A black and white clown issue.

[BoldVoy]

*Sigh* I'm at my wit's end here. So I finally get the all-clear for the white spot, add the quarantined fish back, and now my black and white clown's got a fluke problem.

That original set of orange clowns came in with some mystery issue - lumps, lesions, the whole shebang. The first one kicked the bucket quick smart, second one showed no symptoms at first, but then it got a parasite on its head, another on its tail, and stopped eating. Didn't pay much attention at the time, what with the white spot drama unfolding.

But yesterday, I spotted a small white lump above my clown's eye, and today it's doubled in size. What's the best course of action here? The fish have only been back for two weeks after six weeks in quarantine for the white spot. What meds do I need, and what's the risk to the other fish?

[fleeton]

Seriously though, flukes are a parasite just like ich, so you'd treat them the same way - copper and/or hyposalinity. Was the clownfish getting picked on at all?

[BoldVoy]

No aggression issues here, my clown's a healthy little guy with a great appetite. Dominant over the orange clown, so no stress there. Tank's really calm too, no squabbling. Maybe the move caused some stress? I'm guessing the first clowns brought the flukes in - do they live in the system or what?

[coltin]

I'm a bit concerned - flukes don't usually double in size overnight, so I'm wondering if there's something else at play here. Any chance you could post a picture of the affected area? Also, I've read that clownfish are best kept in pairs, as separating them for too long can cause them to sex-reverse. This can lead to some pretty intense squabbles when you reintroduce them. Have you considered this as a potential factor in your clown's behavior?

[BoldVoy]

It's following the same pattern as before - starts small, doubles in size over a few days, then elongates. I'm guessing it'll drop off and leave a scar, just like the others. The previous ones were on the tail area, near the rear vent, and when they fell off, they left a hole in the fin that seemed to get infected later on. This thing's white, no legs or anything, just a tiny white slug - exactly what I'd expect a fluke to look like. I'll try to get a pic, but I bet it'll be gone by tomorrow, leaving just a scar.

As for the clowns, they're not paired up - they live at opposite ends of the tank, each in their own xenia clump, so no worries about separating them. I haven't seen any signs of this infecting other fish in the 6 months I've had the previous clowns. This black clown was with the orange one that had it and died, so I'm guessing it might've picked it up from him.

[lumenox]

Are they getting picked on by any other fish in the tank?

[fleeton]

Had a similar issue with my own pair of skunks. One ended up with flukes on its rear, the other on its right gill. The one with the rear flukes made it through, still a bit misshapen, but the one with the gill flukes didn't survive. Never saw the flukes spread to other fish in the tank, just the clowns.

[BoldVoy]

Seriously though, flukes are a parasite just like ich, so you'd treat them the same way - copper and/or hyposalinity. Was the clownfish getting picked on at all?

Yeah, same experience here. No other fish were affected, but I lost a pair of clowns to it.
The current clown's doing great, though. He's a chubby little guy, always had a huge appetite. Either the fluke dropped off or the cleaner shrimp took care of it, I'm not sure which. There was a scare for a few days above his eye, but that's gone now and he's back to normal - eating like crazy and terrorizing his xenia.
So, it wasn't the disaster I thought. Lucky it was him who got it and not the other clown, as he's just started eating and I'm sure it would've finished him off.