phos: .12
Alk: 7.5
Calcium: 530
Magnesium: 1240
PH: 7.9-8.1 (night vs day)
Supplements: Dosing 5ml Microbacter 7 weekly and dosing 5ml all for reef twice a week wed / weekend after water change
Lights: Currently limited to 7 hours a day full white, 10 hours a day blue (fighting some hair algae)
Current Issues:
Still fighting a bit of a hair algae problem that's getting under control with the addition of 5 Trochus and 3 Astraea snails August 28th.
Current Inhabitants:
1x Four head Hammer Coral June 11
5 Trochus added Aug 28
3x Astraea added Aug 28
3x Cerith added Aug 28
3x Cerith Snails added June 11
1x Davinci extreeme Clown added June 11
1x Black Ice Clown added June 11
Disposition: Everyone seems to get along well. No aggression noted other than some pushing during feeding. Clowns are pairing? Seem to be hanging out, sleeping together and davinci is definately the leader but i've not seen her picking on him or anything.
Feeding: Alternating between frozen mysis and TDO Chroma Boost. Hair algea for the inverts and algea wafers once they wipe it out.
Recent Events:
Had an outbreak of spirorbid snails end of August that is disipating now after manual removal of most of them off back of tank. I thought they might be nice, but they started taking over.
Aug 9th: Moved tank to another room while office is remodeled, painted and new carpet installed. Tried to catch the fish to move them out of tank during this, but trying to catch them seemed to be stressing them out more than a move down the hall might, so we drained tank to half, moved as carefully as we could on rolling dolly and reset in living room temporarily. Fish stressed, especially the black ice, but no other signs of damage, injury, etc.
July 10 : Emerald crabs died two weeks after addition to tank along with three established trochus snails who had been with us since June. Cause unknown.
Current Issue with Clown:
This clown has always been a bit on the "chunky" side. My Davinci is very sleek and streamlined, but this black ice always was a little more rounded.
But after moving the tank at the start of the month I noticed in Mid August I noticed he was a bit chunkier and round than normal and seemed to have a little popeye. He was less energetic than usual and spent most of his days hovering head down tail up in the back center of the tank. Almost like the back of the tank was the floor. He would just hover there or swim up and down the back of the tank for hours and then come out for feeding and then sit up in the top corner near over flow at night with the other clown to sleep.
Seemed to get a little better with the eye pop less noticeable and no pineconing or swim bladder issues and I stopped worrying and chalked it up to stress from being in a new room / moving the tank.
Then he got bloated again about a week later at the end of August and while he wasn't really pineconing I decided something was going on.
Monitored for a few days and he just seemed to have possible dropsy / pop eye. Wasn't getting worse, but wasn't getting any better either. Only symptoms were bloating, some pineconing (or I'm just a paranoid new dad and seeing things) and a little popeye and maybe not as active as usual. Still hoving in the back which isn't something he really did prior to moving the tank.
Started treating with Metroplex and Kanaplex mixed with food and focus on Sept 1st. First two days was treatment during morning and evening meals and now every 48 hours.
Now this weekend comes around and we are 8 days into treatment. He seems to be more active, coming out into the tank more, swimming happily and fast, hanging out with his partner, seemed like we were on the road to recovery. Still a little rounded with a little bulge in the belly, but seems we are getting better?
Then Friday I noticed a small "growth" on is right fin. Almost looked like a bubble. Very small on the lower tip. Didn't seem to bother him, but certainly bothered me.
Over the weekend the "growth" on his fin has gotten larger and now Sunday I notice he's got a growth on his back soft dorsal fin that almost looks like two extra fins growing, one on each side. Almost remind me of air brakes on a plane.
And Now I'm at a loss. And I don't have the experience with clowns or saltwater to really even know what it could be. Doesn't look like Ick or velvet which I know.
Flukes? Maybe?
Lymphocystis? Kind of looks like Lymphocystis to me based on pictures I can find and that would make sense if he's all stressed out and then sick. But none of the pics look exactly like what he has and none of them have anything like the mystery "clear fins" he's developing!
Broklynella? GOD I hope not, but doesn't seem like brook to me?
I'm worried now as this seems to be progressing into something at this point. Irony is he's much more active and seems a lot happier this week. If not for the growths on the fins I'd think we were making progress with our treatment plan and he was getting better.
Anyone have any advice on what this could be?? Or am I just a paranoid newb and worrying over nothing?
Pictures:
August 24th: https://photos.app.goo.gl/eaubvEQuGgFfgkcS8 / https://photos.app.goo.gl/7DQ8JooiUC3r7HMRA
August 28th: https://photos.app.goo.gl/bYBM7FVs7oK87ueM9 / https://photos.app.goo.gl/ZMe956Uea3344TwL8
First noticed growth: Sept 8th: https://photos.app.goo.gl/1fvmSuRzanqyPhmQ8 / https://photos.app.goo.gl/G6o8z9c5VGBMn2rZA
Now on the fins Sept 9th: https://photos.app.goo.gl/ysqcY3VsXRWTVxBBA / https://photos.app.goo.gl/QWSQCTGNzKXR1DB38 /
Reference Day I got him Pic: https://photos.app.goo.gl/V1Peh3L8xBiW1HZA7 / https://photos.app.goo.gl/wEriHPamboixfqZm7
but I could use some help with my black ice clown who is going through a thing and it's got me stumped. Any assistance is greatly appreciated as I'm new to reef / saltwater and have not kept any fish for many years now. Feeling a little out of my element as I jump back into fish keeping and toss in all the fun saltwater stuff on this new tank too!
Tank: BioCube 32 / 32 gallons
Filtration: Intank media basket and refugium with floss, carbon, Marine pure hex balls in a bag in media basket, four marine pure blocks in refugium. Some copepods. No chaeto at the moment. 1" sand bed of caribsea special grade and 30lbs? Caribsea life rock
Date Tank Started: April 1 2023 started cycle
Date first inhabitants added: June 11 2023
Current Parameters:
Salinity: 35ppt measured with refractometer calibrated with 35 ppt solution
Salt: ESV AQUARIUM PRODUCTS B-Ionic
Water Change Schedule: 3-5 gallon water changes weekly (3 gallons if all is well, more if I'm pulling out hair algae)
Temp: 79 low at night / 80 max during the day
Flow: Maxspect Gyre XF 330 set to a max of 40%. Random half the time and Alternating forward / reverse sine wave half the time. / Twin return pump nozzles, one pointed at the surface towards front of tank, other pointed down in tank towards over flow and circulating in back of tank behind rockwork.
Amonia: 0
Nitrite: 0
NItrate: .5
Phos: .12
Alk: 7.5
Calcium: 530
Magnesium: 1240
PH: 7.9-8.1 (night vs day)
Supplements: Dosing 5ml Microbacter 7 weekly and dosing 5ml all for reef twice a week wed / weekend after water change
Lights: Currently limited to 7 hours a day full white, 10 hours a day blue (fighting some hair algae)
Current Issues:
Still fighting a bit of a hair algae problem that's getting under control with the addition of 5 Trochus and 3 Astraea snails August 28th.
Current Inhabitants:
1x Four head Hammer Coral June 11
5 Trochus added Aug 28
3x Astraea added Aug 28
3x Cerith added Aug 28
3x Cerith Snails added June 11
1x Davinci extreeme Clown added June 11
1x Black Ice Clown added June 11
Disposition: Everyone seems to get along well. No aggression noted other than some pushing during feeding. Clowns are pairing? Seem to be hanging out, sleeping together and davinci is definately the leader but i've not seen her picking on him or anything.
Feeding: Alternating between frozen mysis and TDO Chroma Boost. Hair algea for the inverts and algea wafers once they wipe it out.
Recent Events:
Had an outbreak of spirorbid snails end of August that is disipating now after manual removal of most of them off back of tank. I thought they might be nice, but they started taking over.
Aug 9th: Moved tank to another room while office is remodeled, painted and new carpet installed. Tried to catch the fish to move them out of tank during this, but trying to catch them seemed to be stressing them out more than a move down the hall might, so we drained tank to half, moved as carefully as we could on rolling dolly and reset in living room temporarily. Fish stressed, especially the black ice, but no other signs of damage, injury, etc.
July 10 : Emerald crabs died two weeks after addition to tank along with three established trochus snails who had been with us since June. Cause unknown.
Current Issue with Clown:
This clown has always been a bit on the "chunky" side. My Davinci is very sleek and streamlined, but this black ice always was a little more rounded.
But after moving the tank at the start of the month I noticed in Mid August I noticed he was a bit chunkier and round than normal and seemed to have a little popeye. He was less energetic than usual and spent most of his days hovering head down tail up in the back center of the tank. Almost like the back of the tank was the floor. He would just hover there or swim up and down the back of the tank for hours and then come out for feeding and then sit up in the top corner near over flow at night with the other clown to sleep.
Seemed to get a little better with the eye pop less noticeable and no pineconing or swim bladder issues and I stopped worrying and chalked it up to stress from being in a new room / moving the tank.
Then he got bloated again about a week later at the end of August and while he wasn't really pineconing I decided something was going on.
Monitored for a few days and he just seemed to have possible dropsy / pop eye. Wasn't getting worse, but wasn't getting any better either. Only symptoms were bloating, some pineconing (or I'm just a paranoid new dad and seeing things) and a little popeye and maybe not as active as usual. Still hoving in the back which isn't something he really did prior to moving the tank.
Started treating with Metroplex and Kanaplex mixed with food and focus on Sept 1st. First two days was treatment during morning and evening meals and now every 48 hours.
Now this weekend comes around and we are 8 days into treatment. He seems to be more active, coming out into the tank more, swimming happily and fast, hanging out with his partner, seemed like we were on the road to recovery. Still a little rounded with a little bulge in the belly, but seems we are getting better?
Then Friday I noticed a small "growth" on is right fin. Almost looked like a bubble. Very small on the lower tip. Didn't seem to bother him, but certainly bothered me.
Over the weekend the "growth" on his fin has gotten larger and now Sunday I notice he's got a growth on his back soft dorsal fin that almost looks like two extra fins growing, one on each side. Almost remind me of air brakes on a plane.
And Now I'm at a loss. And I don't have the experience with clowns or saltwater to really even know what it could be. Doesn't look like Ick or velvet which I know.
Flukes? Maybe?
Lymphocystis? Kind of looks like Lymphocystis to me based on pictures I can find and that would make sense if he's all stressed out and then sick. But none of the pics look exactly like what he has and none of them have anything like the mystery "clear fins" he's developing!
Broklynella? GOD I hope not, but doesn't seem like brook to me?
I'm worried now as this seems to be progressing into something at this point. Irony is he's much more active and seems a lot happier this week. If not for the growths on the fins I'd think we were making progress with our treatment plan and he was getting better.
Anyone have any advice on what this could be?? Or am I just a paranoid newb and worrying over nothing?
Pictures:
August 24th: https://photos.app.goo.gl/eaubvEQuGgFfgkcS8 / https://photos.app.goo.gl/7DQ8JooiUC3r7HMRA
August 28th: https://photos.app.goo.gl/bYBM7FVs7oK87ueM9 / https://photos.app.goo.gl/ZMe956Uea3344TwL8
First noticed growth: Sept 8th: https://photos.app.goo.gl/1fvmSuRzanqyPhmQ8 / https://photos.app.goo.gl/G6o8z9c5VGBMn2rZA
Now on the fins Sept 9th: https://photos.app.goo.gl/ysqcY3VsXRWTVxBBA / https://photos.app.goo.gl/QWSQCTGNzKXR1DB38 /
Reference Day I got him Pic: https://photos.app.goo.gl/V1Peh3L8xBiW1HZA7 / https://photos.app.goo.gl/wEriHPamboixfqZm7
