dragonette white spots posible fin/body rot or ich

[shawna]

my green dragonette has only lived here for 2 days and now is covered with white spots iether ich or fin/body rot also loosing weight severely have LR in tank and in larger tank have seen copopds in the 90 gal how ever took the rock out and placed in the new fish quarrintine with him from day one what would cause ich and wt loss this fast did a part h2o change and the fish looked good when I bought him the tiny white flexks were there over nite litterally any fed back is apreciated corrently using kick ich as well as malafix to cover all bases wuld hate to loose this beautiful critter please give me any advice you can

shawna

 

[beth]

shawna, read the post on ich and hyposalinity in the FAQ Thread. Hyposalinity is the best treatment.

 

[bang guy]

I've never seen a Mandarin with Ick. I'm thinking it's something else.
Been wrong before though

 

[shawna]

why is he loosing weight with lr in tank with him ? I'll try the hypo salinity would that also work for most parisites? he'd looked a little better as far as skin (ok scales) this am but the poor thing is still getting thin, there were copopods on the l/r in the 90 took about 10 lbs out for him to graze on some times looks like he's eating but I can't see anything is there antthing at all that I can suplament him with till he's well enough to get into the big tank? to make it worse working 17 hour days for the next 3 at the hospital and psych ward so little time to tend to his needs :scared: I need to use the 1 hour a day I can to save him any sugestioins at all would be great
thanks beth and bang for responding !

 

[beth]

Working 17 hrs! :scared: That is ridiculeous.
Anyway, if you have a new tank, then a piece or two of LR is not going to produce enough copepods for a mandarin.
I can't see any reason why a mandarin would be immune to ich. Do you know of any reason?
Can you post a pic of the fish?

 

[shawna]

beth I came home this eve and found no more white spots on the fish I can see a few coppods scampering and he is looking a little better could it just be that the transition was diffacult for him? also I have heard that they will eat flat worms as well is there anything that I could suplament his diet with? he has no white spots left but the color is poor "muted tones" jeeze if that pet place stered me wrong and this lil fish starves to death I am going to feel so bad! would it be benificial to just release him into the big tank after the first week? I have read it is best to watch them for a few weeks so as not to have to reat the whole 90 gal. tank he does look like he bites at the rock but I see nothing there ( i think some of the white i see is the underside of the rock not coraline yet sloughing off and laying on his scales as when I "rinsed him off with clean salt h2o it actually washed away what little I saw today (being over tired not good observation skills left! thanks a million for staying with me despite myself:yes: tired is no fun!
shawna

 

[bang guy]

Originally posted by Beth
I can't see any reason why a mandarin would be immune to ich. Do you know of any reason?
Toxic Skin Mucus.
Everytime someone has shown me a Mandarin with Ick it has just been sand getting stuck in their mucus from the way they push sand through their gills.

 

[bang guy]

Originally posted by shawna
he does look like he bites at the rock but I see nothing there
Their natural food is thought to be Ostracodes. Most of these animals are nearly microscopic. You can't see them well, but the Dragonette can.

 

[beth]

Guy, you should visit the Disease Forum more often! I learned something new, thanks.

 

[beth]

Originally posted by Bang Guy
Their natural food is thought to be Ostracodes. Most of these animals are nearly microscopic. You can't see them well, but the Dragonette can.
In other words, a newly set up tank just is not going to have this population of prey, correct?, thus these fish will not likley fair well in a small system. Can you say if there are other food alternatives for this fish?

 

[bang guy]

The success rate with small tanks and new setups is dismal. Copepods, Amphipods, and smallish Isopods are also usually available for Mandarins in established tanks. Refugiums help a lot as far as growing critters to feed Dragonettes.
There are no sure fire frozen foods for Droagonettes. Once in a while one can be trained to eat frozen foods but it's not all that common.
Brine Shrimp are not an acceptable substitute. Dragonettes will eat them but they are nutritionally deficient. Frozen Mysis would be a great alternative if you can get one to eat it.
I would reccomend that you assume a Dragonette will not eat frozen food unless you witness it yourself.
It typically takes 3 - 6 months for a Mandarin to die of malnutrition from inappropriate foods. Typically the clock startes ticking the day they are removed from the wild.

 

[russianspy]

Originally posted by Bang Guy
Been wrong before though
:scared: :scared:

 

[beth]

Guy, I added that info to the FAQ Thread. We get a lot of nutritional problems with specialized fish as you can imagine. So, that info will be good to refer to. Thanks!

 

[bang guy]

Can you fix my typo in the FAQ where I spelled out "Droagonettes". I hate not being able to edit out my typos....

 

[beth]

Will do, you don't mind my including it in FAQ? If there is a problem let me know in the tank, or email.

 

[bang guy]

No problem.

 

[elfdoctors]

Originally posted by Bang Guy
Toxic Skin Mucus.
Everytime someone has shown me a Mandarin with Ick it has just been sand getting stuck in their mucus from the way they push sand through their gills.
I usually quarantine all my fish. However, doing this for three weeks or more to a mandarin can often be fatal. How long do you recommend that a mandarin be quarantined?

 

[bang guy]

I could definately be wrong but I honestly don't believe Mandarins carry much of anything that could be contagious. If it's looking healthy after a week then I think that should do. It need to be purchased healthy also. If it doesn't have a sunken belly then a week without adequate food isn't going to harm it.

 

[bang guy]

I need to add that I'm unsure of the other Dragonettes like Scooter Blennies. I believe Scooter Blennies take to frozen food a lot more often than Mandarins.

 

[shawna]

bang will these little microscopic critters grow enough to suppport him? the tank is only 6 months old and once he gets to the big tank he will have not 10 but 130 lbs on wich to graze the tank is a 90 so I could buy a little more rock in a while to re seed it with new life ...but is that safe to do in small ammounts say 5 lbs at a time spaced out by a few months each time or is this poor lil thing doomed to perish in blooming glenn?
just a lot worried !
also could you explain or throw me a link to a proper refugium currently I have none and the only place I have seen it was in a book 1 paragraph not much I might be best to build one thanks again for all of your help
shanwa