Spots on my clown loaches' faces! Breeding tubercules?

I was looking through some pictures I just took of my tank (and my clowns), and noticed that both my clowns have these little white spots all over the tops of their heads, up to the base of their dorsal fins. It's nowhere else on their bodies and not on their eyes either. I've had ich on clowns before and this doesn't look like any ich I have ever seen, which leads me to think that perhaps both of these fish are male and they are showing readiness to breed as shown here? Aquarium Lore: Sexing the Clown Loaches The spots on mine are much denser though, and reach further up.

Is it possible that it's just a reaction to stress, as I moved the tank yesterday?

Picture:

Both my clowns have this :|

 

My guess would be ich. Just be very careful of medicating these guys. They are very sensitive to meds with copper.

 

@Sean J - I know, I have successfully treated clowns for ich before, but that really does not look like ich to me. They are more like raised bumps on the skin than the white spots characteristic of ich.

 

Hey, I'm no expert on diseases, but white spots indicates ich to me... I've never heard of breeding tubercules on loaches. Perhaps @azurekoi or Prof Dirk could add more insight?

 

@Sean J - me neither, but this really does look different to any Ich I've ever seen. It's also strange to me that it follows a very specific, identical pattern on the body of both loaches and is NOT present on fins or eyes. Ich is normally random and is present all over the body before it starts to get as dense as the spots in the picture - it will also be present on the eyes and fins at this point, and the fish will flash/scratch against decor/gravel. Mine are not showing any signs of discomfort but are happily doing the "loach dance" to ask for food. Did you check the link I included?

 

I just finished reading the article in the link. It's very interesting... At least now there may be some concrete way to indicate sex in these fish.

 

@Sean J - Yeah, I thought so too.

Perhaps I am dealing with velvet here? This is what velvet on a clown looks like~ http://www.fishdeals.com/fish_diseases/oodinium_velvet/photos/velvet.jpg
But still, the fact that it's in a distinct pattern on both fish (who show no signs of disease), and is not present on anyone else in the tank, says that it's not a disease.

 

@Zeiphex Man these seem to be diffcult buggers to keep, I have just sadly had to put one of my clowns down due to a disease I never knew exsited and only found out about now called Skinny disease. Was really horrible to see my fish in this state. Plus I have also just treated them for Ich and altough Im the furthest thing from an expert Id also say that it doesnt look like Ich. Very interesting though.

 

I also have clowns and have never had any problems with them

 

@CharlieB - I've never had problems with my clowns As far as I'm concerned they're one of the easiest fish to keep for me. The clowns resumed their usual routine straight after being put back in the tank, wiggling around and begging for food. This was after having been netted and spending a few hours in a cold bucket, then being poured into the tank (didn't want to net them if I could avoid it, as sometimes spines get stuck and skin gets shredded). Definitely not tricky things to look after for me, and I would recommend them to anyone with a large enough tank and suitable tankmates!

 

I don't think it's a disease. It's too uniform, as you say... Let's get one of the experts to come and comment.

 

@Sean J - Yeah I'm really curious! Thing is, this could have been present on them for a very long time, as since February I have only been seeing this tank weekly for cleaning, and never got a chance to just sit and stare at the fish the way I usually do, haha. Now that I've moved them into the flat, I can do just that, but just because I only noticed it now (and it took a close up photo magnified many times before I did, though I can now see it on the fish because I know what I am looking for) doesn't mean it wasn't there before!

 

well FML then, I must have the worst luck! They are amazing fish though. Will have a look and see if I can see any spots on mine like yours.

 

Most probably a light Columnaris infection.... the stress of moving them,temperature dip has just given it the chance to manifest itself a bit stronger (Are the itching? Rubbing/flicking themselves against decor from time to time?)

Most Clown Loach safe medication should be able to clear it up...

 

Hi,

Clown loaches are very susceptible to ich especially if they have been transported and moved around. Those spots could be a scar from the clowns maybe having ich before.

 

@azurekoi - nope, no signs of distress at all. And the spots just look the same still, in the same pattern on both fish. No-one else is affected still. I'm really thinking it is just some permanent and benign thing that they both have...
@trevor1971 - Yeah, I know about that. Interesting - can ich leave scars? I got these after they presumably got too large for someone else's tank and were returned to the LFS, who contacted me instantly and I ran down and got them. This was late last year I think.

 

Still think the spotting to regular(Columnaris infecting the natural pores on the loaches body).... have them scraped by someone who knows how - koi professional will do) and checked under microscope...

 

@azurekoi - gosh, I have absolutely NO IDEA where to go to get them scraped. I can't think of anywhere in CPT that would be able to do something like that... Any ideas?

 

Cape Koi Aquarium(Google them) - contact my old pal Christie van Zyl.... sort you out real quick....

 

Thanks @azurekoi. I see they're in Brackenfell D: I don't know if I can get out there~ I don't drive yet and I don't know anyone who'd be happy to drive me out there (certainly not anytime soon, anyway).