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Problems with my clowns!!!!


jgf86123

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I just noticed something wrong with both my clowns and can't figure out what it is. I've got a video uploading in case my picture isn't clear enough:

 

SDC10651.jpg

 

I don't know if it's ick or what, but they seemed fine earlier today and now, well, they still seem fine, but they're both covered in it, and it almost seems like they're fins are feathering? if thats the word, or maybe fraying is a better word? hell, I dont know, all I know is something doesnt seem right.

 

So any and all help would be greatly appreciated, along with some advice on how to treat it.....

 

Thanks

 

Vid will follow shortly.

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How high is your ammonia? If it gets too high it will literally start burning the fins off.

 

Also have they been digging? I've seen clowns dig enough in the sand to make it look like there was something wrong when there really wasn't.

 

What have you been feeding them? When I first started my original tank I noticed the coat on all of my fish was looking dull and shabby. The food I was giving them apparently was lacking enough nutrients as a change to better food fixed it after a week or so. I now stick mostly to homemade food.

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Mick,

 

That would lead me to more of Brooknella. By the video they were swimming more towards the surface. That is one of 2 signs of brook. It could also be Amyloodinium (marine velvet.) If you can get them into a qt tank and treat with Formalin to start. It also recommended to give the fish a fresh water dip but I have never been a fan of dips for sick fish. It stresses them out more than they already are. DO NOT treat the tank with formalin if there are corals and inverts. QT them.

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Dave, after looking at the pics on diseased fish, I came across this, and this is what our clowns look like :(

 

5fe8bb12_Brooklynellaclown1.jpg

 

Well, you can scratch a couple of my suggestions although I would still check your parameters and make sure they have a good diet. It will be especially important if they do have velvet.

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I'll get my second tank's salinity sorted by morning and get them in it as soon as it's at the right salinity.

 

Does anyone have any formalin? Or know where some can be found?

 

Dave, thanks a ton man.

 

Rick, they have never dug into the sand as far as I can tell, so I'm almost positive it's not sand.

 

As for their food, it's mixed up, I feed every day usually, a mix of flake and the pellet food Isaac carries and the food Dave gave me that he starts all of his clowns on, and every 3 days I give the entire tank Rod's food.

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....It also recommended to give the fish a fresh water dip but I have never been a fan of dips for sick fish. It stresses them out more than they already are.

 

I concur. Every time I've tried to do a fresh water dip on a sick fish I ended up losing it anyway.

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Rick,

 

Your suggestions are still very credible. Tank parameters can play a huge part of the fishes well being and symptoms they portray. I would

 

Mick are they swimming into the current more or scractching up against things around their gill area?? If not I would believe it to be brooklynella over velvet.

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Dave, they haven't scratched against anything that I can see, and they still tend to do the same things they've always done, play in the current a bit, play with the other fish, eat out of my hand, same as usual

 

 

Would mixing in garlic with my rods be helpful in anyway shape or form?

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That does look like brooklynella. I'm told that this is like 3rd degree burns on humans. One of my clowns came down with it a couple years ago. You need to get them out of the DT and into a hospital tank now. First thing I did was a freshwater dip for a couple minutes. Keep a close eye on the fish, if they show distress remove it from FW and put back in HT. Then you need to treat with Formalin. Get it at an LFS. Follow the instructions EXACTLY on the package. It took about 5 days of treatment, but my fish pulled through. She was on the verge of death. Her skin was literally melting off her. She has totally recovered and now she is still healthy and happy.

 

Good Luck.

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Dave, they haven't scratched against anything that I can see, and they still tend to do the same things they've always done, play in the current a bit, play with the other fish, eat out of my hand, same as usual

 

 

Would mixing in garlic with my rods be helpful in anyway shape or form?

 

I'm not sure but I don't think garlic itself will make much difference. I think it primarily just stimulates them to feed which helps keep them getting the nutrition they need if they are unhealthy. I think I would use selcon or a regular vitamin supplement instead of just garlic. (Don't use it as a replacement for the medication but rather to help keep them as healthy as possible while you work through it)

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Dave, I'll give you a call in the morning and see if we can't work something out...

 

Steelhead, thanks man, that gets my hopes up lol.

 

Rick, any idea on where to get the selcon?

 

Dave, we've got a melanarus wrasse, a lubbock's fairy wrasse and a scooter blenny, the melanarus and scooter are gone as soon as they're caught, if they're healthy...Had a tang but found him dead the other day, no marks on him, he'd turned completely black, almost like he'd been burned, I figure he got tangled up with our nem, since it had been moved(by me) to the other side of the tank, it has since been moved back and our clowns, or rather 1 clown, is hosting it, surprisingly enough LOL.

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IMO it is either Velvet or Ich, I would run a UV Sterilizer if possible and raise temp. I lost my clowns to this, but doing the above saved the rest of the fish....well.....the last fish I should say, it took me losing my tang, blenny, goby, and psuedochromi before I tried the previously mentioned.

 

What can I say, I hate to see people lose fish

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