Class Clowns

[aperrodin]

Today our resident tropical fish specialist dropped off a pair of clownfish obviously gender neutral. I'm sure soon the larger one will become the dominant female. Several of my students noticed that the smaller "male" clown has a hole on the right side where his gills should be. Is this a common defect? Is there any special precaution needed? Thank you for any advice, my students will continue to check for responses!!
AP

 

[nkd5024]

Hey, Welcome to the Forum!

Is it literally a hole in his gill?
Or is it more of a red cut looking injury towards the bottom of his gill?

I might be wrong because it is very hard to tell without a picture, but it sounds to me like his gill is "rotting" because of high Nitrates or Ammonia.
If you just put him in your tank, and he came with the injury, who's ever tank he came from may have bad water parameters.
I've found that it is pretty hard to find a fish store that really takes good care of their livestock. They are out there though.

As for precautions I would just recommend making sure you have NO ammonia and as little Nitrates as you possibly can.
Also check other water parameter (pH, alkalinity, phosphate, etc)
You should also feed him nutritious foods to promote healing.

If you could post a picture that would help a lot.
Like I said I might be wrong but that is that most likely thing I can think of.

Good luck,
Nick

 

[spadge]

Hey, Welcome to the Forum!

Is it literally a hole in his gill?
Or is it more of a red cut looking injury towards the bottom of his gill?

I might be wrong because it is very hard to tell without a picture, but it sounds to me like his gill is "rotting" because of high Nitrates or Ammonia.
If you just put him in your tank, and he came with the injury, who's ever tank he came from may have bad water parameters.
I've found that it is pretty hard to find a fish store that really takes good care of their livestock. They are out there though.

As for precautions I would just recommend making sure you have NO ammonia and as little Nitrates as you possibly can.
Also check other water parameter (pH, alkalinity, phosphate, etc)
You should also feed him nutritious foods to promote healing.

If you could post a picture that would help a lot.
Like I said I might be wrong but that is that most likely thing I can think of.

Good luck,
Nick

Problems with clowns are if they are wild caught, then they are prone to lots of ailments which are worsened by stress, one in particular which causes saws is brookynella... im not saying it sounds like this just that there are lots of things it could be due to stress, a few useful answers would help everyone, what are your water parameters, how long has the tank they are in been setup, are they from a pet shop or a previous owner etc

 

[seffieuk]

to TFF and the salty side of the forum, its nice to have both yourself and your students on board.

As already mentioned, it is difficult for us to make any guesses as there is not a photo or tank stats. I suspect your tank is probably in a Science Lab some where in school, so expect that you have all the required tests for checking ammonia, nitrite, nitrate and phosphates? However, this of course would not be the problem as you inherited the fish from someone elses tank - do you have the stats from their tank by any chance?

Its great watching a pair of juvie clowns develop

Seffie x