white spot (qt)

[jayfish]

i hav a snowflake,2gobies,blue-tang,chromie,banana wrass,2clown, will vertaid (malachite green) be bad 4 them and what if i put it in my display tan will it effect my corals and star as i dont have another qt 4 a couple of days or should wait 4 another qt .thanks in advance

 

[steve-s]

Malachite green is nasty stuff, also quite ineffective against C. irritans. More often than not it's a miss treatment. Some inverts will tolerate it but there is a good chance you will lose some, corals are not going to like it at all. Depending on the coral species you have, some may not survive it.

Depending on the severity of the infestation, you can easily wait 4 days. I would suggest however you get some sort of seeding material going in the main for bacterial colonization. If you already have a HOB filter or a few bioballs, they will help immensely.
http://www.aquariumadvice.com/showquestion.php?faq=2&fldAuto=17

Once the quarantine tank is set up, fill with water from the main tank, add the biofiltration and get the temp stable. Once accomplished the fish can be transfered quickly. Choose a more appropriate treatment though. If the eel is part of the problem, <<hyposalinity>> must be used. If the eel is not to be treated, (eels being highly resitant unless a heavily infested tank), you can opt for a copper based treatment instead. Hyposalinity is still the most tolerated of any treatment method and should be the preference. Any treatment chosen though should be performed in a QT environment.

Cheers
Steve

 

[jayfish]

i waited the 4 days there fish r in qt but i left my snowflake in the main i know i stressed him cause he has only eat'nonce since its been about 3 weeks and he still wont eat is ther anything i can do 2 get him 2 eat i've had him 4 about 8 months he normaly eats good i dont wont 2 looose him.ive heard there is stuff 2 put in 2 make fish hungry is this true. i tried fresh prawn wich he normaly takes and white-bait he takes acasionaly also fresh baby octopuc and mussles he just turns around and leaves it 2 go off

 

[steve-s]

How did you stress the eel other than catching the fish to transfer over to the QT?

Cheers
Steve

 

[jayfish]

i have about 45 kilos live rock and i had to remove most of the rock to catch the fish. i left some in but he didnt like it he thrashed around the tankm when he calmed down under little rock i vacuumed the tank as it was dirty from under the rocks, at one point he tried to jump out of the tank. After i put the rock back in he curled up in a hole. He still moves but not much and he wont take anything we tried to feed him

 

[steve-s]

Try being patient and carefully/gentley continue to offer the eel foods. Once their environment gets turned upside down like that it can stress them quite severely. You might also try soaking the foods in a drop or two of garlic extract, it can be a powerful atractant. Generally speaking this will usually occur in more mature adult eels. They do not travel well and do not take kindly to disruptions of this kind.

You might also try a few water changes. If there are no inverts of any kind, you can also lower the salinity a few points.

Cheers
Steve

 

[jayfish]

ive been trying 4 a few days soaking food in garlic he seems 2 be liking the smell of it but still wont take but he is more active i geuss i have 2 be patient

 

[steve-s]

Have you tried altering the food types? Any live marine feeders available at your LFS?

Nutrition at this point isn't too relavent though, getting the animal eating again is more important. Once the eel is back to eating, then worry about nutritional value. For now focus on varying the food types.

Are you able to lower the salinity?

Cheers
Steve

 

[jayfish]

no that would effect the coral and inverts, I put in a couple of hermit crabs, and he is not interested in live fish. I have been trying to find glass (ghost) shrimp that i used to feed my lion to no avail. I tried yabbys (freshwater crayfish) and he doesnt go for them they actually walked right past him, i have tried different types of fish, whole bait fish and fresh fish from the fish market, also fresh prawns (shrimp) peeled and unpeeled also baby squid, and muscles. I am now soaking his food in garlic before trying to feed him and everything else in the tank is coming out for him, he just doesnt seem too hungry. He did however become more active when i put in the garlic soaked food so we backed off, left the room and came back to see the starfish, snails and crabs sharing the fish.

 

[steve-s]

I'm afraid there's not much else I can suggest. Eels can be rather tricky IME, especially adults as I said earlier. They stress rather easily and it can often invoke a very strong disinterest in food.

He did however become more active when i put in the garlic soaked food so we backed off, left the room

Keep in mind eels have very poor eye sight. You will have much better success gentley wafting the foods near the eeel via the use of a feeding stick. You just need to be extra careful so you don't startle the eel. If foods are placed freely in the tank, your chances of success will be rather slim.

Just keep at it and keep your fingers crossed.

Cheers
Steve

 

[jayfish]

his eatn food again i geus just had 2 wait it out his a lot more active these days aswell all my fish r back in there with him but im still not sure why he didnt eat 4 the 7 weeks i dont think it was stress cause when i moved it didnt bother him at all do they hibernate in the colder weather or 4 small periods

 

[steve-s]

do they hibernate in the colder weather or 4 small periods

They are not snakes and they do not have a "winter" season in the wild. Temps are pretty consistant year round albeit they do drop a little but still remain in the high 78-80° range. Stress however is definately a factor, not sure why you dismiss it so easily.

Good to hear it's eating again though...

Cheers
Steve

 

[jayfish]

his apetite came back after5 half weeks then 2 weeks lter i had 2 move and did all over again even had 2 move him and it did not strees him strange creaters but im glad his still alive and eat'n again and is more active he does laps of my tank every evening

 

[jayfish]

he eats 2 pealed king prawns a day thanks 4 your help still wont eat live food not even shrimp

 

[steve-s]

still wont eat live food not even shrimp

Nothing wrong with that, in fact they are better off without it. Just be sure you try to vary the types of foods if possible. Keep trying different things. You want to make sure the diet is well balanced. Remember even though they are carnivors, they still need vegetable matter. Normally this would be achieved through what they eat, ie in the belly of the creature eaten. It's not always an easily accomplished task but worth trying.

Cheers
Steve

 

[jayfish]

i hav been trying lots of different live food like yabies and 4 different types of shrimps but he did hav 1 of my hermits in his mouth didnt eat or kill in the end plus every time he doesnt eat 1 of the shrimp i find it anoying my corals so geuss how much fun it is catching them ive also tried multiple fresh and frozen food the only thing he takes is fresh green peeled prawns so i guess thats all he gets unlees i find sum small crabs maybe i should visit sum rock pools but i dont think thats a good idea what do reckon about this thanks
p.s at least my sons trigger enjoys the live foods i shall get him somthing accassionally

 

[jayfish]

i finally got him 2 take sum fish ( fresh snapper) brouht it whole cut of a chunk s droped it in with a prawn he took it before the prawn twice now so he has a new diet

 

[steve-s]

Good stuff, just be sure you add some vitamins to it at least once a week. Wouldn't hurt to try hiding a pea or other green vegetable matter inside the fish flesh.

Cheers
Steve

 

[jayfish]

i tried ading garlic more then once but he cums out sniffs the food and goes away he just dont like it i will try the green vegi thing and get back
thanks again

 

[steve-s]

Actually I'm not suprised on the garlic. I never had much luck either. Anything with a strong odor or that masks the natural scent of the food will typically get ignored. Don't forget eyesight is one thing these guys don't rely on. Try Zoe or Vita Chem.

Cheers
Steve