Hey guys i have a mated pair of clown percs. had them for a few months before they decided to host my LPS cream tip torch. I was VERY happy to see this happening. then about a week or 2 later i notices a tiny white growth on the side of the males body. i wasn’t sure what it was. I was thinking it was a scale lifted up (that went away in less than a week) next thing my female had i growth on the outside of her Gill, so i quickly quarantine them both medicated with maracyn 1. she was healed i put them both back in the display tank. few hours later they found the torch again. so i was thinking bad water condition is what was wrong end of story. little over a week later the female got a larger growth on the same spot (out side of gill on her face kinda) then the growth fell off then there was a sore with flesh missing kinda. so i quarantine them both again medicating with maracyn 1.
i think the problem is the Lps, sharp edges under the tentacles. they rub on it all day could this be the problem ? this is my favorite coral in my tank but if it is the problem i need to find a home for it.
My picasso percs also host in an lps. They choose my frogspawn as their host and use the base as their nest site. This has resulted in two noticeable things: black spots and the same white fungus thing you are describing.
I’ve read lots of threads about the blackspots and they seem pretty harmless. But when I first saw the white fungus looking stuff on my male I was a bit freaked out. I thought he was a goner.
It developed in his mouth at first. And it spread. It looked like he had a huge growth on his face. I went with the treatment method that I usually go with… good water quality and healthy food. Two months later he is doing fine and there are no signs of that white stuff.
Like you pointed out, it probably has something to do with excessive cleaning and the fish getting damaged from the base of the coral. It would fade away for awhile and then pop back up immediately after they spawned. I know it’s a risk but I think I’d suggest you just let nature run it’s course with your clowns instead of treating them again.
thanks for the reply it eased my mind a bit. but i already placed them in a hospital tank with maricyn. because the growth fell off and there was a huge sore with flesh missing so i panicked. i dont want to even think about loosing 1 of these little guys.
What your describing on the gill sounds more like a “fluke” then anything else.
What made you treat with maricyn? Thats an antibiotic. I know you wanted to try and help the fish but using the wrong meds could cause more harm then good. If what ever it is returns get good, clear photos and post them. Very hard to try to figure out whats going on from a description.
Interesting you mentioned the white mouth fungus. About a months ago 2 of my clown fish, which were otherwise healthy, started to act extremely odd. This was happening during my accidental Mg overdose. First I noticed the clowns acting lethargic and hiding. Next I observed that both fish would not eat; the lethargy persisted for another week until they became active again. After the activity was normal, I noticed what looked to be a white damage on the mouths of the fish. I saw the fish fighting a few times and attributed the damage to this activity. All of my other fish were healthy and acting normal during this period which triggered me to do some research on the fungus. Fortunately The fish ended up healing on their own without any treatment.
My clowns got the spots on them after they started hosting their new home. It is pretty much cleared up though. Now they just love to play dead while on the anemone.
I was told that anemones eat ick in the water and off the fish. Can anyone clarify this as true?
Last year when we went to Atlantis Marine World in Long Island, Joe Yaiullo pointed out that fish in his 20k gal reef don’t get ick because corals and nems use it as plankton food.