clownfish slime coat questions

[JCATL]

Apart from the common diseases and illnesses that produce visible signs in the fish, what other things (illness, tank parameters, etc) can cause discoloration or not normal looking slime coat in clownfish?

back story:

I have a pair of older mocha clowns that seem to go through these periods (completely random, last time this happened was 8+ months ago) where their slime coat looks, for lack of a better word, rough. It almost looks like they're shedding, but it never goes that far. It seems to last for around 5-7 days, peaking around the 3-4 day mark, and then it fades. They never show any other symptoms I would associate with anything bad such as scratching, fast/laboured breathing or swimming in the current and they eat well the entire time. In general, they seem completely oblivious to it but we notice it enough to think "that doesn't look good". None of their tank mates seem to experience this and are otherwise fine.

any suggestions? I don't have a current pic, but am going through old photos to see if I have one that's obvious enough and will update if/when I find one.

 

[Jay Hemdal]

Apart from the common diseases and illnesses that produce visible signs in the fish, what other things (illness, tank parameters, etc) can cause discoloration or not normal looking slime coat in clownfish?

back story:

I have a pair of older mocha clowns that seem to go through these periods (completely random, last time this happened was 8+ months ago) where their slime coat looks, for lack of a better word, rough. It almost looks like they're shedding, but it never goes that far. It seems to last for around 5-7 days, peaking around the 3-4 day mark, and then it fades. They never show any other symptoms I would associate with anything bad such as scratching, fast/laboured breathing or swimming in the current and they eat well the entire time. In general, they seem completely oblivious to it but we notice it enough to think "that doesn't look good". None of their tank mates seem to experience this and are otherwise fine.

any suggestions? I don't have a current pic, but am going through old photos to see if I have one that's obvious enough and will update if/when I find one.

Pics might help, but cloudy skin is often pretty commonly seen in dark colored clownfish. Could the pair bond be breaking down at time causing some squabbling?
Jay

 

[JCATL]

Pics might help, but cloudy skin is often pretty commonly seen in dark colored clownfish. Could the pair bond be breaking down at time causing some squabbling?
Jay

Interesting, they are definitely very on-again, off-again clowns. They'll go through periods where they move as a pair, following each other around and periods where they stay at opposite ends of the tank and barely interact. They've always squabbled though, regardless of which social mood they seem to be in at the time. When they're in paired-mode they'll dance pretty often and when not, they'll randomly pass each other, bump noses for a little bit and then go their separate ways.

I'll try to get some pics and update when I do. Thanks.