My first fish !! (are sick)

[emilaya101]

Alright, here it is :
Ammnoia: 0
Nitrate: 60
Nitrite: .25
pH: 8.3
Salinity: .019
Temp: 78
Why are my nitrites high ? I have never even had them before... and the ates are way too high, I know. Should I keep lowering the salinity or bring it back up ? Im thinking bring it up b/c I am starting to think It wasn't even ich. Gonna monitor the qt and let it cycle, seeded it with some ls and food today....

 

[emilaya101]

Oh yeah, got the water ready for a 10g water change tomorrow.

 

[emilaya101]

Oh yeah, one more time, I fed the clowns today, and they ate very agressively, so I will start feeding them daily again as long as they take it

 

[emilaya101]

Originally Posted by sepulatian
http:///forum/post/2641399
You will know soon enough in a 55. It may not have been though.
What's that mean ?

 

[mike15]

Correct me if I'm wrong, but I think he meant that, since a 55 gallon tank is a small space, ich parasites would have an easier time finding a host fish than in a larger aquarium. If it is ich, you will probably see the white spots disappearing and reappearing more frequently as their life cycle continues. However, it may not be ich as many fish, especially clowns, can exibit white spots from the stress of moving that is not related to ich.
If you think it is ich, the water has to be at 1.009sg (12ppt salinity) for effective hyposalinity treatments. If you do not think it is ich then you must raise the salinity levels slowly back to normal levels. Increasing salinity levels rapidly will cause excess stress so returning the salinity to a normal level has to be done through gradual water changes over a number of days.
Definitely feed the fish daily if they will eat. Also, do water changes anyways since 60 nitrates is rather high and any nitrite reading is bad. Hope this helps,
Mike15.

 

[emilaya101]

Specific gravity is at 1.019, sorry.....

 

[sepulatian]

Originally Posted by Mike15
http:///forum/post/2641604
Correct me if I'm wrong, but I think he meant that, since a 55 gallon tank is a small space, ich parasites would have an easier time finding a host fish than in a larger aquarium. If it is ich, you will probably see the white spots disappearing and reappearing more frequently as their life cycle continues. However, it may not be ich as many fish, especially clowns, can exibit white spots from the stress of moving that is not related to ich.
If you think it is ich, the water has to be at 1.009sg (12ppt salinity) for effective hyposalinity treatments. If you do not think it is ich then you must raise the salinity levels slowly back to normal levels. Increasing salinity levels rapidly will cause excess stress so returning the salinity to a normal level has to be done through gradual water changes over a number of days.
Definitely feed the fish daily if they will eat. Also, do water changes anyways since 60 nitrates is rather high and any nitrite reading is bad. Hope this helps,
Mike15.
Almost completely what I meant. Clowns don't get spots that look like ich from stress. They can become faded, but it is not small white dots. However, they can get grains of sand stuck to their body. They have a thick slime coat and sand will stick to it when they are first introduced. As mentioned, you will know in a short amount of time. Get that QT cycled. You can hypo the display, but you will have to remove all of the live rock and inverts first. Please read the Common Treatments FAQ at the top of the Disease and Treatment board for instructions on hyposalinity.

 

[emilaya101]

So what are the chances that it wasn't even ich in the first place ?

 

[sepulatian]

Originally Posted by Emilaya101
http:///forum/post/2641760
So what are the chances that it wasn't even ich in the first place ?

The chances are 50/50. Take a close look at the spots with a good magnifying glass. If they are rough then they are sand, if they are smooth and round then they are ich. You will have to watch them very closely and get yourself ready in case it is ich.

 

[emilaya101]

They don't have them anymore, and they were a bunch of tiny spots, like sand stuck to them, come to think of it, it probably wasn't even ich

 

[sepulatian]

Originally Posted by Emilaya101
http:///forum/post/2641988
They don't have them anymore, and they were a bunch of tiny spots, like sand stuck to them, come to think of it, it probably wasn't even ich

Well, you will know real soon. If it was sand then it will stay off now that they have calmed down. Ich will show back up in larger numbers than before. It is likely to be on the tail and fins fist, but not necessarily.

 

[emilaya101]

I'm keeping watch for it, I will watch them closely, but I think that it was not ich..... I pray that it was not ich ........

 

[emilaya101]

Alright, so it's been almost a month, and still no sign of ick in the dt, and the fish have been in there, so I am thinking that that was not it. I do have the qt cycled, though, so when I get ready to add anything else, it WILL be quarentined first

Thanks for all the help guys, and I hope it doesn't show up put of nowhere and knock out the two clowns, and leave me waiting for another month

 

[namas05]

More than likely if it hasn't come back by now it is not going to.
How are your water param.?
Have you been able to lower your nitrates?
get them to 0 along with your ammo,and trites, and hold them steady and you will have success with fish.
Glad to hear they are doing well.

 

[nallender]

I hate to make dumb comments on public forums, but is it possible that the "spots" were small air bubbles attached to the fish from when you first put them into the tank? When I first put my maroon clown into his temporary holding tank he had small bubbles attached to him which appeared like spots..
This would not explain why the fish died or why the others appeared sick, but it might have fooled u into thinking it was ich when it may have been something else..
just a thought.. albeit maybe a dumb one

 

[emilaya101]

Params are good.... ates are lowering slowly..... I'm pretty sure it wasn't air bubbles... I have been keeping a bottle of some organic stuff to help the fis survive the ich if it does happen to show up on them. I think I have decided what I will do if I see spots, please tell me if thid id wrong.
Treat them with ich attack until the spots are gone for a few days, as to help the fish recover some, AND THEN move them to a qt for a month or two. This seems logical to me but there may be some right in my face problem with that that I am nor seeing, so please give me your opinions.

Thanks for all of the help thus far, once more.

 

[confusedfishy]

If your fish get ich in the future I would consider using hyposalinity to solve the problem. This is a really easy technique and other than copper the only thing that actually kills the ich parasite. If you are interested check out the Disease and Treatment forum and look at the treatment thread at the top.