Clown Dead

[atwise21]

I got a Perc from the LFS earlier this month. When I got him home, my wife noticed a couple of white spots on him so naturally I thought "ick!" I have been treating Q-Bert for about a week now and it doesn't work. I've been using "Ick-Attach" He got better for just a few hours and then it would look like he was dusted with powdered sugar. I treated him last night and then woke up this morning to it again, but this time much worse, he had lost most of his color. About ten minutes later, he was dead. Was this ick? Why didn't the medicine help? Any advice is appreciated, this is the second clown we have had die in six months.

 

[quarryshark]

Sorry for your loss. Sounds to me like it was marine velvet which is a very fast killer.
http://www.petsforum.com/personal/trevor-jones/amyloodinium.html
That med is no good for velvet (I question its use for even ich), you needed to use a good copper med like cupramine or coppersafe. Copper is the sole readily available med that works for this parasite.
Was he in qt, or your main? If in the main the other fish will need treatment in a qt tank ASAP.

 

[atwise21]

He was in my main...nothing else has anything on it, and I don't have a qt set up yet. Is it safe for my emerald crab to eat the dead clown? He ate a shrimp pretty quickly after it died so I figured it might do him some good. What do I need to do to set up a qt, and is there a fast way to do so. I would hate to have to treat my tank with copper based meds and kill off my crabs and feather dusters. Just curious if I could take some of the water out of my tank and add it to a qt for a quick fix?

 

[quarryshark]

If there are no other fish in the main, just leave it fishless for 6-8 weeks. I would go 8 weeks in case it was velvet. Thats the bad news.
The good news is that your inverts are safe. They are not hosts for parasites so they may remain, no need or desire to qt them.
After the 8 weeks the parasites will all have cycled out and have died due to the lack of a fish host and you can get going again.
Just be sure to get that qt set up and place any new fish in for 4 weeks before adding to your main. You can observe and treat them there instead of infecting the main tank.
read the above link I gave you, it gives you detailed info on this pest.
Good luck!

 

[quarryshark]

I would hate to have to treat my tank with copper based meds and kill off my crabs and feather dusters.

Please don't do this, the fallow period is enough. Never treat the main with any meds.

 

[atwise21]

there are other fish in my main though...i went out and bought a whole set up for a ten gallon qt...spent about a hundred bucks on everything. if the other fish aren't showing any signs of illness, should I take them out anyway? if so, the ten gallon tank wouldn't be big enough to hold the three fish confortably, so should I cycle them each out one or two at a time? Also, in the qt, is it alright for me to leave it bare with just a small live rock or should I deck it out with sand and rock and everything just as if it were a show tank?

 

[RMPD109]

should I cycle them each out one or two at a time?

this will never leave the main take empty to rid it of the problem parasite. Each fish can host the parasite and even after treated once back in the main it will again become a host. You would need to leave the main empty for 6 weeks to let the ick die completely away. Then you can re introduce fish. If you use LR in the QT then you can never place that back into the main tank(it will absorb the copper and release later). Most people have a bare bottom tank with some pieces of PVC for the fish to hide in, or even plastic plants. HTH

 

[quarryshark]

You would need to leave the main empty for 6 weeks

Just for clarity I wanted to add, this is fish only. Leave all invert and corals in the main. They are not hosts for the parasite.

 

[RMPD109]

Thanks for the correction QS. Sorry for not being more specific.

 

[quarryshark]

Thanks for the correction QS. Sorry for not being more specific.

Sorry, did not want to step on your toes. 8) You know your stuff!!