Rabitfish Stressed

sprinter144

Member
My orange spotted rabishfish is visibly stressed. It also wouldn't eat tonight. It ate last night. This is the first time it's not eaten since I got it several months ago. It usually eats like a pig. It's dorsal spine is up, moving real slow, and it's turned color. I turned off the main light about 45 minutes early just to try reduce the stress.
Recently I made some chemistry adjustments in order to improve water quality for a candy cane coral. I'm wondering if I made the changes too fast. pH is 8.2, S.G. is 1.023, temperature 80 degrees, dKH is 12, earlier in the week I had 20 ppm nitrates, and no signs of phosphate, ammonia or nitrite.
The water changes included raising the pH from 7.9 to 8.2 over about 2 days and raising the S.G. from 1.021 to 1.023.
It's done this before but never this long and once food hit the tank it was over it.
One thing has made me a little nervous. I put an emerald crab in the tank on Saturday and haven't seen it since. I know these little guys tend to be nocturnal, but am concerned it crawled under a rock and died. I tested for ammonia again and it's still 0. Any thoughts? I also hoped that by turning off the main light and leaving just the actinic on the crab might come out and I wouldn't have to go search for it.
 

sprinter144

Member
I should probably also say I don't see any visible signs of ich, fin problems or heavy respiration. Also I've got severral soft corals so treatment means moving it.
 

sprinter144

Member
Well the rabbitfish died. It must have had some form of ich. It developed white spots on fins and a few on its body. I gave it a fresh water dip Thursday and one this morning, but it wasn't meant to be. I added an Emerald crab last Saturday. The crab or water from the LFS must have had ich in it. I haven't seen the crab in a week. Now my other fish may be in danger as well. Should I have QT'd the crab? I've really neverr heard of anyone doing this.
I've made up some RO water in preparation for water change or emergency QT for the other fish. I originally bought a 29 gallon tank as a QT, but soone added fish to it since I had everything I wanted in the DT. Since then I've had a Cuban Hogfish jump out of the tank and die and the rabbitfish die, so I guess I have room for more fish now. I can't put any of the fish in the 29 gallon tank into the DT until I know for sure it's safe. That will be several weeks.
If ich is in the DT how quickly can I expect the other fish to become infected?
 

sepulatian

Moderator
Originally Posted by sprinter144
http:///forum/post/2602312
Well the rabbitfish died. It must have had some form of ich. It developed white spots on fins and a few on its body. I gave it a fresh water dip Thursday and one this morning, but it wasn't meant to be. I added an Emerald crab last Saturday. The crab or water from the LFS must have had ich in it. I haven't seen the crab in a week. Now my other fish may be in danger as well. Should I have QT'd the crab? I've really neverr heard of anyone doing this.
I've made up some RO water in preparation for water change or emergency QT for the other fish. I originally bought a 29 gallon tank as a QT, but soone added fish to it since I had everything I wanted in the DT. Since then I've had a Cuban Hogfish jump out of the tank and die and the rabbitfish die, so I guess I have room for more fish now. I can't put any of the fish in the 29 gallon tank into the DT until I know for sure it's safe. That will be several weeks.
If ich is in the DT how quickly can I expect the other fish to become infected?
I am sorry that he died. As long as there are fish in the tank, ich will live. It is hard to say when the others will become infected. If they are healthy then they will fight the parasites off.
 
Top