My new clown has ick? Maybe more? Please help.

[stripes]

Hi, thanks for clicking. I'm somewhat new to the saltwater community so sorry if I sound like I really don't know whats going on.
Anyways I just picked up two clown fish from the LFS and yesterday night while in the quarantine tank i noticed that one of them looks like its molting right behind its eyes. This morning I checked them out again and I noticed that there were little wihte dots on both of them. Any advice or info on whether it is ick?
The pH seems a bit low, maybe 7.9 but I tested the water from the LFS and it seemed the same level as mine. Nitrite and nitrate were at 0. Thanks for any help.

 

[Fluff]

Fortunately, I don't have any hands on experience to share with you but here are some sites for you to check out til someone else can help you. Some have photos to show you what to look for as well as info on treatment. HTH

http://www.wetwebmedia.com/ichartmar.htm
http://www.petsforum.com/personal/trevor-jones/marineich.html
http://www.reefkeeping.com/issues/2003-08/sp/index.php

 

[Brenden]

A picture of the fish would help a lot. Also NH3 and NO2 are going to be your biggest toxic treats in QT.

 

[steve-s]

By "molting" do you mean something coming away from the fish (other than spots)? Small white stringy bits or more like wisps of mucus/cloudy like substance?

Cheers
Steve

 

[stripes]

Thanks for the replies guys. I tried taking pictures of it but the pictures kept coming out blurry and you couldn't see anything. I was getting pretty worried about it so I decided to rush to the LFS after work yesterday. When I got home I noticed that there were no spots on either one anymore. I think I did so much research on ich that I was seeing things I dunno. Anyways Julie at the LFS said that the fish were ok except for the one who seemed to have had the molting that I mentioned was caused by stress. She said that the acclimation process may have been the problem. She suggested a product called Rallys? Has anyone ever heard of it? It looks like medicine. Ill take a picture of the product once I get home.

 

[oyf709]

ich will do that sometimes, disapear and come back later again, it just part of the life cycle. Keep an eye on ur fish, if any fish apear to have spot once again, might want to start removing and treating them with copper (not the main dispaly tank). LFS cannot tell u if ur fish is ok or not since there is nothing in the world yet can test if there is ich in ur tank or not, Trust ur own eyes. Btw..rally ummm...i just saw something about it on reefkeeping about diff "reef-safe" medication affects on xenia..u might wanna take a look.
http://www.reefkeeping.com/issues/2005-12/sp/index.php
there is rally in it also. it doesn't seem to be good to xenia so i would guess it doesn't do good to other softcoral as well.. best luck

 

[steve-s]

The molting bit you mention still has me worried, if you could address the questions I asked above, it would be most helpful. Without the appropraite responses rom you, it's near impossible to help you contructively. There is a real chance your LFS has no idea what's going on with the fish and an even greater chance this is a symptom of Brooklynella. It may be nothing as suggested but best to be sure...

Cheers
Steve

 

[stripes]

oyf709: The article you posted a link to was very insitful and I learned a lot. Although do you think I would have to worry about it since I have a fish only tank?

steve-s: Sorry about not answering your previous post, it appeared to be more like wisps of mucus/cloudy like substance. I was reading through the articles section and after I read the Marine Velvet (Amyloodiniosis) - Written by Kurt Reis (quarryshark) it appears to have very similar symptons, but I could be wrong.

When I took the fish to the lfs I mentioned that these were my first clown fish and was worried about the one that appeared sick to me and asked them if they could quarantine it since I believe they have more experience in it than I do. I don't know if it was because Im in there pretty much every weekend or cause they felt bad but they agreed to help me out and I will pick up the fish this weekend.

 

[oyf709]

fish only tank i wouldn;t wory about, however how useful the product actrually work is hard to tell. the best bet is go around search the product name .

 

[stripes]

You're right, after I read the article that you linked it got me thinking that I should research the product. In the future I hope to add some coral but for now the fish alone are a handful.

 

[steve-s]

steve-s: Sorry about not answering your previous post, it appeared to be more like wisps of mucus/cloudy like substance. I was reading through the articles section and after I read the Marine Velvet (Amyloodiniosis) - Written by Kurt Reis (quarryshark) it appears to have very similar symptons, but I could be wrong.

When I took the fish to the lfs I mentioned that these were my first clown fish and was worried about the one that appeared sick to me and asked them if they could quarantine it since I believe they have more experience in it than I do. I don't know if it was because Im in there pretty much every weekend or cause they felt bad but they agreed to help me out and I will pick up the fish this weekend.

Velvet is definately a possibility but the more realistic probability would be Brooklynella. Be sure that when you go back to the LFS you find out how they treated the clown (if at all) and with what. Both maladies have completely different treatments and cannot be combined. Also, one week will not be enough time to ensure the clown is problem free. It would be a large risk to take it back after only one week. Treatment for either afliction should take about 2 weeks minimum plus recovery time after the fact to guage success.

Cheers
Steve

 

[stripes]

After reading through numerous post here Ive been trying to avoiding doing things in a hurry so when I go this weekend I will ask to see what was done, what was used and also if they were able to pin point the problem. After what you wrote I doubt I'll be taking the fish home with me. Ill keep you posted.