sick fish made mistake

[msamsonz28]

Well I screwed up. I've have a yellow tang and maroon clown for over two years with no problems. I bought a coral beauty last week and against everything I know, I didn't QT. Now my fish are sick. The clown and beauty have what looks like a sugar powder on them. The tang looks ok but is hiding and won't come out which is not normal. The clown and tang used to be very social. I've seen the clown swimming in place at the top of the tank almost half out of the water. The beauty has been very shy since putting her in. I can't get a good pic because they won't come out of hiding. I'm setting up QT tomorrow, so hopefully I can get pics then. Water parameters: ammonia 0, nitrite 0, nitrate 40. Feed mon, wed, fri, blender mush and nori. I haven't seen the beauty eat except for grazing on rock. Any advice?

edit: The tang didn't make it through the night, the beauty is almost gone and the clown doesn't look good.

 

[msamsonz28]

Ok, I have the clown in a 10gal QT, the beauty passed this morning. There are no more white specks on the clown right now and he seems to be back to normal, so I don't know what the deal is. I am going to take my water to the lfs and have them test to compare to my results. At this point I assume it was a parasite that killed the other two because they had sugar grains on them, so I am going to keep the clown out of the main and watch him. Unfortunately, I leave to go on vacation next week so my friend is going to have his hands full. He doesn't have any sw experience, so I have a short time to teach him. I've read all the articles on quarantine and ich. Aside from that what do you all think I should do? Should I treat for ich by hyposalinity if my water checks good with the lfs, or just watch and wait? Ah, this stinks.

 

[Kurt_Nelson]

Man... that sucks. Sorry about the loss. Can't say I have any advice, but if it was me and my vacation was going to be a short one, I'd probably not have the friend do anything buy watch and wait.

You're either looking at hyposalinity or copper, and either one I wouldn't throw at someone with no saltwater experience. It can go real wrong real quick without adequate understanding of what it is you're doing.

If the clown had what appeared to be sugar on him, then most likely it's ich. For sure keep your clown in the QT and let your main go fishless for at least 8 weeks. That will break the life cycle of the ich in the main. What to do with your clown in the meantime though will depend on how strong it appears now, and how long you're going to be gone. At some point though, you'll have to treat it.

 

[msamsonz28]

Thanks for the response Kurt. The clown had spots on him again this morning. Is it typical of ich to come and go day to day? I will be gone for 6 days, so I don't know what to do. Do you think he would even make it through the next two weeks without treatment? The beauty and tang went fast. I noticed the spots and 1 day later they were dead.

 

[roka64]

Yep, ich will drop off while the fish is sleeping and and reattach during the day. Your info says no inverts? If so, you "MAY get away with having your friend top off with only FW to slowly reduce the salinity. This might help, but realistically, this is a last resort. Since you are going on vacation, you will not be able to properly treat your fish and they might not make it.

 

[Kurt_Nelson]

Do you think he would even make it through the next two weeks without treatment? The beauty and tang went fast. I noticed the spots and 1 day later they were dead.

No one can really say if it'd make it, so I won't even take a guess.

I didn't think ich normally took a fish down so quick, like you described. The fast killer is normally marine velvelt - but that looks like a white slimy coat on the fish. The "specks of salt/sugar" is usually always ich, so I'm pretty sure that's what you have.

As roka64 mentioned, yes... the spots will come and go. They will eventually get worse as time goes on. The idea of doing freshwater topoffs while you're gone might be the best option. It won't bring the salinity down too much, but its better than nothing I suppose.

 

[roka64]

I didn't think ich normally took a fish down so quick, like you described.

I agree with this as well.

 

[msamsonz28]

Topping off with fw will not reduce salinity though. Removing sw and then adding fw will reduce salinity. I'm sure that is what you meant though. I have snails and hermits in the main. Can I leave them in while the clown is in QT? Also, I have a friend who works in a pet store and helps the fish guy so he at least has some experience with sw. He said he would be willing to watch my clown. I just have to decide what route of treatment to go with. Copper or hyposalinity?

 

[roka64]

Yeah, you are completely, right, I don't know what's wrong with me this morning!!!

 

[melosu58]

Definitely is ich. Here are some articles for you to read.

http://www.reefkeeping.com/issues/2004-10/sp/feature/index.php

http://www.reefkeeping.com/issues/2003-08/sp/index.php

http://www.reefkeeping.com/issues/2003-10/sp/feature/index.php

 

[Kurt_Nelson]

Yeah, you are completely, right, I don't know what's wrong with me this morning!!!

...and I followed you right down that path. I posted before the coffee kicked in!

 

[roka64]

LOL! Msamsonz28 I am really sorry about the incorrect info and thanks again Kurt for watching our backs!

 

[msamsonz28]

No problem! I am in the process of dropping salinity. Should be down to 1.010 on Wednesday. Found this link for treatment by hyposalinity http://www.petsforum.com/personal/trevor-jones/hyposalinity.html
Melosu58, I have read those articles, thank you. I will keep you posted on how things go.

 

[msamsonz28]

I got home from work today and the clown had passed. Sad day, as I have had him for 2 1/2 years and he was my first fish. Lesson learned. Always quarantine your new fish!
Now for new questions:
1. How long does my tank need to be fallow? The articles posted by melosu58 says 1-2 months. Is 4 weeks enough to break the cycle or should I wait longer?
2. Can my snails and hermits carry ich? Should I take them out of the main to be sure the parasites are not attached to them? I could not find anything in the articles saying for sure.
3. Who thinks I should upgrade to a 75? I have really wanted to build my own stand anyway. This would be a convenient time, no?

 

[roka64]

Sorry for your losses!
1. 8 weeks is best to kill off the ich.
2. Ich only like the body juices of fish.
3. I always like to upgrade! I'd give the ich time to starve and then work on the upgrade.

 

[Kurt_Nelson]

I'd go fishless 8 weeks MINIMUM, just to be safe. With nothing now in your QT waiting to go back into the main, there's really no reason to rush it. Sorry for the losses. But perhaps your post will make others think again about their quarantine practices, so thanks for posting.