Fish death

[Chad C.]

Hey all, I'm a little stumped on a problem I came across today. One of my clownfish has been acting a bit out of the norm. So I've been keeping an eye on all my fish just incase. Today I turned the lights on in the morning and he was dead. All my readings are normal, but it seems like my other clownfish is now following suit. I'm hoping it's not gonna spread to my other fish but I'm a bit worried. It seems like my coral beauty is also starting to act different. The white line in my clownfish that's alive is turning brown and he seems to have a white costing over him. The angel looks slightly ich'ish but I'm hoping it's not the ich. Open for suggestions or thoughts on what it could be

 

[flower]

Hi,

First, post the actual readings of your test results. A picture will help quite a bit too, descriptions are not very reliable. As to what slightly ich'ish could mean I am stumped, Ich is a parasite, the little critters look like salt that is sprinkled on the fish.

 

[jay0705]

Agreed, prams, pics, type of test kit being used, type of water, also how r u testing your salinity?

 

[bang guy]

Kinda sounds like Brooklynella but I wouldn't count on it until you post some good close-up pictures and Beth comments.

 

[Chad C.]

I'm at work right now but when I get home I'll post the exact parameters. The fish look more like they've got velvet from looking at pictures. I use a hydrometer to test salinity and it's staying within range. No spikes and not too high or low. I woke up today and the second clown had died and my coral beauty isn't doing well. His color is faded and he is laying on the sand sideways. My tangs looking similar so I'm worried for him now aswell. I have heard snowflake eels have an immune system that lessens the chance of them catching it, but my eels appetite had decreased last night. My LFS is closed today so I'm stuck until tommorow to get any treatment

 

[Kristin1234]

A hydrometer is not really as accurate as we would like them to be. It can be quite a ways up off to many factors. A refractometer is more expensive but worth it.
Do you have another store close? Idk if ***** sells refractometers but if may be worth it to save your fish. If salinity is the issue here.

 

[Kristin1234]

Just looked online and they don't sell them.

 

[jay0705]

I doubt salinity is the issue unless it was rapid. Refractometer is the way to go tho. A water change could help if its a water issue. If its brook or velvet tho u will need meds if its not too late

 

[Chad C.]

Temp: 75.4, but I turned it up to get closer to 80 to help kill off the parasite.
1.023 salinity
8.2 ph
0 ammonia
0 nitrite
0 nitrate

When I got home from work my coral beauty was dead and my tang looks terrible . I don't think it's a salinity issue as the way my fish have looked has been terrible and sickly. ***** is the only other close store and they didn't have any treatment meds. I do water changes 20% every two weeks. My LFS has rid-ich PLUS so I can try that treatment tommorow.

 

[lmforbis]

Rid ich won't likely work. Copper or hyposalinity are the only cure for ich. The treatment differs depending on the disease so identifying what your fish have is very important, pics would be very helpful.

 

[Chad C.]

I'll check if they have a copper treatment. Are ich and velvet treated the same way? I can try and get a picture of the tang and I'll post it but he's been hiding in the rocks all day

 

[Chad C.]

That's the tang as of 30 minutes ago

 

[lmforbis]

Copper works for both ich and velvet.

 

[Chad C.]

I picked up rid ich for it as it was the closest meds that wouldn't do much harm to my tank. My tang died this morning, now I'm down to just my damsel and snowflake eel. I started the treatment and hopefully it will wipe out whatever it is, or atleast keep my fish alive.

 

[lmforbis]

Rid ich contains formalin and malachite green. It malachite green is a copper product. It may work. Because it does contain copper it can kill inverts and coral.

 

[Chad C.]

Yea, I looked it up and it is a copper product. I don't have any invertebrates or coral, but by using this product will that prevent me from getting any in the future?

 

[lmforbis]

It might if you have rock and sand. They can absorb the copper and release it back later, they also make it hard to maintain a therapeutic level. The malachite green can stain things in the tank, rocks, sand, even the silicone. If you can treat in a bare bottom hospital tank it would be best. Bo not add any ammonia detoxifiers like Seachems Prime when you use copper based meds.

 

[Chad C.]

Yea I've got sand and rock. This disaster made me realize the importance of a qt tank. So far my two fish have appetites again. They look healthy but I'm gonna stick with the 3-4 day treatment and water changes to make sure.

 

[lmforbis]

If they have ich or velvet you need to take all the fish out and treat for 4 weeks, not days. Then you need to leave your tank fish less for 72 days so the parasite can die off otherwise it will just come back.

 

[jay0705]

The tang pic doesn't look like ich. Now after that no idea. A qt tank is very important tho. Most diseases are fairly easy to treat in a controlled environment like a qt. With a display tank u have lr, inverts, sand, ect all stuff that makes treatment tricky at best