White patches that come and go in hours?

[SeeDemTails]

I have a pair of black perculas in my 37 gal reef. They are doing well, eating well, and love to swim against the powerheads.

The problem I have, is that every morning, when I flip on the lights, there are white patches about the size of a ball point pen tip and a little bigger on the under sides of the clowns bellys, pec fins, and tails......But here is the strange part, the are completely and totally gone within an hour or two of turning on the lights.

I have a bristleworm problem, I have about 15 five inch plus bristleworms in my tank, and all my LR is on one side so they come out onto the sand bed every night and crawl around....my clowns dont host to anything so they just kinda hover above the sand...I have seen them bumping into the bristleworms every time I look at the tank when the lights are out....could these spots be from the clowns bumping into the worms?

If not does anyone have any idea what might be causeing this.....it is deffinatley not ick, and like I said, it goes within a few hours of turning the lights on.

My params are perfect
NO2-0
NO3-0
NH3/4-0
Alk-8
Ph-8.4

I am almost convinced they are being stung by bristleworms, and I plan on removing them ASAP.

Any other ideas?

 

[roka64]

Bristleworms don't "actively" sting. Their bristles are a defense mechanism. If a fish bites one, the bristles break off and sting the inside of the mouth. I guess, if something runs into them, the bristles could possibly pierce the fish's skin....
It could be ich, they will fall off and reproduce, or they could be some sort of parasite that hunts by darkness. Of course, you know a pic would really help.

 

[SeeDemTails]

Everytime I try to get a pic, they are gone before I get back with the camera!!!!!!


It is too big to be ich....these are more like patches....round, flat on the skin, and about the size of a finishing nail head.......like I said, they literally go within a few hours of turning on the lights.

Both fish look perfectly normal right now, and they are black percs so it is easy to see anything on their skin!

 

[afishyonados]

Just a crazy thought, so do not hold it against me... Could it be sand or detritus sticking to their semi-excessive slime coats? Not that I have witnessed this with clowns, but have with gobies and wrasses of nearly all sorts. This dusting or patchiness is shaken off shortly after "sunrise".

 

[SeeDemTails]

Im not sure.....It looks more like a clear white film, but it isnt protruding from the skin at all, it just looks like a small white circle on their bellys and fins. But it could be, you never know, I have very fine aragonite sand in the tank.

But the way it dissapears it has to be falling off or something!

The fish I have have been in someone elses tank for over a year...I know their history and know they were well taken care of, not something from the LFS that "just came in".....plus they sat in a reef display with cleaner shrimp for over a month while I waited for my tank to finish cycleing.

I dont think it is a disease of any type, I am totally lost. I will try to get a pic first thing tomarrow morning before it dissapears!

 

[afishyonados]

Maybe it is their nighttime colors or pajamas!

 

[Devilishturtles]

I don't know how this relates, but freshwater fish do this... Lighten up, change patterns at night and such. Perhaps the clowns are doing the same thing.

I don't think they are being stung by bristleworms either.

 

[SeeDemTails]

There is the pic....you can clearly see it on the smaller clowns bottom fins....the big one doesnt have any on him this AM.

These are just white "spots", they dont protrude from the skin.....almost looks like a rash on a human, as in it is under the skin or in it, and then it goes aya in a few hours....I noticed the spots on the fins appear to be clear and the ones on the body appear to be white.

I am 100% sure this is not ich!

 

[melosu58]

Check this chart out and see iff any of these

http://www.aquatronicsonline.com/hobbyist/hobbyist1.htm

There is one that says grayish white film on fish. And even though it says new fish, your fish are new to your tank. Just check it out

 

[SeeDemTails]

That pic was taken at 8 am this morning.....as of 3 pm this afternoon all spots are gone!

 

[roka64]

It could be them waking up. Do they look like that as soon as the lights come on? Also, it could be them trying to mate....?

 

[afishyonados]

The immune system lowers at night, while they are parked out.
The images do look like secondary bacterial infections, possibly from each other's nips.
Increase the vitamin content in their foods, they should be able to overcome this malady.

 

[SeeDemTails]

They appear to be completely healthy, and chow down like no tomarrow....

I do beleive once again you are correct afishyandos!

I think that because they are black rather than orange the little nips from them constantly biting each other leaves little marks at night, when they are more dormant.

How often should I feed clowns?...I have been feeding every other day, but unlike my dottyback, they never seem satisfied...I dont want to overfeed though! What should I add to their food to increase vit content?....Right now I am feeding them brine and marine cusine on rotation for variety, and the ocassional bite of fish or shrimp(I am a fishing guide!)

 

[roka64]

I like to soak in garlic/zoe/selcon.

 

[SeeDemTails]

I cant find these in my LFS....do you have a link online?

 

[roka64]

I got mine from the drs' website:
http://www.drsfostersmith.com/

 

[afishyonados]

If you can stuff them with three or four pellets of New Life Spectrum food on your alternate days of the aforementioned foods, they will be most grateful!