Clarkii has brown spot on its tail fin.

[bb0029]

The female clarkii has a brown spot on its tail. She is starting to get acquainted with the torch and has been swimming real close to it. She will stay right under it for a bit and the will swim up to it and make a turn and "dip" her tail in it if that makes sense.

Every since she started doing this she has been getting some brown spots on her tail fin. Is this normal? Is this the torch messing with her?

I am just trying to figure out if I should keep a better eye on it or this is the process of hosting. This is the first one I have had to actually pretend to be interested in one. Now she completely ignores the hammer like it is not even their.

Another thing is ever since she has been in the torch it now has a tendency to open up a lot more and will stay a little bit more open after the lights go off as well.

[Elegance Coral]

It's normal for clowns to get black spots when they use coral as a host. Light colored clowns like ocellaris will get black spots all over when they use soft corals as a host.

[bb0029]

Thanks for the info. I was starting to freak out a bit. I don;t want anything bad happening to my babies.

[random]

What causes the spots?

[Elegance Coral]

Originally Posted by random

What causes the spots?

That's arguable, but the most likely culprit IMHO is stings from the coral.

[random]

Ah... So hopefully that means they eventually go away, yes?

[Elegance Coral]

Originally Posted by random

Ah... So hopefully that means they eventually go away, yes?

Yes, if the clown finds a new host. A clown may be able to acclimate itself to some corals where it no longer gets stung. I've seen ocellaris living in zoo's that kept black spots for 6 months or more. As some black spots fade away, others appear. This leads me to believe that they just keep getting stung over and over again.