Clownfish with white marks....no not ich

[StevenSeas]

Ok so the only fish I have in my tank is a mated (for over a yr) pair of tomato clowns. Today I just noticed a few marks on the male. They are on both sides of him maybe 1/4 of an inch behind his pectoral fins. both are roughly in the same location on him, and his right pectoral seems to be slightly touched by it. The marks are white fluffy kinda, definitely not ich. However im not sure if its fungal or bite marks from the female. The pattern of the marks look like ( ) only rotated 90 degrees. Any ideas? I am leaning toward them being bite marks and just treating with marine melafix as a preventative to further infestation and to help speed up the healing process. lmk what you think

[Europhyllia]

I used to use the melafix a lot but then read from some reputable sources (Bob Fenner, etc.) that it's not really effective. I've since then switched to Seachem StressGuard for minor stuff like that (and Seachem Paraguard for more serious)
My favorite online supplier always sends a small dose of Stressguard with the livestock -that's how I got started on it.
Anyway just thought I mention he thing about the Melafix

[StevenSeas]

Ya i had read that too about melafix however a) its all i have and there are no lfs around here b) i dont think its life threatening ...yet c) im using as a preventative and so dont really need it to work like a medication. Sorry for the allusion here but i work in a pet store remember, its kinda like how zodiac as a flea treatment sucks but as a preventative is pretty good, and front line as a flea treatment is really effective, but is expensive and at points inpractical as a preventative right?

[Europhyllia]

Hey I live in the sticks so a lot of my decisions are based on 'the best thing available at the time' as well. :)
I got the same system. Stressguard as a preventative, Paraguard if something really develops.
If they're in a stable system I am sure the bites will just heal and be fine anyway.

[StevenSeas]

ya i just dripped some melafix in and removed my carbon and turned my skimmer off so we shall see. the system has been as stable as a snow covered mountain...general accumulation of events....no avalanches yet but always the possibility of a catastrophic one