fish losing its fins

[lilcreep]

Ok i have this royal gramma that had ick. I treated it with garlic, and he got better. He was out swimming around, and seemed happy. No signs of ick. The only problem was he had a small hole in his tail fin. Then he went into hiding for a couple of days. Now he is on the bottom of the tank, with almost no tail fin and parts of his other fins are missing as well. does Ick cause this? If not, what else could be the cause of this? I don't have any other fish or crabs that can be attacking him.

 

[reefkprz]

sounds bacterial probably (no gaurantees on this) the ick attack probably weakened his immune system and allowed him to get a bonus infection. I am not sure how to treat this having never dealt with it my self in marine fish. I have dealt with it in FW tanks before and usually medicating helped but sometimes the medication just over whelms the already weak fish. I wish I had more info but that may help lead you in the right direction.

 

[startrfish]

its not looking good on saving him. Its possible other fish are picking at him too, are you sure noone's bothering him. your last statement about having fish is confusing I don't have any other fish or crabs that can be attacking him. Are there other fish in the tank?

 

[lilcreep]

He officially passed on, but by saying i don't have any other fish or crabs that can be attacking him, i meant. that he was the only fish in the tank. And there are no crabs in the tank. I know those are often times the culprit and can pick on a sick fish. So I was ruling that scenario out. Sorry for the confusion. It does seem as if it was a bacteria of some sort. The fin started off cloudy, and then slowly started to wither away. He was in hiding for a few days so i didn't get to see it happen completely. But it definately didn't look like it was hitchhiker attacking him.

 

[startrfish]

gotcha, well, now you can start over and clean out the "infected" water. Good times are ahead

 

[lilcreep]

What all is involved in getting rid of the infected water? How long does it take for Ick to die off. Also can i keep corals in there without having to worry about Ick. I'm getting my lights on monday and wanted to get some corals going in there.

 

[lion_crazz]

Corals are fine in the water with ich, but if you want to get rid of the ich, just leave your tank fishless for 4 weeks. The ich will not be able to reproduce without a host.

 

[ophiura]

Originally Posted by lion_crazz
Corals are fine in the water with ich, but if you want to get rid of the ich, just leave your tank fishless for 4 weeks. The ich will not be able to reproduce without a host.
Until you introduce a fish that hasn't been properly QTd

May I ask more specifics about the tank? Age, specific water parameters?

 

[samidavis]

Ick can stay waterborn, a UV sterilizer works the best for the prevention of water spread diseases.