[dori9941]

my clownfish has a area that is fuzzy and looks like really thin cotton. I'm seeing more information towards a fungle infection. I have Tetracycline; and melafix. Are they safe for inverts. and which do I use.

it is a white line along his side along the lateral line ( ty rlcline76, for showing where it is in a thread ). it's fuzzy.

my water is, Very nice, perfect wp. however my hydrometer was very wrong and the water was low on salt for a week. 1.020 is what it was reading. my hydrometer said it was all the way at the top. I know to clean them. I have 3 I've check them and 1 works right. I hope to never have this problem again. This is the only thing I've found wrong.

Now my refractameter , idk how to spell, is here now and the salt and water per. are great.

can low salt be the problem? any sug? srry no photo. It's not like a cotton ball but looks just like cotton film.

The tank contains a pink tip anemone, cleaner shrimp, and the true perc. clown.

I wish meds where clearer about the use with inverts. I don't want the fish to die because of me and I know that low salt brings on these problems. The portable refractometer is great. It was worth the 70 bucks.

[dori9941]

not a false alarm this time bty

[rlcline76]

Do you have a QT? Could be fungal...could be something nasty. Need to remove him from your main tank.

Clownfish can get some nasty illnesses that can mess up a whole tank. I want you to really look at this link. Without a picture, it is hard to dianose correctly. My first thought was brooklynella or amyloodinium. Treatment advice is also in that link. Often, you will find that treatment procedures remain the same.

ClnfshDisArt

Assuming you have decent water parameters, how is your fish behaving? Breathing rapidly? Swimming? Lethargic? Eating?

[pogodzib]

Nice link for the clownfish diseases Becky. If it is a fungal infection, there is a good chance that it won't spread to other fish, but I would still get the diseased fish out of the tank immediately and put it into a q-tank. Never treat diseases in your display tank. Most chemicals that say that are "reef safe" either don't work or aren't really reef safe.

Low salt could cause problems, but a pH of 1.017 usually is more beneficial to the fish and aids in preventing diseases which is one of the reasons why many fish stores keep their saltwater pH around that range. Corals and inverts don't do very good with low pH though so it isn't ideal for tanks with critters or corals.

[dori9941]

Originally Posted by rlcline76

Do you have a QT? Could be fungal...could be something nasty. Need to remove him from your main tank.

Clownfish can get some nasty illnesses that can mess up a whole tank. I want you to really look at this link. Without a picture, it is hard to dianose correctly. My first thought was brooklynella or amyloodinium. Treatment advice is also in that link. Often, you will find that treatment procedures remain the same.

ClnfshDisArt

Assuming you have decent water parameters, how is your fish behaving? Breathing rapidly? Swimming? Lethargic? Eating?

now that the salt is fixed, I can't find anything wrong with the water. I'll look at what u have gave me and get back to u. ty
as far as the state of the fish he is great. best color and activity i've had and eats with enthu. very active happy and play full

[dori9941]

Well at least i know he could be worst! as far as i can tell and, it's hard because he is not as bad as the other fish on the link, it could be or lookes like the pic next to the words;
1 Bacteria, Fungi or,
2 Trauma; Physical & Social or,
3 Amyloodinium (Velvet) or ,
4 Slimy Appearing Aggregate White Filmy Material on the Body

The area is a small line and has whitesh fuzz like the pic. beside those words. it is 10% of 100 compared to any of those fish, but the color and texture are a like . the shape of the area is like it's going on a old scar or what i thought was a scar from the ocean. like a line . he is in QT. The line has been there from the start from (oct 5th. my husbands birthday gift) He isn't sick in any other way. The things i saw on link seem fatal rapidly.
Salt last week was the A problem does that rule things out? He is the only fish in there. nothing has attacked him. He is eating well, breathing, and swimming fine.
The cleaner shrimp isn't giveing him any extra attention. will read further just wanted to up date. PS i'm getting a camera in 3 weeks. I just hope i don't lose the fish before then. I'll have to look up all treatments as I don't know what they r. thanks it's gonna take time.
I need new glasses

[rlcline76]

If it is bacterial or fungal, my suggestion is something mild: maracyn or melafix with a good diet. Look into garlic and vitamin supplements.

[dori9941]

there's a trumpet snail also in the main tank. I forgot about the little guy
i had to put my scarlet red hermit crab in qt because even though i told the lfs i had one the info i find says that they r preitors to my anemone, so i have an invert in qt also and i know that limits my med options.

[rlcline76]

I would consider fish over a hermit. Question of economics. Frankly, if you have something major like amyloodinium, MelaFix won't do squat for you. Your fish need a place where they can be treated when necessary. Maybe the LFS will take the hermit off of your hands.

[pogodzib]

I've had Amyloodinium (velvet) once or twice and it wasn't fun dealing with it. The fish never made it, but thankfully it never spread to any other fish in my tank. If it is velvet, it will cover the whole side of the fish and not just one area.

[rlcline76]

I agree. Half of the battle is knowing what you are looking at and being able react quickly. Sometimes we don't know what we are dealing with until it is too late. Another good reason to QT first! The loss of one fish sucks, the loss of half your tank is considered a tragedy.

[dori9941]

i thought about the crab and like u say. the fish it is. I put him under a light and nothing wast there I'm gonna wait for my husbands eyes to get home, lol. I think i'm seeing things. my vision is, well the doc. called it interesting. i'm near sighted in 1 eye and far sighted in the other. i've losed half vision in the near sighted one. it's fixable but insurence is a issue. I should have been in glasses as a child. On the lab tests for the tank, i look, then have my husband look. I'm lucky to have him. I'll go to the eye doc. and try to not freak out over what I think I see. the clown is the most $$ in the tank. I know panic and fish care don't go together I haven't had a attack in 3 years now.

I do have melafix. If my husband sees it I'll treat it. It is not the shape and doesn't fit the sym. or speed of those diseases most likely to look like it. On that note I will keep both eyes on him and have Jonathan look at that site you've shown me. I thank you again. if I'm not imagineing it I hope It's not fatal like pogodzib said thanks you 2. I can't wait for the camera and you can't either the way I'm constently thinking somethings wrong with him

[dori9941]

Originally Posted by pogodzib

I've had Amyloodinium (velvet) once or twice and it wasn't fun dealing with it. The fish never made it, but thankfully it never spread to any other fish in my tank. If it is velvet, it will cover the whole side of the fish and not just one area.

its just that line. thanks now i have better idea of what to watch for.

rlcline76, I'll e mail my self that link and put it in the arhcives or how ever you spell it. thanks

[pogodzib]

Velvet is one only one of the diseases/fungal/etc. that quickly harms a fish so with any of the other issues there wouldn't be anything to panic about. Yes, they can kill a fish if not treated, but you have more time to fix the problem.

One other thing that I noticed is that you have a pink tipped anemone (condi sp.???) Was it recently added to the tank or has your clown just recently started hosting in it? When a clown starts to host in an anemone, they can get black spots or an extra white slime buildup on their skin as they get used to the sting of the anemone.

[dori9941]

he was recently added but the clown has not housed in it. he will go close. He is inspesting. I think its just what u said. It becomes less pronounced and less noticalbe. That's way I though it was gone. just in case i started melafix. I don't think it is common for that anemone to host my clown. dr. foster and smith claim it unlikely or rarely to do so. I wish it would, lol. Thanks for not calling me nuts.

[dori9941]

He is doing good. giving melafix and reading. Whatever it is it seems to come and go or lighten a bit.