cotton looking patch on my clownfish

[vaporize]

Hi Lee,

Some of my clownfish are having this "cotton ball" looking thing stickin to their fins/chin/tail. They are like the Q-tip type of cotton.

I remembered reading it from one of the fish disease book that there are no cure for such thing and the condition will improve with the environmental stress relieved.

Also remembered some forum members said that they can be remove physically (i.e. take the fish out and scrap it off with fingernails...)

What's your take on this? They seems to be infectious as it goes from the fish on upper level to the fish on the sump (with no direct physical contact). The fish are eating well and behaving okay otherwise.

Thanks & cheers, vapo

[leebca]

Hi guy.

The proper diagnosis is important. It could be Lymphocystis. You want to make sure from photos of fish with this condition (see below).

Lymphocystis
No known cure if it is Lymphocystis, but I’ve known the Neon Blue Goby (Elacatinus oceanops) to actually eat it off of some fishes. This is rarely fatal IF the aquarist takes positive action. This is a virus and usually hangs around the fish. Fishes that are weak or not getting the proper nutrition or are under considerable stress (or a combo of these) usually exhibit this infection.

Remove as much stress from the fish as you can and be sure to be feeding properly. Get it on the right nutrition with vitamin and fat supplements.

It is not a good sign for a breeder/prospective breeder to be seeing Lymph. There are stress sources going on that shouldn't be on fish you want to breed.

Compare what you are seeing to this:
ViralDisLymph
The description of Lymph is usually that it looks like clumps of cauliflower (not cotton).

Find the source of stresses and remove/reduce them. Start with a review of their nutrition, then water quality, then environment. Make changes to remove their sources of stress.

I wouldn't do any physical removal. It doesn't stop the problem and can cause injury that could lead to a bacterial infection. It is contagious, usually present, and like the human common cold virus, it exhibits itself in stressed hosts.

[vaporize]

Thanks Lee, it's Lymphocystis alright, seems like the fish have it for more than two months, I think it might be secondary stress. There are neon gobies being host in the same tank as these clowns, and they do not seem to remove any of them. Will try to diagnose the stress, most likely water quality issues I think, one is a 1"er actually in a 5g with pot & sponge filter, did a 50% water change to see if it helps.

[leebca]

The Lymph will hang on and it takes a while to go away. No quick fixes. You need a long-range quality plan.

[Otters]

Opps posted in wrong place.