ick whiped me out

[Guest]

I had a wipe out this weekend ,never saw in coming, I live in Florida ,bought a battery back up in case power went out do to storm, next thing I know one by one they were all dying, nothing I could do, everything was closed outt here do to storm, had 10 fish down to 3 ,one has a spot ot two on his fin ,I added some medication I got today ,the other seem to be good, so said ,I had these fish for so long, they were like my kids and I spent my weekend laying them to rest in my yard
They all had there own personality more so my puffer and nasa tang

 

[RocketSeason]

I am not so sure that was ick. Did your power go out???

 

[Guest]

No , its weird all of a sudden one by one they were dying ,I just got back from the fish store ,I told the guy they looked like they had a white coating on them, they looked slightly swollen and there fins were like eaten away, told him before my puffer dyed it was like he was blind, there eyes were not cludy just a white film on them, the guy said that sound like a red sea infection that comon, who know
I'm goingto wait a few weeks and make sure everything is ok then i'm going to buy another puffer, a big one, don't even care if he's the only fish I could have as for some reason I love the dog puffer ,then again i'm a dog lover so it makes sense
The only reason I started a tank a few years ago was I saw a dog puffer and fell in love with that fish ,they have such a puppy way about them, mine woiuld come to the top of the tank waiting for me at night like it saw me from the other side of the roog, wagging its tail waitng for me to feed him

 

[Atari]

Sounds like velvet to me.. sorry for your loss. :?

 

[Guest]

Thanks

 

[Guest]

I'm going to wait a few weeks until I know all is well then I will look for some fish to repl what I lost ,like I said more then anything I would love to have another puffer then again I was never able to do corals with the puffer so maybe I will go the other way, not really sure right now, can't relly think about it at this time

 

[piggybank2005]

yeah it does sound like marine velvet.

 

[austinsdad]

Got 3 fish still alive? Did you treat in your main tank?

If velvet, I'd suspect water quality problems.

 

[indy]

Ya velvet. My CB got it after a short outage and went from being healthy looking to crab food in less than 6 hours. Nasty stuff.

 

[Guest]

Well I think I got a handle on it now, lost seven fish but saved three which is better then nothing but I do feel terrible as I had these fish a long time and really grew attached to them, I did a couple of doses of coper safe and it seemed to take care of it ,how long should I wait before adding a few new fish, seems like its gone, no sign of it, fish look good and being them self, the guy at the pet store says once all looks good its ok to add but then again I don't always believe them as i'm sure they just want your money

 

[Fishboy-from-NY]

I would wait at least six weeks just to make sure it doesn't come back even stronger on the other fish. ALso do you QT your fish since that is a must if you don't want this to reoccure. Also, let us know your water parameters.

 

[austinsdad]

I agree. Don't buy any new fish. Since there are still three alive in the tank and seemingly doing well, I'd wait at least 2-3 weeks and watch them for further outbreaks. If ick is still in the tank, I think you'll know before 6 weeks.

Back to the QT question? Do you have one? If so, you might have to consider moving the 3 fish to it and leaving the main tank fallow for 6 weeks for the ick to die off with no fish hosts available. I presume from your treatment, there are no inverts or coral in the main. Are there?

 

[Guest]

No I don't, just don't have the room ,maybe this would be a good time to find the room

 

[Guest]

Speaking of a QT how does that work?, do you keep any fish in there to keep it cycling? do you do water changes like you would your tank fish live stock in it?

 

[frshwaterfinatc]

Wow, I am so sorry to hear about your fish. I hope the velvet clears and your next fish are completely healthy. You might consider talking to the lfs about the puffer you want- offering to make a downpayment and then have them hold him for a few days while you watch his health... the lfs I worked at used to do that if requested. Most probably won't, but you never know until you ask!

Good luck!

My sympathy, Val

 

[revhtree]

http://aquariumadvice.com/showquestion.php?faq=2&fldAuto=17

This is a good link about QT. HTH!

 

[Guest]

Guess what, I took your advice and there willing to do that, check this out ,the puffer is a dog face puffer with a black mask, he is about six to seven inches and he is really cool, they have had him so long that he is trained, everytime I go into the store I look at his and the owner shows me that he puts his hand in the tank and hand feeds him, this puffer reminds me of a cat, likes to rub up on your hand, the guy wanted 150.00 but after talking to me and my saab story he dropped the price to 100.00 which is a good price for that size
He will alow me to pay him 50.00 down and 25.00 next week and the week after ,buy then my tank will be ready And I will own the puffer
I feel much better now, I love puffers, something about them
this place I found is very nice, he has every fish you can think of but not small like the local stores, in fact I was looking at a tang that was bigger then my poodle, not kidding you

 

[austinsdad]

Sounds good, but I'd still be worried about the presence of velvet in the tank if that's what it was. What about the suggestion that you not add fish for 3-6 weeks - or treating the 3 remaining fish? Your LFS gonna hold the new puffer for that long?

 

[austinsdad]

One other question that may help determine your fate....

What kind of fish are the three that are left? Don't know if there is such a fish that is velvet resistant (slimy coates vs. scaly), but if those three are, the stuff may be still in your tank and kill newcomers anyway.

 

[Guest]

a tamato clown which from my understanding they come from the damsel and are tough fish and also a sailfin tang which did not even get affected but then again I give them vitamens and a huma triger which had a slight catch of it on one fin but has went away