GSM Clown with Pigment Loss

[jla824]

I was wondering if anyone might be able to help me with this perplexing issue. I've had this clown for just over 2 years. It's always been a healthy active fish with no problems so far. Over the last week the tips of it's fins have been turning white. I don't believe it's a parasite since I haven't seen anything attached to the fins. It simply looks like it's losing pigment. I've attached some pictures to try to help with the ID.

I know that Nitrates are high, around 50 ppm, but all other parameters are within normal ranges.

Thanks in advance to anyone that might be able to shed some light on this issue for me.

 

[NaH2O]

Welcome to Reef Frontiers!!!

I'm not sure ....here's a bump for you...

 

[wrightme43]

What do you feed it? my gut feeling is a combo of food and nitrate level being high, and possibley saltwater that has been in the tank without a waterchange to long, and maybe the type of salt.
What type of salt,
What do you feed,
Water change schedule,
Do you use ro water
those would help.
I have a customer who didnt want me to do a waterchange for 5 months. Her fish looked alot like that. Plus she insists on using the cheapest flake food she can get.
A good waterchange, quality food with some vitamins, and a good salt usually fixs all color and skin problems. Nitrates below 20 in fish only and zero to 5 at the most in a reef.

 

[jla824]

Thanks for the replys. I'm happy to hear that it's probably not a disease and just due to environmental factors. My wife and I just had a baby, so our tanks were a bit neglected. Our life is back on track, and we are working on getting the tanks back into shape.

Salt: we use Oceanic. Would another brand be better?

Food: we feed every other day and we try to mix it up with Hikari frozen Blood worms, Hikari frozen Brine shrimp, and Ocean Nutrition Formula Two (frozen & pellets).

Water change sched: we just did a 20% water change last week. We use to do that at least once a month, but our tanks went more like 4 months due to the new baby. I'm aiming to do another 20% water change this weekend. And yes, we do use RO/DI water

Since this is only a 24G Nano, a 20% water change is around 5 gal. Do you think it might be helpful to do a larger water change?

 

[steve-s]

Since this is only a 24G Nano, a 20% water change is around 5 gal. Do you think it might be helpful to do a larger water change?

I would follow Steve's advice above for sure but in answer to this, do a few water changes each week until you get the nitrate to a more acceptable level. Even though fish can "tolerate" elevated NO3, it does leave them open to a wide variety of health issues (bacterial/parasitic) if their immune system ever wavers. Best to keep the NO3 as low as possible. Be sure your change water is aerated and mixed for a full day ahead of time. When using the vitamin additive, soak for at least a few hours or preferabley overnight in the fridge covered.

How is the pH and temp, what tank mates are there?

Also do you notice any signs of lethargy, loss of appetite, excess mucus or thin stringy bits coming off the fish, does she hang out in the normal areas or has it's pattern changed, eyes clear or cloudy and is the mouth position normal?

Cheers
Steve

 

[jla824]

Steve-S:
We will definitely be doing weekly water changes to get the Nitrates down. Ph is 8.0 and the temp is steady at 79 deg.

She is just as active as always, but she does tend to hide behind a rock more in the last week. She has changed sides of the tank, but in a 24 Nano we're talking 8 in. from one side of the rock to the other. Her appetite is normal and we haven't noticed any other physical changes other than the pigment loss. Eyes are clear, mouth is normal, and no mucus.

As far as tankmates go, she is the only fish in there. There is one Cleaner shrimp and about 50 Nassarius snails. We were thinking of adding a Pink Spotted Goby and it's Prawn mate from another tank once we get the Nitrates under control, but for now just the clown and shrimp.

Thanks

 

[steve-s]

Keep a close watch in the event additional symptoms develope. For now just work on the water improvement and fortified feedings.

Was this clown wild caught or tank bred and has it ever been treated for any previous ailments?

Cheers
Steve

 

[jla824]

Will do.

Don't know the source of the clown, but I believe it was wild caught. The LFS that we picked it up in tended to get everything wild caught. It was about an inch long when we got it and is now closer to 3 inches. Never been treated for any previous ailments

 

[Elmo18]

Can you get another photo of her of her side. Doesn't have to be perfectly frome the side, but at least including the first and midstripe.


Best,
Ilham

 

[blueberry]

Well Welcome To Rf.the Whiteness Might Be Because Of The High Nitrates.does The Fish Stay Towards The Top Of The Tank Near The Lights Alot?

 

[wrightme43]

Using oceanic salt, do you have a Ca and Alk test kit? Are you dosing any Ca or Alk supplements? Oceanic has caused some problems for some people. It seems to have a imbalance in the CA/Alk.
Really I would go with main problem being high nitrates. You have a plan to solve that problem.
In a nano its its even more important to use RODI water with no nitrates. If you are using tap water to make your saltwater the nitrate level will climb higher and higher no matter what you do. Well unless you keep doing 100% water changes and then it will only go as low as it is coming from the tap.
Also you may look into getting the little bitty asm nano skimmer for tanks like yours.
Hope it helps some

 

[jla824]

Thanks for all you help. Unfortunately, the Clown didn't make it. My wife and I were really hoping that we might be able to save her as she was the first fish we ever bought.

On a side note, I did end up getting a much closer look at her fins last night. The white on them was not pigment loss as I first thought. It was actually a kind of film or mucus like coating. It was starting to flake off in places.

So, thanks for all the suggestions. We will make sure the nitrates are below 10ppm before putting any new inhabitants in this tank.

 

[steve-s]

Sorry for your loss...

On a side note, I did end up getting a much closer look at her fins last night. The white on them was not pigment loss as I first thought. It was actually a kind of film or mucus like coating. It was starting to flake off in places.

Although it has been some time since you've had the clown, Brooklynellosis is a possibility however rare. Something to consider whenever dealing with clown species.

http://www.petsforum.com/personal/trevor-jones/brooklynella.html

Except for the nitrates, everything else seems in line (ph, ammonia etc ?) so without more of a history of the tank, animal/item additions, it would be hard to determine.

Cheers
Steve