Fish acting weird - rubbing up against shrimp?

[ScotJ]

I've been noticing my fish are moving around my shrimp alot as of the last tow days and acting weird in general.

My Nitrate level is a tad over 40, so I'm in the process of doing a 20% water change, and the salinity for some reason has actually gone down to 1.020.

Is this at all notmal for the fish to act like this?

 

[melosu58]

That salinity is not a killer for a FOWLR tank. I`m thinking this is a cleaner shrimp and the fish want the shrimp to clean off parasites and dead skin off of them. Sounds normal to me. What kind of shrimp and Fish?

 

[ScotJ]

4 are Blood Shrimp, and the others I'm not sure. .... I think the store just called them cleaner shrimp. They are yellowish colored with a red and white stripe along their backs.

And the fish also do this kind "darty" spuratic swinin sometimes. Even the gobby's, usually for about 3-4" and hit a rock or something in the process. Could this be them all catch itch(sp?) from the hippo tang that has it?

 

[melosu58]

It could be but I`m sure the fish are swimming around the fish to get the parasites taken off them by the shrimp. If you do have ick you`ll need to QT the fish and treat and leave the main fishless for 6-8 weeks.

 

[mtlion]

Like melosu58 said get the hippo out and QT him or you run the risk of your whole tank getting ich, if it has not already.

 

[ScotJ]

Like melosu58 said get the hippo out and QT him or you run the risk of your whole tank getting ich, if it has not already.

How long would you say I have? Hes been like this for 1-2 weeks now

 

[mtlion]

Probably not a good thing, check this reading out
Saltwater Ich (Cryptocaryon) Life Cycle - Saltwater Aquariums Guides' Extra
You could try this product to treat your whole tank, not supposed to harm fish, inverts, or corals.
Aquarium External Parasite, Ich Control: FishVet NO-ICH at Drs. Foster and Smith
I have never used this but it might be worth a shot.

 

[thincat]

Doing a water change is a good thing. you may have to do another in 24hrs.
1) How old is your tank?
2) How many gals is it?
3) how many fish do you have?
4) How do you mix your saltwater?
5) What are your water parameters...SG, Ammonia, Nitrite,

 

[ScotJ]

1. 2 months (plus cycle time)
2. 150 Gallon + Sump
3. 15 (1 sailfin tang, 1 hippo, 2 Gobbys, 7 Chromis, 2 Clowns & 1 Snow Flake Eel) + 8 shrimp
4. In a clean garbage can (used only for my tank, and was bought new for this only) and with a power head rotating the water for 24+ hours.
5. SF 1.021, PH 8.02, Nitrite 0, Nitrate 40-50, Ammonia 0.

What is the best bet, I don't want to put in a treatment to the tank that will rule out me be able to use the tank for reef down the road, and can't really setup a QT unless I just buy some big bins and fill them.

Thanks again for all the help here!

 

[thincat]

First off you need to get your nitrates down. Do a 15-25% water change to bring it down. If he has ich for 1-2 weeks your whole tank has ich now. That does not mean all your fish will catch it. Only as a fish becomes stressed or weaken will they show up with ich. The only way is to QT all the fish for the length of the ich treatment. This way the ich that is in your DT tank will not have a host and will die out, leaving your DT ich free.

 

[melosu58]

Read these

Marine Ich/Cryptocaryon irritans - A Discussion of this Parasite and the Treatment Options Available, Part I by Steven Pro - Reefkeeping.com

Marine Ich/Cryptocaryon irritans - A Discussion of this Parasite and the Treatment Options Available, Part II by Steven Pro - Reefkeeping.com

An Ounce of Prevention is Worth a Pound of Cure: A Quarantine Tank for Everything by Steven Pro - Reefkeeping.com