Looking for a diagnosis!

[Shwabber]

Hey Everyone,

I have an Ocellaris that is puzzling me to no end. It looks like Ich or Brook, however there are no signs of other distress than that of the colour and long white stringy feces. The fish is eating well, swimming normally, not rubbing up against anything. In fact since introduction to the DT three weeks ago, she has become even more friendly and active, however the white blotches are much more apparant. These blotches started as dark spots actually, almost like Velvet. The long stringy feces has been there since day one.



So my best guess is an intestinal worm.....but would that cause enough distress to her system to discolour the scales?

Here are my specs....

Chemistry:
NH3/NH4: 0
N02: 0
N03: 0.25
PH: 8.1
DKH: 8
SG: 1.025
TA: 77.1 F
RO/DI TDS: 3 PPM

Tank Setup:
75 Gallon Corner overflow
20 lbs. Live Rock + 60 lbs. Base Rock
Coralife 125 Protien Skimmer
2 x Ocellaris Clowns
1 x Peppermint Shrimp
2 x Mexican Turbo Snails
12 x Astrea Snails
4 x Large heads of Frogspawn

Tank has been running for 3 months, Initial Algae has ceased and Coraline is spreading.

Any help would be great!

Thanks,
Shwabber

[fishytime]

white stringy poop is usually an indicator of an internal parasite......Im not positive about the blotchy patches tho

[daniella3d]

If you think it's an internal parasite, you can try Prazipro. It's reef safe and I have used it a few times in my nano with sponges, soft coral, SPS, LPS, feather duster, flame scallop etc...and none were affected. The only coral that was a bit bothered but survived was my pumping xenia. The fish pooped a very long worm.

It also take care of any flukes if there are some.

It does not kill the pods or bristle worms or bristle stars, nor the shrimp or snails.

If it is internal protozoar parasites, then Prazipro will not work and you then need metronidazole. I would not use metro in the reef tank though.

[hillegom]

tagging along

[Shwabber]

I started a treatment of Prazi-Pro yesterday, lets hope it helps. The fish is showing more signs of malnutrition, (sunken jaw area and thinning around the dorsal fin), so I am thinking more and more that it is internal and whatever is in there is taking up her nutrients. I'll keep you posted!

[toytech]

I just finished a treatment of parazi-pro on my leopard wrasse and tailspot blenny , blenny had stringy poop too . One treatment seemed to clear it right up but if your clown is in such rough shape you might want to do a w/c after the first treatment wait a day then do another round just to be sure .

[Shwabber]

Well, after day 4, (yesterday), she no longer has long white excrement, she let out 2 goes of long yellow/brown feces instead! Looked like it could be worms???? She is eating even better and the most playful she's been. I had a chat with the LFS guy and we are in agreement that the white marks could be one of three things...

1. She's trying to let one of the Frogspawns host her, (It has been a little more closed at times and see no other reason for it to be so), although I haven't actually seen her do this, she may have some intolerance to it's sting.

2. There could be something unseen within my live rock that is nipping her while she sleeps, (However her fins have never actually appeared damaged).

3. It's rare, but the Peppermint Shrimp could be having a go at her as well.

All in all, it looks like the Prazi is dealing with whatever intestinal problems she is having... (Kudos Daniella3D!!). I'll wait to see if she looks any better after a while. I've moved the one frogspawn for now...and may transfer the Peppermint's to another tank too...just to see if that's the cause.

Originally Posted by toytech

I just finished a treatment of parazi-pro on my leopard wrasse and tailspot blenny , blenny had stringy poop too . One treatment seemed to clear it right up but if your clown is in such rough shape you might want to do a w/c after the first treatment wait a day then do another round just to be sure .

Toytech, thanks for this as well, I will run my skimmer for a couple days and do a large water change, then repeat for at least another round of Prazi.

Again I'll keep this thread updated.

Thanks,

[paddyob]

Hosting burns generally appear like small black freckles. My clowns went through the hosting battle in the past.

I see this ( white blotches )once in a while on my tailspot, but I have had him over a year and no problems.

Do not medicate needlessly. It can weaken an immune system.

Treat if necessary but only when necessary.

I have never medicated my tanks.

Good luck.

[Shwabber]

Originally Posted by paddyob

Hosting burns generally appear like small black freckles. My clowns went through the hosting battle in the past.

I see this ( white blotches )once in a while on my tailspot, but I have had him over a year and no problems.

Do not medicate needlessly. It can weaken an immune system.

Treat if necessary but only when necessary.

I have never medicated my tanks.

Good luck.

True, I would expect hosting burns to be black as well.

She really isn't bothered by anything....I did find a couple of Bristleworms today...but highly doubt they would be the cause...I'm just going to wait and see if the colour returns. I like your statement about not unecessarily medicating!! I agree!

[Shwabber]

Well, for those that may be able to, I am still looking for help. It has now been five weeks since the appearance of the white marks in the photo. Still getting worse, and now she is at the top of the tank presumably looking for more O2. Whatever it is must be affecting her gills. She is not eating very well now either.

Any ideas for a course of treatment??

QT is set up and should be ready by this time tomorrow.

Do I treat the Fungus....or for a bacterial infection....