Light / white spots on green chromis

[scott6480]

I just noticed today that my green chromis has got patches of lighter colored sports. The patches look white compared to the normal green of his body. They are definatly not ich. the discoloration appears to be under the scales.

Anyone have a clue what this may be?

Its a 7 Gallon tank. with 10 lbs hatian rock 20lbs sand. a torch coral, ricordia, yellow yostone, sunpolyps, green stars and xenia. and two tank raised clowns.

[TCTFish]

How long have you had the green chromis?

[scott6480]

The chromis has been in the tank for aprox 2 1/2 months.

And now this morning I noticed one of the clowns has some tiny brown spots.

Any ideas?

[tripper]

How are your water parameters? 3 fish in a tank that small could be causing stress and I wouldn't be surprised if your nitrates were high, if not your ammonia too. Let us know all the tank specs and i'm sure you will get plenty of help. Do you have a QT tank available that you could transfer him too?

[TCTFish]

I know there are some people not fond of what I'm about to suggest, but wholesalers and retailers have found it very successful...freshwater baths. I just don't recommend it for wrasses.

Dipping saltwater fish in a 3 to 5 minute freshwater bath has helped aid in ridding external parasites and lessening saltwater borne bacteria and fungus. Do not exceed 5 minutes. It is stressing for the time, but sometimes it can reveal things on the fish you can't see otherwise. Here's a website that may help you.

http://saltwater.8m.com/diseases.htm

[scott6480]

here are my specs

amonia: 0
nitrites: 0
nitrates: 10ppm

10 ppm is within an acceptable range correct?

I do aprox 30% water change weekly.

you can see pictures of the tank at http://www.stray-kat.com/albums/24GallonNanoCube

everyone has normal behavior. eating a swimming etc.

[quarryshark]

Can you get us a pic of the fish? The above link did not work.

[TCTFish]

I got a forbidden message trying to get to the photo. If you put the photo in an album here on Aquarium Advice, it'd be easier.

30% water change weekly will stress the animals who are already under stress from being in a small system. Ocean animals are not adapted for sudden changes to their environment, so changes need to be subtle. Also, 10ppm is within OK range for fish, but is an indication to keep an eye on the nitrates when dealing with other livestock such as coral. It will also up any algae blooms that could occur especially with such a large water change if you use tap water.

I have an 18 gallon reef, specs can be found in my profile. It gets a simple 10% water change every two to three weeks. It is packed with fish and inverts, but I do have an oversized refugium on it. When I had a 2.5 nano reef I did a very small water change every other day (about a betta cup full). The only filtration on it was a little Whisper HOB internal filter with live rock rubble instead of carbon. No skimmer or refugium. The only fish in it was a pigmy angel and then a little tiny boxfish after the angel was sold. Everything else was an invert. The only reason it was taken down was because we were popping the fuse with extra electricity use from a new register system. I'll be putting another one back up soon. We sold several little tanks for nanos when it was up.

What kind of filtration do you have on yours?

I still advise to do a 3 to 5 minute freshwater dip to rid any external parasites that could be on the fish.

Do the areas affected look like little white lines or small white blotchs?

Cheers
Steve