HELP - Clownfish with "White Thing" (parasite?)

[themissinglynk]

Okay, newer tank, just posted in the past few days about it.

Just noticed this last night, and thanks to an amazing girlfriend that can take good pictures, here they are. Any thoughts? What do I do about this?

Thanks in advance!!!

-Lee

http://www.themissinglynk.com/downlo...em-sidefin.bmp

http://www.themissinglynk.com/downlo...-bottomfin.bmp

[themissinglynk]

Okay, someone told me they are probably parasites (some kind of flukeworm?), and that I should give them a 5-8 minutes fresh-water bath... does this sound right?

Desperate for the wisdom of other,

-Lee

[hng]

Looks like a parasite alright. A freshwater dip should work, just do it for as long as it takes for the thing to fall off, but no longer than 5 minutes. Adjust the temp of the water and make sure you do not use tap water with chlorine. If you have some stress coat, you can add that to the dip. Good luck!

[PowerManJ316]

Use RO/DI water if possible and make sure it is the exact same temp as your tank water. Gently prod him around if he tries to just lay down on the bottom. I would say don't let him in there for more than 7-8 minutes.

[themissinglynk]

Okay, I tried getting ont of them into a "fresh water bath" (no RO/DI avail, so it was tap with conditioner). Didn't work so well, and the stuff didn't fall off in 8 minutes.

Couldn't catch them today, so I went and bought a few better nets, and managed it. Dropped them into a bath, and after 8.5 minutes, I started getting worried, none of the stuff was falling off.

I got some extra conditioner in the tank, hoping it would negate what I did next, and picked up each one. I appear to have gotten most of the stuff off of one, and all from the other.

Anything else I can do help them, now they are back in the regular tank? Should I give them a "bath" again in a few days?

Help!?

-Lee

[hng]

I wouldn't do multiple dips so quickly since it is stressful for the fish. Do they exhibit any other signs of problems? Poor feeding, weird swimming, more white lesions?

[themissinglynk]

Originally Posted by hng

I wouldn't do multiple dips so quickly since it is stressful for the fish. Do they exhibit any other signs of problems? Poor feeding, weird swimming, more white lesions?

This just started last night - didn't see anything on them before then. Seem to be feeding okay, swimming okay (one with it on side fin seemed to struggle a little, but not bad).

Should they have another dip? And how long *should* I wait?

Thanks for the help, folks!

-Lee S.

[Kevin1000]

Picture isn't very clear but that looks like lymphocystis .. a viral disease that isn't lethal and similar to warts in humans. If its lympho then don't worry .. since its viral no med will help and chances are good that the fish's own immune system will eliminate this problem.

Feeding healthy food and maintaining/improving water quality can help the fish's immune system.

[themissinglynk]

Well, they *appear* to be allright. One of them has a small spot that could be a bit of remaining "stuff", but not sure.

But since handling them and cleaning them off, they appear to be doing just fine (2-3 days later).

Thanks for the help, and I am sure I will be asking more questions!

-Lee S.

[Loverotties]

Add some liquid vitamines to his food to help him in the healing.

[hng]

Originally Posted by themissinglynk

Well, they *appear* to be allright. One of them has a small spot that could be a bit of remaining "stuff", but not sure.

But since handling them and cleaning them off, they appear to be doing just fine (2-3 days later).

Thanks for the help, and I am sure I will be asking more questions!

-Lee S.

[cmjreef]

It IS Lymphocystis. It is a Virus. It is not curable. It can be manually removed (remove the fish from the tank, hold it gently and tweez, or gently pinch and slide off with your fingers, the lesions). Neon gobies eat and even appreciate these clumps on your fish and will do well to remove them in the future. Cannot be cured, though, and if the clumps are left to increase in size and rupture, can be contagious. Your fish will pretty much live indefinately with it, but I might consider capturing and removing these fish from my tank. Just as a precaution. You can never be too cautious.

[themissinglynk]

Originally Posted by cmjreef

It IS Lymphocystis. It is a Virus. It is not curable. It can be manually removed (remove the fish from the tank, hold it gently and tweez, or gently pinch and slide off with your fingers, the lesions). Neon gobies eat and even appreciate these clumps on your fish and will do well to remove them in the future. Cannot be cured, though, and if the clumps are left to increase in size and rupture, can be contagious. Your fish will pretty much live indefinately with it, but I might consider capturing and removing these fish from my tank. Just as a precaution. You can never be too cautious.

I love answers that don't contain any kind of loopholes, like "it might be...". Well, as those two are 1/3 the population of my tank, I think for now they stay, unless I decide to start up a smaller tank. Grr.

Thanks for the help!

-Lee

[JennM]

I concur with Kevin and cmjreef (although I'm late into the game) - it's Lymphocystis and Kevin's description is right on the money.

The only caution I would add is if you are manually removing them by tweezing, it can leave a wound site that makes the fish vulnerable to infection. If you do this, it's best to move them to a hospital tank that you can treat with antibiotics such as Amoxicillin (they make "fish" amox that you should be able to get at your LFS), or another broad-spectrum antibiotic.

I always advise caution with antibiotics - use them for the full 7-10 days even if the fish shows no symptoms. If there is an infection present and the full course of treatment is not followed, the bacteria can become resistant to the meds.

Jenn

[themissinglynk]

I am sitting, waiting, wishing, ...

Okay, well, they seem to be okay, just did a water change... all levels seem okay. I removed the "bits", and they don't seem to be having any problems with the spots where they were.

We'll see - hopefully they will be just fine!