CA2OR Posted February 23, 2009 Share Posted February 23, 2009 I have 2 clowns that I have had for about 2 years with no issue. I recently had 2 fish I purchased from an LFS who pretty quickly after adding into main tank showed signs of skin fungas (maybe ich) and died. To prevent tarnishing a reputation in an already failing economy I will not post their name. I will say that I had no issues until the addition of those 2 fish. Now it seems my clowns are experiencing the same thing. I do not want to lose my clowns. I am in process of picking up a UV sterilizer but that will only prevent future issues. I picked up some ICH Attack and dosed my tank in hopes of helping my fish. I need some help here. Please advise on what it could be, what I can do, and what chances of survival are. I do not have a quarentine tank and do have other fish in there. Be advised I cannot use anything copper based as I have a reef tank with inverts. Thank you in advance. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
albertareef Posted February 24, 2009 Share Posted February 24, 2009 Sorry to hear about the clowns (and the other fish). There is a recent thread here http://www.pnwmas.org/forums/showthread.php?t=10504 that goes into some detail on the possible treatment scenarios for ich if you want to read through them... there are a couple of different perspectives represented. Good luck - I hope they recover! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CA2OR Posted February 24, 2009 Author Share Posted February 24, 2009 Do you think Ich is what it is? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Michael7979 Posted February 24, 2009 Share Posted February 24, 2009 Yep sure looks like ICH or velvet. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
albertareef Posted February 24, 2009 Share Posted February 24, 2009 Looks like a distinct possibility from the pics. Hopefully some others will chime in as well since I am not an expert by any means. The good news - from my experience anyway - is that fish can recover from ich without quarantine if you can keep them eating well and non-stressed. The other thread has some ideas on that. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CA2OR Posted February 24, 2009 Author Share Posted February 24, 2009 Thank you for the link to the other thread. I unfortunately do not have the means to set up a QT tank, should have kept my 12g. Hindsite 20\20. Any efficient options for main tank? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
albertareef Posted February 24, 2009 Share Posted February 24, 2009 If I remember the highlights from the previous thread, several people had luck using garlic supplements in order to encourage feeding to keep the fish's strength up and boost their immune systems without removing the fish from the main tank. I would recommend taking a look at those posts for some more specific references. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CA2OR Posted February 24, 2009 Author Share Posted February 24, 2009 Yeah sorry I meant to mention that. I am going to pick up some Garlic treatment hopefully tonight. I just didn't know if there was anything else I could do. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JasonH Posted February 24, 2009 Share Posted February 24, 2009 Hard to tell for sure based on the pic, but it doesn't look like ich to me, more like a fungal infection. Does it look like small, pin-point bumps? From the pic it looks more like a flat, white coating - more like some kind of fungal or bacterial infection. Problem is, no matter what the problem is, you probably won't be able to medicate for it in your tank. Pick up a cheap 10g from petco (or used) to be a QT tank. As you have learned the hard way (usually how I do it, too) it's worth the few dollars to have a QT tank as an insurance policy. Keep a close eye on the tang, they are more susceptible to disease, especially in smaller tanks where they tend to be a little more stressed. Also, it will be harder to see against the yellow coloration, so could go longer before detection. Good luck. Clown are pretty hardy fish. If you can treat it effectively, they have a good chance of survival. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JasonH Posted February 24, 2009 Share Posted February 24, 2009 Another note - if that is ich, then they are absolutely eaten up by it and will not shake that off on their own. They need to be medicated quickly, though I would try to keep the dosage as light as possible to be effective to avoid further stress. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CA2OR Posted February 24, 2009 Author Share Posted February 24, 2009 Thank you Jason, no it doesn't look like bumps more like dust that settled on my fish. kind of like how it looks on a dresser or something when it starts to collect. At first glance I blammed it on my sand sifting goby, he stirs up so much junk I thought it collected on them. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
albertareef Posted February 24, 2009 Share Posted February 24, 2009 Sorry Eric, I can't recall anything else that is particularly useful. Good luck with the garlic, I will keep my fingers crossed for the clowns! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
albertareef Posted February 24, 2009 Share Posted February 24, 2009 Thank you Jason' date=' no it doesn't look like bumps more like dust that settled on my fish. kind of like how it looks on a dresser or something when it starts to collect. At first glance I blammed it on my sand sifting goby, he stirs up so much junk I thought it collected on them.[/quote'] Jason could very well be correct then... looked like it could have been bumps based on the pics but hey, my eyes aren't what they used to be. Thanks for jumping in Jason. Good luck getting them treated Eric. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CA2OR Posted February 24, 2009 Author Share Posted February 24, 2009 Thank you albertareef. To avoid giving this to anyone else I am going to refrain from any trades until issue is resolved. R-3 you may want to consider this issue with that Duncan I don't know if there is something that you should do, maybe a fresh water dip or something. I will be PM'ing you in case you don't read this thread. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
R-3 Posted February 24, 2009 Share Posted February 24, 2009 I dipped it before I put it in the tank. Should be okay. Hopefully your clowns pull through. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Benny503 Posted February 26, 2009 Share Posted February 26, 2009 Ryan what did you dipped the coral with? freshwater? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Benny503 Posted February 26, 2009 Share Posted February 26, 2009 I am glad that I didn't get anything from CA2OR.... ha ha ha j/k Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lowman Posted February 26, 2009 Share Posted February 26, 2009 Does you cleaner shrimp eat the stuff off the clowns? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Breefcase Posted February 27, 2009 Share Posted February 27, 2009 Eric, I'm fairly certain that is ich. Over a year ago, I had an outbreak in my tank, and that sure looks like it. After much research, I concluded that the best course of action was to quarantine the fish, under hyposalinity conditions, and leave the tank fishless for a minimum of 6 weeks (mine was fishless for 7 weeks). After I did this, all fish were cured of ich, and the tank was ich free as well. More than a year later, I've had to problems. I know that it will be no fun to set up a QT, but it's the best course of action, IMHO. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CA2OR Posted February 28, 2009 Author Share Posted February 28, 2009 Thank you all. I have lost all the fish in my tank except the 2 clowns and the 2 chromies. tangs, psuedochromie's, sand sifting goby all gone. I am just trying to figure out lighting and flow for the "QT" tank. I only have a 5g to set up so I am a little stuck. I started dosing with "Ich Attack" and dosing food with Garlic Extreme to keep clowns eating and as healthy as possible until QT is ready. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
albertareef Posted February 28, 2009 Share Posted February 28, 2009 Sorry to hear about the fish loss Eric. I'm glad the clowns and chromis are hanging in there though. Good luck on the QT and I hope everyone else pulls through. Are you going to try that hyposalinity treatment? Sean Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
siskiou Posted February 28, 2009 Share Posted February 28, 2009 Try running a diatom filter and a UV filter. It might help filter out/kill the freefloating form of ich. It helped me majorly a year or so ago. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CA2OR Posted February 28, 2009 Author Share Posted February 28, 2009 I was thinking of getting a few corals together and trying to make a trade for a small UV sterilizer. The one I am working on getting is quite big (almost the entire length of my tank) and I found one at Aquaticus that was perfect. Except for the price. I am nervous about the QT because I have lost quite a few fresh water fish when placed in QT and 1 salt. I have this erking feeling that I will do the same witht these guys. I would like to ask if there is another way to get the benefits of UV sterilization without the cost of a sterilizer. Maybe I could trade some corals for the temp use of one. What does the Diatom filter do? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Barelycuda Posted February 28, 2009 Share Posted February 28, 2009 Eric, Talk to Pat over at fanta-seas. He has some medication that worked for me in the past. The pics looked more like velvet to me but it is tough to tell. Sorry to hear of the losses and hope your clowns pull thru. Dave Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CA2OR Posted February 28, 2009 Author Share Posted February 28, 2009 Thank you I will be posting pic's from today in this thread in less than 1 hour. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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