tomato has white bumps on jaw

[SunsetApisto]

on my tomato clowns bottom jaw there are white bumps... It's just there, it hasn't spread anywhere else. Can I dose my reef with melafix? I'm going away this weekend so I can't really set up quarrantine or anything till monday.

[SunsetApisto]

sorry this isn't the most detailed picture

[Six]

How long have you had the fish? Recently there has been an influx of clowns coming down with viral infections. That would be my guess. It's usually on the mouth/lip or fin margins.

 

As with any viral infection, there's not a whole lot you can do. Make sure the water is clean and the fish is eating a variety of food and you should see the animal's resiliantcy improve. It should disappear over time.

 

I'm not a fan of melafix as it is only tee tree oil and has not been really proven to do anything. Usually it's the water changes the medicine asks you to do that fix the problem. I'd skip buying it, pocket the money for some frags, and just do some water changes. Plus, if it is a viral infection, there aren't any medicines that fix that. Also, melafix will foam your tank and make your whole house, literaly, smell. Unless your fish has a bacterial infection, I wouldn't buy any meds.

 

Good Luck.

[Fishfreak218]

i had a Maroon Clown that had that..and it was from when he kept getting into fights w/ my Occelaris clown..well after awhile he would nip him and then the Occelaris Clown would turn around and bite his mouth....it could be that he is either getting into fights or bumping into stuff...but im not excactly sure of that

[SunsetApisto]

so I go to the lfs getting a 2.5 gallon tank and premixed saltwater (cause I'm lazy), set up a quarrantine, put the clown in, only to realize the bumps are gone. Well, at least they aren't white anymore. Could this be the doing of my fire shrimp?

[Six]

Viral infections can disappear quickly too. It could have been a bacterial infection like fishfreak suggested, but those take lots of time to clear up. Thus, I doubt it was the fire shrimp b/c it would have caused a lesion which would have gotten infected via bacteria.

 

Also, I'd recommend using a larger tank to QT the fish as it's usually very hard to keep a tiny tank stable when medicating. A 10 would be awesome and costs just as much as a 2.5. (You can get them around here for $5 on sale, All-Glass brand at that.) Also, when QTing you want to use your tank water to set it up, so buy some water, but do a water change on the main tank, add water to QT and top off your main tank with the bought water. It's exceedingly important to have a seeded and cycled QT tank or else the endevor to set the tank up will only lead to cycling stress on the fish. I'dalso recommend using seeded filter media or a seeded sponge filter to use in the QT tank.

 

Hope that helps for next time.

 

GL.

[SunsetApisto]

great thanks. Yea, I'm getting back tomorrow afternoon, so I'll see whats up then. I didn't add any medication to the tank after I saw it had cleared up, and I really don't have the space/resources for a ten gallon tank.

 

 

thanks for your help.

[SunsetApisto]

tomato is alive and back in the main tank with no symptoms

[Six]

Congrats, glad to hear it.