Clowns seem to have fuzz on them?

[Jpiotro]

Good morning everybody. The past few days I've noticed that my clowns have what looks like some white fuzz on them. I've also noticed that sometimes it goes away for a day then the next it comes back. I also have a pink spot goby and it doesn't have anything on it. Any help is appreciated to figure out what it is and if there is anything I need to do.

 

[averagesteve]

Looks like brooklynella to me, honestly.

 

[Jpiotro]

how would I go about treating that?

 

[averagesteve]

how would I go about treating that?

First thing you should probably do is get the fish out of the DT and into a hospital tank if you can to observe it further and prevent it from infecting anything else in your tank if it's contagious. If it IS brook, apparently formalin is the best treatment for it, otherwise if it's something else, someone with much more knowledge than me may be able to give some advice on what to do, but I'd think getting it out of the tank into a more observable place would be the first step no matter what.

 

[Cell]

Odd. Doesn't look like typical brook to me and I'm not sure it makes sense that it comes and goes. Is the fish behaving normally? Eating? Tail fin looks a bit beat up. Is it getting picked on at all? What are the other fish in the tank, just the goby? #fishmedic

 

[Jay Hemdal]

A short video would really help. At this point, it could be mucus, ich or brooklynella. It looks too spotty to be brook though.

Jay

 

[Jpiotro]

Odd. Doesn't look like typical brook to me and I'm not sure it makes sense that it comes and goes. Is the fish behaving normally? Eating? Tail fin looks a bit beat up. Is it getting picked on at all? What are the other fish in the tank, just the goby? #fishmedic

The fish act like nothing has changed they act normally they both eat wonderfully (I have 2 clowns with this issue in the same tank). I haven't noticed the clowns picking on each other and I think the camera is screwing with the tail fin because it looked okay this morning. And yes the goby is the only other fish in the tank with them.

 

[Jpiotro]

A short video would really help. At this point, it could be mucus, ich or brooklynella. It looks too spotty to be brook though.

Jay

Once I get home this afternoon I'll take a short video

 

[Sharkbait19]

How long have they been looking off? Did it start off like this or slowly build up to a coat of mucus?

 

[Jpiotro]

How long have they been looking off? Did it start off like this or slowly build up to a coat of mucus?

Just about Monday is when it started. It just appeared overnight, I thought bubbles from the skimmer could be it so I turned the skimmer off and when I came back from work they were gone, but then came back the next day.

 

[Sharkbait19]

Coming and going is usually seen with ich, but as Jay said, a video would help a lot.

 

[vetteguy53081]

This looks lie brooklynella with secondary infections starting. The heavy presence of mucus suggests brooklynella which commonly affects clowns especially wild caught versions. If I see correctly- as mentioned, the fish has secondary infections which stem from long term brook.
The most significant sign is the amount of slime on its body. The thick mucus on its body is a second sign which is noticeable on the fish. This mucus generally starts at the facial area as well as gills and spreads across the body producing lesions as it progresses often confused with ich and can turn into secondary bacteria. Other symptoms will be lethargic behavior, refusing to eat and heavy breathing from the mucus.
Typical treatment is a formalin solution is mixed with in a separate container with either fresh or saltwater. Start with a quick dip in the formalin at a higher concentration then performing treatment in a prolonged bath of formalin base at a lower concentration in a quarantine tank. The longer the fish are exposed to the formalin treatment the more effective it will be at eliminating this issue.
If a formalin solution is not available for immediate use, temporary relief can be achieved by giving the fish a FW bath or dip in water same temperature as display tank. Even though this treatment will not cure the disease, it can help to remove some of the parasites, as well as reduce the amount of mucus in the gills to assist with respiration problems.
Treatment is best done in a QT tank using either quick cure (more effective) or Ruby Rally Pro. Ruby takes a little longer and initial treatment generally takes 2-3 days to really start going to work.
With the advanced stage of this- I recommend immediate quarantine of all inhabitants and leaving display without fish for 4-6 weeks.
A quarantine system if you dont have one can be as simple as a starter tank kit from walmart which has most of the essentials

 

[Jpiotro]

This looks lie brooklynella with secondary infections starting. The heavy presence of mucus suggests brooklynella which commonly affects clowns especially wild caught versions. If I see correctly- as mentioned, the fish has secondary infections which stem from long term brook.
The most significant sign is the amount of slime on its body. The thick mucus on its body is a second sign which is noticeable on the fish. This mucus generally starts at the facial area as well as gills and spreads across the body producing lesions as it progresses often confused with ich and can turn into secondary bacteria. Other symptoms will be lethargic behavior, refusing to eat and heavy breathing from the mucus.
Typical treatment is a formalin solution is mixed with in a separate container with either fresh or saltwater. Start with a quick dip in the formalin at a higher concentration then performing treatment in a prolonged bath of formalin base at a lower concentration in a quarantine tank. The longer the fish are exposed to the formalin treatment the more effective it will be at eliminating this issue.
If a formalin solution is not available for immediate use, temporary relief can be achieved by giving the fish a FW bath or dip in water same temperature as display tank. Even though this treatment will not cure the disease, it can help to remove some of the parasites, as well as reduce the amount of mucus in the gills to assist with respiration problems.
Treatment is best done in a QT tank using either quick cure (more effective) or Ruby Rally Pro. Ruby takes a little longer and initial treatment generally takes 2-3 days to really start going to work.
With the advanced stage of this- I recommend immediate quarantine of all inhabitants and leaving display without fish for 4-6 weeks.
A quarantine system if you dont have one can be as simple as a starter tank kit from walmart which has most of the essentials

This definitley helps a lot. Could you send me a link for some Quick cure im not familiar with that.

 

[Jpiotro]

Coming and going is usually seen with ich, but as Jay said, a video would help a lot.

I was able to get a short video for you guys.

 

[dr_vinnie_boombatz]

First thing you should probably do is get the fish out of the DT and into a hospital tank if you can to observe it further and prevent it from infecting anything else in your tank if it's contagious. If it IS brook, apparently formalin is the best treatment for it, otherwise if it's something else, someone with much more knowledge than me may be able to give some advice on what to do, but I'd think getting it out of the tank into a more observable place would be the first step no matter what.

Just to call out formalin is a human carcinogen. I had previously made the decision to never use it personally (not worth health risks to me and my family). I think its recommended use is over prescribed on forums. I don't know if you have QT'd your fish beforehand but I had read Seachem Metronidazole can treat it (I'm currently have 2 first clowns going through QT and will use this through API General Cure after the copper treatment). Best of luck and hope they heal up

 

[Cell]

Mostly unfocused video so it's hard to see, but I'm seeing a lot of spots on the fins suggesting ich. Maybe there are several issues going on. The dorsal fin looks like it's folded over for some reason too. Fish looks a lot worse in the video than your original pic.

 

[Jpiotro]

Just to call out formalin is a human carcinogen. I had previously made the decision to never use it personally (not worth health risks to me and my family). I think its recommended use is over prescribed on forums. I don't know if you have QT'd your fish beforehand but I had read Seachem Metronidazole can treat it (I'm currently have 2 first clowns going through QT and will use this through API General Cure after the copper treatment). Best of luck and hope they heal up

thank you, Im thinking of either quick cure or rally pro.

 

[Jpiotro]

Mostly unfocused video so it's hard to see, but I'm seeing a lot of spots on the fins suggesting ich. Maybe there are several issues going on. The dorsal fin looks like it's folded over for some reason too. Fish looks a lot worse in the video than your original pic.

I now see the folded dorasal fin too. should I start treatment with rally pro?

 

[Cell]

I now see the folded dorasal fin too. should I start treatment with rally pro?

I would wait for @Jay Hemdal to give feedback on the video you posted before starting treatment.

 

[MnFish1]

What medications do you have access to? I.e. can you have something on hand with which to treat. As to formalin - it would be highly unlikely (impossible?) for the amount of formalin that would be recommended for broolkynella to cause cancer. Of course - one would want to be careful with it. Unfortunately I cannot see the video. I would arrange to have a treatment available for brooklynella as well as cryptocaryon. I would also have a hospital tank set up - if you can - to prepare for a potential problem. The fact that the fish are acting fine and eating fine (and I assume breathing fine) lessens the urgency a little - but the earliest treatment the better if it's decided that it's needed. Did you quarantine them? How long have you had them?