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Hello, I have had this fish for about three weeks now, and about 4 days ago I noticed a line starting to form on its left side. Recently a similar line is also showing on its right side, and both seem to be progressing. Though this fish is still fairly active, it has been noticeably less so in the past day or two It eats Hikari frozen mysis, but has no interest in the frozen formula 1 or algae sheets that I have offered.
As for my tank, It has been up for about two months, I do not yet have an RO/DI filter, so am using Prime to detoxify my tap water.
Temp 78-79
Ph 8.1
sg 1.025
Amm/nitrite 0ppm
Nitrates 15ppm
Ca ~400
Alk 10dkh
Please, what can do to help? This is my first Marine fish, so I am feeling guilty for failing it.
FYI I have lightened this picture, so the colors are not exact..
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| Not sure if I am convinced it is MHLLE, while it does seem to follow the lateral line of the fish, the white material seems to me, to be more bacterial in appearance, but that could be a secondary problem as the "pits" caused by MHLLE are being opened. To be on the safe side, I would move the fish into a hospital tank and treat with maracyn 2 and increase the variety of its food while at the same time supplementing its food with vitamins and betta glucon. MHLLE is usualy an idicator of poor water quality and poor diet. Fix both of those issues and it may clear of its own accord. Here is a great article about MHLLE, hope it is of use to you. http://reefkeeping.com/issues/2005-06/sp/index.php Chuck
___________________________________________________________ "My life is free now, my life is dear" - Black Sabbath
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I agree with Chuck. While it does appear similar to MHLLE, it is unusual to see this condition in clownfish and it is unusual to see it in new tanks. Do you happen to use ozone or activated carbon? And, what brand of salt do you use?
Steven Pro, yeah that is my real name.
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I am using reef crystals. I did use activated carbon for the first time around the same time as I first noticed the problem, but I can't really say for a fact what came first. Perhaps it helped to aggravate the problem? The carbon packets that I used originally came with my fluval 304, if that makes a difference.
I bought some hikari frozen brine with spirulina today and he did seem to grudgingly accept that as food. I looked into getting some selcon, but the lfs didn't carry it or anything similar. I am going to another store tomorrow to look for vitamins, and will buy enough RO water for about a 30% water change.
Is there a commercial aquarium product that contains beta glucan, or would my best bet be a vitamin/suppliment store like GNC?
I don't have a hospital/quarantine tank, though I will look into getting one once I figure out the logistics of fitting it into my apartment. If the problem gets any worse, I will get one and put it in the middle of the living room if I have to.
Thank you both for your help, and I welcome any more suggestions and/or criticism.
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| There is a pinned thread within this forum all about betta glucon which should be a great guide as to its use. A store such as GNC would probably be your best bet as to finding it as well. The more I stare at that photo the more I convince myself that it is most likely a bacterial problem. A quarantine tank would be required to adequately treat the fish. I normaly suggest maracyn 2 but there are other medications available that can be just as effective. Am going to give you my link for quarantine tanks which do not have to be anything large or elaborate, for the size of your fish, a simple K-mart 20 dollar ten gallon setup would work just fine. I am also going to give you my Fish Disease Identification and Treatment page which at the bottom of it lists a few other medications that are available for bacterial problems. I also have to stress the importance of quarantining everything you get for your tank, with what these creatures go through to get to you, its a fair bet that they will come home with you carrying any number of pathogens as well as just being plain stressed out, which makes them even more suceptable to problems. A quarantine procedure is the best and cheapest method to prevent putting all your other livestock at risk. Please keep us all updated on how it goes. Chuck
___________________________________________________________ "My life is free now, my life is dear" - Black Sabbath
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Unless you were using an obscene amount of activated carbon, I would not worry about it. I am leaning more towards a bacterial problem as well.
Steven Pro, yeah that is my real name.
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| I agree with the great advice given by Chuck & Steve! I definitely agree it appears bacterial. Here is a link for an online supplier of beta glucan. I have not used them as the Wild Oats and Whole Foods near me carries it, so if anyone has - please chime in. http://www.vitaminshoppe.com/search/en/query.jsp?q=glucan&intsource=main I just purchase a commercially prepared fish food with beta glucan: Azoo 9 in 1 marine fish food. Beta glucan is listed as the 12 ingredient of 15 so I am not sure of the amount (mg) of beta glucan in the food. It comes in pellet and flake. I am going to try it and see how the fish take to it and try it on quarantined fish as well. Any updates on your clown friend? Any updated pics? Thanks for sharing.
Kelly
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Hello, I finally have some time today, so I thought I would give an update on my clown's wellness. He does seem a little better now, the line doesnt seem to be 'inflamed' anymore, but I think there may still be some tissue damage that needs healing.
I have set up a hospital tank as recommended (its in my closet, on top of a dresser  ), I am treating with Maracyn-Two, and am currently on the second day of treatment. There is a lighter colored stripe through his anal fin that I am guessing is the first signs of fin rot, Maracyn-Two claims to help with this also, so I am hopeful. I intend to leave him quarantined in a hyposalinity water for 6 weeks or so because I think I saw a couple spots that might have been ick. I may just be getting paranoid about this fish. Either way, that will give me time to work out some of the water quality issues that I must be having in my main tank.
Thank you for the link to vitaminshoppe, I'll give them a try if I can't make it to GNC or if this GNC doesn't carry it. I still need to do more reading on beta glucan, so I know exactly what to get and don't just go wildly dumping stuff in the tank!
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| Dgilbert, How is your clown friend doing? Any recent pics? Hope all is going well.
Kelly
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Hello, I know this is an older thread, but I thought I would dig it up to add an update.
I want to thank you all for all of the help and advice you have given me in correctly identifying and treating the problem that my Maroon had. I have taken many strides to improve my husbandry practices as of late, but I know that I have a long way to go, sti | | | |