I have 2 clownfish and have had them for almost a year now, today I noticed that they both have what looks like a cut near the top fin. The fish seem to have lumps under skin as well. I have no clue what it is…If anyone could help me I would really appreciate it…Oh and did my weekly water change on Sunday and rechecked all levels…Levels were all good salt .025, alk 11, ph 8.2, nitrate, ammonia and nitrite all 0 and calcium was a little low at 380 so dosed tank to raise it back to normal slowly…normal calcium for tank is 440-460…
Are the clowns the same size?
How large were they when they were purchased a year ago? How large are they now? Are they in similar in size still?
Any other fish in the tank? Do they have any signs or marks?
Are the clown fish more aggressive to each other recently?
Are other fish harassing them?
With the info provided it would be speculative at best.
If other fish do not show signs of the same conditions you could probably rule out something in the water. It could still be a specific bacteria or virus that is partial to clowns (not as likely). It could be something they are hosting in.
My best guess would be (speculative) that the clowns when purchased were young and immature. Now a year later they are starting to assert dominance. It may pass with them sexing (male and female) or killing the other fish.
Al pretty much has it. Couple of additional questions:
Approximate size of fish? List of other fish present? Clear cut in fins or looks as if it is rotting or jaggedly torn? When was the last time a new animal we introduced?(fish or coral) Has a section of the fins has been removed or just a cut, but all the fin is still there?
Pictures would be VERY helpful.
As Al mentioned it was likely either fin rot or something similar or aggression. Sadly I have to say the cut in the fin may take a long time to heal. I acquired a clownfish two years ago from another harassed by a different species of clown. Both the former owner and I thought it was something the clownfish would quickly outgrow, but it still has the same part of its fin missing.
The clowns seem to be acting ok not quite as active…and there is def a size different one is much smaller then other…they have been growing quite well since i got them they eat well in fact they are pigs…we did introduce new fish which were powder blue, firefish, and mandarin…we did dip the powder blue…the clowns were fine the first day with powder blue however the next day the clowns were extremely aggressive towards powder blue and would not leave the poor fish alone we removed the clowns and put in seperate tank til next day when we found the powder blue had died…The other fish seem ok the only thing I have noticed is that the goby and hippo tang are all over the tank moving much faster then usual…They are not aggressive towards each other at all…in fact the clowns and the hippo all eat and sleep together…
and it looks like a clean cut that a razor would make…and its not quite on fin its right below the top fin and whats odd the cut is on both fish but on opposite sides…and they have a few lumps that are sticking out from under skin…and powder blue did not defend himself against clowns he tried to hide…the clowns went crazy and just wouldnt leave him alone…I have never seen them get that aggressive…
and taking a pic of the clownfish so you could actually see the area is impossible…
and it does seem that hippo is picking on female clown a little…the clown is moving much slower then normal and the hippo is right on top of her…the hippo is not chasing or being aggressive towards clown its almost as if hippo is teasing the female clown…
Really hard to say. Are the two clowns together usually? At least on the same part of the tank normally? Are they hosting in anything?
Are the lumps under the skin discoloring the skin at all? Seem to be getting better or worse? Increasing in number? Roughly how many lumps are we talking? 3-4? 20-30? Just trying to get an idea of what is going on.
If a picture is difficult to get perhaps a short video you could upload?
How old is this tank? Is this from Feb?
And is this the 65 gallon?
If it is, that is too many new fish in a new tank with the wrong fish for that size tank. When you add a large quantity of bio-load in a short time to a closed system the bacteria can not keep up and ammonia will spike - probably not related to the clown issue but it will kill a stressed fish quickly.
With all the new additions and a hippo among them I would say they are getting harassed.
The 65 has been setup since Jan we had upgraded tanks we already had 2 clowns and goby. We let the 65 cycle through for almost 2 months and had some rock curing in seperate container. I already had most of the live rock from previous tank including live sand that we just transferred into 65. The tank went through another cycle when we added all the rock, live sand, and the 2 clowns and goby so we let finish and a little over month later is when we added the hippo but the clowns and hippo have never been aggressive towards each which we were very surprised by they even sleep next to each other. The clowns do sleep next to each other on one of the tank. They are housing in the arch of live rock where there is a little cove and thats were they have been from day one. As for lumps there are no more then 3. Ok now it looks like there is a pin hole on the male clown where the cut was and female looks like she healing.
my breeding pair of clowns where in the same frag tank as my big hippo. they kept the hippo out of their corner. but at night the hippo would often curl up between the overflow pipe and corner just a few inches above the clowns sleeping next to or on their eggs. no problem, they worked it out. but no two are alike. so keep an eye on them.
So it seems as if things are starting to improve? Thats good news. Still keep a close watch on your levels. Keep us updated and take things slow.
Funny I had my hippo and clown in the same tank for awhile and they were best buddies (Marlin & Dory) w/o the clowns guidance I’m not sure if the silly hippo would have figured out how to eat swim and breathe!
My old hippo grew up with a little bitty yellow clown goby for a tank mate buddy. they would swim together, but the goby would just stop dead in the water and hover and every time the hippo tried to do the same it just sank to the bottom. drove her crazy.
[quote=“kaptken, post:14, topic:1718”]
My old hippo grew up with a little bitty yellow clown goby for a tank mate buddy. they would swim together, but the goby would just stop dead in the water and hover and every time the hippo tried to do the same it just sank to the bottom. drove her crazy. [/quote]
I always think about that when I look at my hippo, when she was in the tank with the clown she would do EVERYTHING that clown did, clown swims up, she swims up, clown goes down, she goes down.