The Clown Is Dead

[waterbury guy]

I lost one of my two Perc's this AM. For a few days he had what appeared to be an enflamed/irritated mouth and was gasping near the bottom of the tank. All other inhabitants were OK and all test readings were OK (except for Nitrates which have always been 20-30). Yesterday AM I noticed the dreaded "white spots" on him. Last night they were gone and I did a 10 Gal water change. I have had the clowns for 4 weeks now and up until a few days ago everything was fine. Any idea on what went wrong?

 

[fishymissy]

We are supposed to tell you to post this in the disease forum. Having said that.......
The gasping for a couple of days and then the ich showing up are classic signs of Amyloodinium. If any other fish shows signs of gasping, you must treat them immediately! If you wait until the ich shows up it will be too late. Copper is the treatment of choice for this parasite.
Do you have a hospital tank? If so I would get it up and running in case you have to use it.
Good luck!
Almost forgot to add how sorry I am to hear about your fish dying!

 

[sinner's girl]

"Copper is the treatment of choice for this parasite." not from what I read. never use it in main tank. ask on the other board they'll tell you (or you can search and read) all about what to do if you have ich

 

[fishymissy]

When I said that about the copper, I meant with regards to the Amyloodinium, not ich.
I did also state to get a hospital tank up and running in case other fish come down with this. I guess I should have been more clear on that point. I meant you should treat the oodinium in the hospital tank with copper when you notice the fish gasping, do not wait for the secondary ich infestation to show up. Thanks.