Flame Angel disease???

[ReeferDre]

I have been in the hobby for 3 years and never have come across a problem like this. I have a 20 g nano I use a protien skimmer and a power filter and have for 3 yrs I have a 150w MH and 4 24w t5 actinics plenty of live rock cleaners including a cleaner wrasse lps sps and softies.
The tank is 8 months old and I purchased a flme angel It looked great at the store it was home for 3 days and started to look like there was ich on it but i've never had anyother fish in the tank that were sick there is a lion in there too by the way(i know no quarintine tank)have no place to put it) The spots were grouped together then the next morning it had a hole through the fin where the goup of spots was. The cleaner wrasse did not pick at the spots at all even though the angel courted it. The next day it was dead. I tried organic ich control and a freshwater dip. Any ideas It happened to a friend of mine as well.

[CaptainAhab]

a lion, wrasse and angel in a 20g nano? anything else in there?

Taking a guess, I'd guess the dip if he was already stressed from the environment. What was the ich control?

[Innovator]

You need a QT or you'll continue to have problems in the future. Any and all lionfish do not belong in a 20g longterm. What happened? Hard to say, but considering you introduced a sick animal into your display it's not surprising. As for the hole, disease and your other fish are all capable.

[roka64]

I agree with the two above. It is hard to tell without pictures. Was your friend's fish from the same store? Did you notice anoth other sick fish in the tank?

[ReeferDre]

the lion is a dwarf and the wrasse was purchased to try and rid angel of what i thought was ich. I do not have the room for a quarentine tank or else trust me if I did I would have one. The medicine was 100% organic rid ich I believe It was given to me by one of my lfs i've come to the conclusion that the lfs that the fish was purchased it is the culprit but now i'm stuck with what i'll call super ich in the water column of my tank. The lfs that I purchased the fish is not suposed to use copper but I just found out that they due which probably surpressed nthe ich or what ever it is until the angel was in my tank. It's just frustrating that I take impecable care of the choices I've made in this tank , and because of this what I thought was a reputeable dealer doesn't do what they say they do and now i'm screwed without many massive water changes is there any other way to getrid if this ich infestatio? Sorry for being so long winded I'm just frustrated.

[Innovator]

As I said, any and all lionfish do not belong in a 20g. Even the smallest of dwarf's, Fu Manchu, belongs in a 40g at least. In saying so, eventually it will also swallow your cleaner wrasse XD Without a QT setup you risk losing or highly altering the bacteria, invertebrates, and benthic invertebrates within your main system in order to rid the tank of ich. What about setting up a 20g on the floor as a QT? All you will need it for is 30-40 days and it can then be stored away. Your only other option would be to return all fish and leave the tank fallow for at least 30 days.

[panza]

sounds like it could be ich... and i agree that is WAY to much fish for that tank... a lion should be much larger tank..... that many fish in that size of a tank could put very much stress on the fish causing all sorts of dieases

[austinsdad]

You speak of impecable care, then put a lion in a 20g. Heck of a contradiction in my opinion.

Also, like mentioned, the lion WILL eat the wrasse when he's feeling better.

[roka64]

Well, the loin will eat about anything it can get into it's mouth too...One of my favorite fish!

[severum mama]

I completely agree with the others about the lion in a 20 gallon, and just wanted to add that neither cleaner wrasses nor flame angels belong in a 20 gallon IMO. In fact, I really think that cleaner wrasses are better left in the wild, as most tend to starve to death in captivity.