flame angel not doing so well...

[ntswift]

yesturday and today i've noticed that my flame angel isnt his normal self. He's been hanging around in the corners a lot and breathing really hard. I just did a water change today to see if that helps and I'm going tomorrow to get my water tested. His head is starting to go pale also. Does anyone know what could be wrong? Could he have been stung by a coral? Phosphates maybe? I know its hard to tell w/o the water results but I'll try to have them up tomorrow. In the mean time any help would be GREATLY appreciated! TIA

 

[melosu58]

Doing a PWC was a good first step. I would definitely do the water checks and maybe another PWC. Let us know about checks

 

[Brenden]

With no def signs of disease. Water quality is my first guess.

 

[ntswift]

Thats what I was thinking because I've had phosphate issues in the past with this tank. I'm going right now to go get the water tested though. I'll have the results in a couple of hours.

 

[bapski]

would second the water issue as i suffered the same fate. try to do the most pwc you can.

 

[ntswift]

Well I got the results back and they all came back good. Phosphates where at .03 and magnesium was good Nitrate and trites where both excellent as well as the ammonia. However I just noticed that he has little white bubbles/bb's all over him like chicken pox. Is this ich? Can corals transfer ich? I got a coral from my friend who treated his tank for ich because he had it in both of his tanks, anyway it was a xenia. Is this possible? What should i do now? Thanks for all the help!

 

[clownface]

what is your ph? angels especially flames are sensative to bad water conditions, what about nitrite? coral can transfer ich anything wet can, could it be a sting from a coral? maybee sombody can chime in to help you

 

[Brenden]

Can corals transfer ich?

Most definitely

I got a coral from my friend who treated his tank for ich because he had it in both of his tanks, anyway it was a xenia. Is this possible?

I would have QT'ed the coral without question knowing it was from a infested tank.

What should i do now?

QT and hypo. Any other fish in the tank?

 

[ntswift]

Yes I agree I should have qt'd it but I can't because my dorms wont allow me to have any more tanks. The reason why I wasnt that worried about it was because i heard that corals can't transfer ich, only fish. Yes i do have other fish. Two false percs and a scooter blenny among a nice clean-up crew and an abundance of coral. I dont want everything to die. My PH is 1.025 so its right on the limit. That was with a refractometer. I know hypo would probably be the way to go but wont that kill all of my corals and such?

 

[Tullsterx]

How long has this guy been in your tank?

 

[ntswift]

He's been in for a couple of weeks now. He seems to be doing fine now, swimming all around but he just has these white dots all over him. None of my other fish have any on them. Is this ich?

 

[Tullsterx]

Sounds like it. You'll need to treat him in a quarintine tank if you have inverts. I don't know if there is a reef-safe ich treatment. He'll definitely need to be treated though, ASAP, I would think.

 

[ntswift]

Thats the problem, I dont have a qt tank. They wont let me have anymore where I'm at. I wish i could, other wise none of this would have been a problem to begin with. Thanks for the input though!

 

[Tullsterx]

Hey, I think you have other options. I've heard talk of "hypo"-ing or something where you lower the salinity in your tank to like 1.009 or something. Look into that. Or, if you dare, look into doing a fresh-water dip. Both are acceptable alternates to copper treatment and I believe they're reef-safe. Look into it.

 

[melosu58]

I would not go with the freshwater dip. All they do is stress out the fish even more. Very rarely does the fish live or even get rid of the parasite. Dont hypo your tank with corals or inverts as they will not make it.

 

[Maurice2]

Sounds like ich. It is practically certain that the other fish will get infected and then practically certain that they will all die. AFAIK, ich if universally fatal. It's move all the fish to another tank and treat with copper, or they'll all be dead within the week.

Sorry to be the bringer of bad tidings, good luck.

 

[melosu58]

I seem to differ as I agree with moving to a QT but I would tend to lean to Hypo. I`ve just seen too many bad results from copper. On the other hand I`ve seen better results with hypo salinity. Good luck with whatever way you go.

 

[Brenden]

I also say go with hypo instead of copper. Much easier on the fish. 100% success if done right.

 

[ntswift]

What about my corals? Will hypo affect them any because i dont have a qt tank?

 

[roka64]

Can you set up a QT in a friend's room?