black spots on clown... help!

[jennmac415]

For about 2 days now, my clown has been getting these little black spots on him. At first, just a few so I didn't think much about it. but today there are more and more of them... they almost look like he has freckles. I recently upgraded my lighting and added a few more zoos and a condy anemone. could any of these things have anything to do with this. He is eating well and doesn't seem to be breathing hard. My water is fine.. but I am battling a cyano problem right now. (siphoning and water changes and feeding less) Oh, I also added a ph buffer yesterday, but dissolved it in a cup of tank water before adding it although I did notice that some of the crystals did not completely dissolve.

I hope he is not sick... any ideas??

Thanks,
Jenni

[Kevin1000]

Black spots/blotches are common in clowns that host in corals - this is simply a melanistic response and won't hurt the clown and should clear up.

The other possibility is black ich - easy to treat and really nothing like marine ich - heres a link discussing black ich.

http://www.petsforum.com/personal/tr.../blackich.html

Hope this helps.

[jennmac415]

They are bigger than those on the Tang that has black ich... they actually look like freckles. I did rearrange all of my zoos the other day so maybe he has been brushing up against them more than usual????

Any other ideas??

Jenni

[Jimbo]

I recently upgraded my lighting and added a few more zoos and a condy anemone. could any of these things have anything to do with this

What type of lighting did you upgrade to, could be a reaction to UV. Although when I purchased my clowns both of them darkened up at the tops of there bodies, probally pigment related to the type of light I use 400w MH.

[jennmac415]

Well, I upgraded from 65 watts PC to 110 watts PC with 14 watts T5 actinic and 14 watts T5 daylight also. Fro a few days the corals were adjusting but today they all look great. Come to think of it the clown is a little darker on the top also than he used to be. Do you think this lighting upgrade would have caused the darkening and the black spots? I also got rid of the Eclipse hood and added a CPR 2 r skimmer. Anyone else have any ideas?? If he IS sick I want to act quickly.

Thanks,
Jenni

[jennmac415]

bumpity bump bump

[sally]

I agree with Kevin....very common for clowns to get the black spots by touching corals. They are fine.