I am not sure what I have

[dana]

Please help I dont think I have ick. My fish doesnt have white spots . But is scraching and now breathing hard. I had fish to die from this before the pet store told me to treat the tank as... Turn the heat up and lower salt.Have nothing in there for 3 months. So I did that now I had the water tested. It was fine. Got a clown and $60. of live rock in there and the fish is sick. Please help!!!

 

[pattie]

I READ THAT WHEN FISH GASP FOR AIR THEY ARE STRESSED AND WHEN THEY SCRATCH AGAINST THE ROCKS OR CORAL, THEY HAVE ICH...I GOT A SIMPLE READING BOOK CALLED"HOW TO SET UP A SALTWATER-AQUARIUM" BY GREGORY SKOMAL, THIS GUY SHOULD PAY ME FOR ADVERTISING HIM SO MUCH,THRU "HALF.COM" DIRT CHEAP, ONLY $7.99 INCLUDING SHIPPING, RECEIVED IT IN TWO DAYS AND I'VE LEARNED SOOO MUCH ABOUT MY PETS...WE INVEST A LOT OF MONEY, IT IS FUN BUT DISEASES ARE THERE IN THE WATER AND GASPING FOR AIR IS A REAL GOOD SIGN THAT YOUR FISH IS STRESSED OUT..I GOT "COPPER SAFE" FOR ICH AND ALSO DROPPED INTO THE TANK "PRO-TECH" SO THAT FISH GET MORE "SLYME" AND THIS WAY THEY DON'T GET ILL TOO OFTER WITH VIRUSES LINGERING IN THE WATER...PLEASE GET THE BOOK FOR NOW, WISH I COULD HELP YOU MORE, BUT I'M NEW AT THIS...GOOD LUCK, PATTIE

 

[fmarini]

Dana;
Some more info please. Are these new fish? how long has your tank been set up? when you mean breathing hard you mean gilling (rapid movements of the gills?) or they are surfacing gasping for air?.
When they scratch are they scratching frequently, every once in a while. More info please.
Do you see anything on the body or fins?
My intial thought is gill flukes or parasites, but w/o much more information this is strictly a guess.
frank

 

[beth]

Rapid gilling and rapid fish mortality may be Oodinium. What was the problems previously with disease and fish deaths in your tank? Do you have a separate hospital tank?
Do not raise the temp or lower the salinity in your main tank. Lowering the salinity will kill off your live rock and it is pointless to proceed with a treatment course when you have no idea what the problem is.
To treat parasities, you do need a hospital tank, particularly if it is oodinium. As Frank said, lots more info is needed. But hurry, cause oodinium will kill fish fast.

 

[fmarini]

Beth:
you beat me to it again, this time I was hoping Dana would respond w/ "I see a light dusting on my fish or my fish are laying on the bottom gilling heavy".
This is a great indication of velvet.
If anyone is interested, here is a report from Shawn Prescott on Oodinium
<a href="http://www.aquarium.net/0597/0597_4.shtml" target="_blank">http://www.aquarium.net/0597/0597_4.shtml</a>
Dana if you read this please more info ASAP.
frank

 

[beth]

Hey Frank! So glad you're here to help me and Terry out! As you can see, its a pretty busy forum here.
I didn't mean to butt in on your lead here, but I was afraid that if this was an oodinium case we might delay getting it ID-ed with posting info back and forth and offerring some treatment guidance, so I jumped on it. [As you know, delays with oodinium can be fatal ] Hope you don't mind. So good to have you here!

 

[fmarini]

Beth:
I'm also glad you were validating my next theory. I would prefer you double and triple check my thought process, and question me, than to give someone suspect information.
I just wish dana was quicker on the draw than us....
We really need the info on this one. If its velvet, by the time this person responds we might be talking about who we can save, or whos left.
frank