White marks on my clownfish

[chrisc0930]

Im not sure if this is the right forum to be posting this but this was the closest I found that can possibly help me with my problem. I have 4 clownfish in my tank and one of them has white markings on it. It does not appear to be ick and they look rather large, almost patch like. Its not raised on the skin, I guess the best way to describe it are white bruises. Im not sure what this is or how to treat it, can anyone help?

[leebca]

This is the right place, chrisc.

In order to help though, it will take more information and photos. If you can and are willing to do both, then we might be able to help. The photos need to be high enough resolution, clear enough, and close ups so that we can clearly see what it is you're looking at.

What you have described doesn't bring any particular illness, pathogen, or condition to mind, but there are many less common things that our fishes can exhibit in the home aquarium. As far as information is concerned, please provide all the following, along with the photos:

How old is your tank? When did it originally cycle?
What is the size (dimensions and gallonage) of your aquarium? Does the gallonage include the volume from the sump and any refugium?
Do you use carbon, skimmer, mechanical or other chemical filtration?.
List all specimens & sizes in the tank (fish, inverts, corals, clams, snails, crabs, shrimp, etc.).
How long have you had this fish? Did you get this fish along with the other Anemonefish? Is the fish currently eating? What does it eat?
Please list all the things you add to the tank (vitamins, buffers, other products, etc.).
Chemistries – you gave none. Do you test for Phosphate, alkalinity, calcium and magnesium? Please give actual current numbers for everything. Have these numbers been changing lately?
Water parameters – please give actual numbers (pH and your pH range, salinity or sp. gr. & range, temperature range)
Do you see any of the following in your system: hair algae; micro algae; cyanobacteria growths (red slime algae); dinoflagellate (zooxanthellae) growths; brown algae; diatom growth; slimes; off-colored patches on rock or substrate that are not coralline; etc.?
Water changes (how much and how often).
What is your source water? (Tap water, RO water, DI water, RO/DI, distilled, etc.)
List what you added or taken out of your aquarium system (living, decorations, and equipment) during the past 6 weeks.
Maintenance schedule. What have you done lately?
And lastly. . .A little more info about the marks/spots: Their approximate size (in mm or inches); how long did the fish show this? was it like this when you got the fish?

Merry Christmas!

[chrisc0930]

My tank is about 3 yrs old it cycled about 2 yrs ago.My tank is a 29 gallon bow front, it has a carbon filter no skimmers. I recently took out the fake decor and replaced it with lava rockMy tank has four very small clownfish, 2 damsels, and an algae Benny. I have a couple inverts as wellThe fish I question came with 2 others all recently put in. The fish did have these marks prior to me purchasing it but they were faded. They seem to be growing in color (white) they almost seem to look like scratches but they are patched. They currently eat a mix of brine shrimp (frozen) and seaweed enriched brine (also frozen)I do my own tests of nitrite and ammonia every other day when I feed then, and they get tested for everything by my fish guy every week. Tho I do not have the specific numbers nothing is spiking.I don't see any slimes or colored algae, I do a 5 gallon water change once a month.Getting a picture of the fish is gonna be challenging, I don't have a camera other than my phone and it really doesn't do close ups. The marks I'm seeing are not raised in any way from what I can tell, they appear cottony, one side has just a white patch the other side has three stripes starting from the top fin down to the middle of the fish almost like what you would view on a tiger. And I'm pretty certain the one that has the marking was a trade in my fish guy took from another customer and sold to me. (he said if it gets worse he will replace the fish for me) but reading through this thread I got a little worried because if it dies and it turns out to be something I do not want it exploding in my tank. The one patch on his side is probably the size of a pinky nail. Earlier today I did see him rubbing up against one of my lava rocks and that gave me a little concerned. As a precaution I treated the tank with invert safe ich treatment. Having my tank for three years I'm no stranger when it comes to ich but I haven't seen anything like this. I was hoping to catch the fish and bring it to my fish guy to see if he can diagnose but I can't seem to catch it. All the diseases I have studied do not show any symptoms like what I am seeing on this clownfish. He is eating well, swims well and even still plays with the bubbles coming out of my bubble stone. I don't see any sign of fast or heavy breathing, it could also just be me being paranoid but it never hurts to be certain I guess. Especially seeing these marking getting bigger over time. Thank you and I hope u have a merry Christmas as well

[chrisc0930]

OK I took a look at my fish today and the white marks are now raised and they are looking fuzzy :\

[leebca]

In general, from what you've posted, there are several areas that can be improved upon:

1. The tank is too crowded;
2. The new rock may have brought with it some subtle water changes or minor poisons; and
3. The food/nutrition is lacking.

For now that fish has to be separated from the rest of the fish. There is no option -- it must be caught and moved to a quarantine tank. Without photos, my first guess is that the fish has been stressed to the point of picking up an opportunistic microbial infection of some sort. The three groups of these are bacteria, viral, and fungal (both the fake and real types). Raised and fuzzy tend to lean towards the fungal pathogens. There are split into two groups: real and fake.

Real fungal infections are almost impossible to cure and the fish properly diagnosed with this should be euthanized. The fake fungal infections often respond to treatment with Formalin, and/or antibiotics. A FW dip does no good to help the fish with these.

The above is about all I can say at this point.

[chrisc0930]

I was afraid of that. When I was researching I found a lot of things saying if it was a fungal infection I would be better off putting out of its misery... Is this really true? Or do I have a chance to save him? I have him quarantined now and I don't know how severe the infection is with the marks raised on him like they are, I would assume he's had this for a while ow, I bought him on Thursday and like I said he already had the marks before I purchased him.

[leebca]

It's not possible for me to tell by the information I have so far as to whether or not the fish might have a true fungal infection, or one of those other infections which appear to be fungal. If it is a true fungal infection, it is best to euthanize the fish, in my opinion. The way to do is presented here: Euthanasia -- Putting a Marine Down

If it's a pathogen that gives the appearance of being fungal then either a Formalin treatment OR an antibiotic treatment might save the fish. But either you guess at which one to use and if you choose antibiotic, then you have to choose the right one of those, and hope for the best, or you have to have the pathogen identified in order to choose the right treatment and the right antibiotic. You could end up spending much time and resources only to have the fish pass away.

Nothing more to say on this. Do read that linked post I provided, above.