Heeeeelllppppp!!!

[jackie dh]

I've seen ick before and it pretty much looked like freshwater ick to me, it's been years since I've seen it though. It also usually affects all the fish some what, the weaker fish gets it the worst but most every one shows some signs, it also really shows up in the fins were as these fishes fins are clear, even the dead fish had clear fins.
What about Velvet? I know next to nothing about that other than it's a parasite. I'll have to do a search and see what I can find. Also, what about the redness in the angels mouth, he almost looks like he's wearing lipstick.
I'm not trying to argue with any one here, I have know doubt that you guys know more than I do I just don't want to treat for the wrong thing and loose my remaining fish.
What about the copper safe? Maybe a half dose to keep from killing my inverts and live rock? I've been searching the house for any thing that I might be able to use to help them with no luck. I thought that I had the filter pad mentioned above from several years ago, but I can't find it any were.

 

[sepulatian]

Coppersafe, at half dose, would be pointless against ich and harmful to your inverts and rock. Anything that would kill parasites will kill the inverts that you want to keep first. I think that you have a combination of things going on. They look like they have ich (Marine ich is not like FW ich). The spots do not have to be on the fins for the fish to have ich. Not all fish will get it either. They will all carry it, but they don't all show signs of ich. Velvet is a possibility. You said that the gills and mouth are red right? That could be a bacterial infection though. Without a cycled QT there isn't much that you can do to save these fish. You can add vitamins and fresh garlic to their food. You can add something like "Kick Ich" it is something to help get the parasites off of the fish. If they are in a weakened state then it won't be much help.

 

[jackie dh]

No QT, it wasn't really feasible. The tang only came out of the rocks just before he died, I had no way of getting him out before that. The fish are fairly large so it would have to be a very large QT and they dive into the rocks if I even think about trying to net some one.
On the bright side, the Angel has perked up a lot since I made the water change. He came to me looking for food just now and when I fed him he went after it with gusto. His mouth is still discolored but not as bad and some of the discoloration on the body looks like it might be from stress. I've noticed that when he goes through a color change he tends to be blotchy for a few days and he is going through another one right now. He's starting to get the mask around his eyes. I don't think that all the blotching is from that though, there still seems to be some thing else going on.
I believe the pet shop carries Maricide so I will get some tomorrow on my way to work, in the mean while I still have a couple of doses of Maroxy left, I wonder if I should use that?
And just a thought here. I have been treating the butterfly for several weeks for pop eye with two treatments of Maracine two and medicated fish food, I wonder if all those antibiotics destroyed my nitrogen cycle and cause the tank to crash which then led to the stressed fish to be susceptible to any existing parasites that were in the tank???

 

[sepulatian]

Yes, antibacterial anything kills the bacteria in the tank. Why isn't a QT feasible? You have a mess on your hands. You can set up a QT or take the chances that these fish will not survive. I am willing to bet that you have lost more money in fish than you would have spent on a QT.
A 55 gallon tank is not that expensive. You could even go with a 29 gallon. Check craigslist or look in your local paper. Even if you had to buy it new, it costs less than all of the fish dieing.
You would likely have to remove the rocks to get the fish out.

 

[jackie dh]

I have an extra tank or 10 laying around I just don't have a place to set it up. I had a fish room set up at my other house with big stands that held several tanks and I left them behind.
Now for the good news, the angel is back to 90% normal, the redness in his mouth and gills is almost gone, there's only a slight hint of pink and he is eating well and acting normal. I also got a good look at all my other fish last night and no one else shows any signs of being sick.
I have to work for the next 2 nights (12 hour shifts) so I won't have time to do much of any thing until Monday, but I will try and get at least a 40 gallon set up for a QT in case things go south on me again.

 

[jackie dh]

The Angel looks normal again. The spots are gone, I guess they were from stress. There is maybe?? a tiny bit of fungus on his anal fin but the red in his mouth is gone and he is back to his old self. I'm going to watch the tank like a hawk for a while in case the nitrates and nitrites go up again and I'll go shopping for meds later tonight. I took new pictures of the angel, but I'm at work so I can't post them, I'll try to get them up from home tomorrow before work.

 

[sepulatian]

Sounds good. I hope that he does well. Definitely keep a very close eye on the fish. Be prepared to treat if need be.

 

[jackie dh]

Thanks.
It's a good thing that I just bought a 200 gal bucket of salt, I'm more than half way through it already.
This tank has done so well for so long that I became complacent in it's up keep. I am heart broke about my loses though..... I just can't see spending the money to replace some of them, my first lose is ages was a Purple Tang (during the summer) that I had bought almost 2 years ago, the prices have more than doubled since then and the Blue Hippo? Ouch! I bought him as a med. about the same time as the Purple Tang and they are now up to $100. I doubt that I will even replace the Fire shrimp unless they are on sale.
I love my tank and I save to buy the fish and I don't mind paying a bit for them, but when you get reminded about just how easliy they die it's really disheatening.

 

[jackie dh]

The fish are all still good, here's a picture of the same Angel that I took yesterday, he looks even better today. There's no more pink in his mouth or gills.

It looks like we are in for a wind and Ice storm late tonight, I sure hope we don't lose power while I'm gone to work.

 

[meowzer]

WOW what a differnce in one day...whatever you are doing keep up the good work.