Sick Fish - part 2

[Chiefmcfuz]

Dude I know you are kicking yourself and I don't mean this to be an "I told you so" post, however, this was all preventable. I know it's easy for me to say (mostly because I am perfect..............NOT!) because I am here and you are there but most of us have made similar mistakes like this in the past and sadly some of us will make similar mistakes in the future. First things first only buy quality livestock from a reputable dealer and also QT the fish when you get them home. Next QT QT QT, then the most important thing, when adding the fish into your display go slow, acclimate properly and let them be, they will be stressed and flash and breathe heavy all over again, they may also come down with ich but there is nothing saying that after treating a fish for ich in a qt tank and curing it it won't get it again, stress causes ich and other health problems. If the fish are strong they can kick it without our interference, Relax and go slow, time is the biggest factor in this whole hobby. And Time is all we have

 

[fluidimagery]

yup, I feel horrible. Hopefully the others will be breathing when I get home.

 

[fluidimagery]

I know... my lesson is learned, I'm just trying to do the best I can here to fix my mistake.

PS: I do only buy from reputable buyers... the Angel and most of my corals are from Country Critters and the Anthias are from Greenwich Aquaria. I think the Angel had the ich and the anthias got it from him. Live and learn

 

[Chiefmcfuz]

Dude I am not saying you didn't buy from a good fish dealer, I am not pointing any fingers at you. I am only giving general advice that was given to me when I first got here.

 

[h20 freak]

Dude I know you are kicking yourself and I don't mean this to be an "I told you so" post, however, this was all preventable. I know it's easy for me to say (mostly because I am perfect..............NOT!) because I am here and you are there but most of us have made similar mistakes like this in the past and sadly some of us will make similar mistakes in the future. First things first only buy quality livestock from a reputable dealer and also QT the fish when you get them home. Next QT QT QT, then the most important thing, when adding the fish into your display go slow, acclimate properly and let them be, they will be stressed and flash and breathe heavy all over again, they may also come down with ich but there is nothing saying that after treating a fish for ich in a qt tank and curing it it won't get it again, stress causes ich and other health problems. If the fish are strong they can kick it without our interference, Relax and go slow, time is the biggest factor in this whole hobby. And Time is all we have

I saw this thread and decided to recycle it instead of making another.

Basically I am going through the same thing with a tomini tang I bought yesterday. Yesterday it was flashing and scratching on some rocks,it would not eat formula 2 but it was grazing on some algea.Today(after a cleaner shrimp helped him out)he stopped scratching,but he also stopped grazing and I wouldn't call it lethargy but he isn't moving much except when he flashes and sort of "spazzes out".I tried giving him garlic soaked nori but nothing(it's still in there)

Anyway do you recommend I just wait it out?The only thing I see on him externally is a scar on his gill witch seems to be healing fine.

Also he isn't in QT because he is the only fish in there and I dont think I will put him in QT either unless strongly urged to by you guys.

 

[aaron23]

i would try different meaty prepared foods for him to eat, get him fat and healthy and dont just feed flake and nori. fattening it up i think it gives them a better immunity to ich etc and they will easily heal and bounce back from it from my own experience.

 

[h20 freak]

problem is he isnt eating and the only meaty thing I have is formula 1 flake -_-

 

[fluidimagery]

Luckily I haven't had a problem since this post but every time I've ever tried a "hospital" tank I've killed the fish. I picked up a blue tang shortly after this post and was told by the LFS that baby tangs usually don't get ich... the big deciding factor is if they will eat and adjust to the tank. Sure enough... within a week it was showing signs of ich... all I could think was here we go again. I didn't do a damn thing but soak some food in garlic and make sure all the other fish were eating. Within a month the ich was gone on the tang and no other fish picked it up.

I'd just do what you can to make the fish eat... try different foods, try soaking the food in garlic, I'll probaly get flammed for this but only take the fish out as a last resort.

 

[KathyC]

Fluid..what was the outcome with the anthias in the main post here?

H2O..as pointed out in the thread, generally once you see a fish scratching (also called flashing) you have to consider ich as the main culprit. Frequently you will see no spots on the fish in the beginning and during the times that they drop off the fish (only to reappear again.
That doesn't mean the ich parasite is not present..it is still infesting the gill tissue (where it does the most damage) and it is in the subsrtate of your tank.
..that is where you will have a problem if you don't remove the fish to a QT to treat. It takes a FULL 6 weeks to be assured that you are rid of the ich parasites, so you need to treat in a QT and allow your tank to remain devoid of fish that can host the parasite (they won't host on an invert), nor can they live without a host for more than a couple of days.

If you have a reef tank, you'll need to take the fish out.
Please use a copper based medication & have a copper test kit on hand to be certain you are providing the therapeutic dose required.


IMO any fish with the word 'tang' in it's name should ALWAYS spend a month in a QT before being introduced into a reef tank.