HELP! Problem with fish?

[marrone]

First take the fish out of the tank and get them into a hospital tank, before whatever they have turns worst and kills them.

Get copper, and a good copper kit, and start to treat. Don't do a fresh water dip as it's not going to do anything. I would also not do a Formalin dip, especially since the fish aren't that bad.

Also real Formalin(37%) is very dangerous and should only be used in extreme conditions and by an expert. You can kill your fish if you don't know how to use it and you can alsohurt yourself using.

 

[Chiefmcfuz]

First take the fish out of the tank and get them into a hospital tank, before whatever they have turns worst and kills them.

Get copper, and a good copper kit, and start to treat. Don't do a fresh water dip as it's not going to do anything. I would also not do a Formalin dip, especially since the fish aren't that bad.

Also real Formalin(37%) is very dangerous and should only be used in extreme conditions and by an expert. You can kill your fish if you don't know how to use it and you can alsohurt yourself using.

Great advice from someone who knows his stuff. Listen to him.

 

[fluidimagery]

Do you have some name brands of good copper treatments and test kits?

Also, I need to setup this hospital tank from scratch... I have an empty 10gal tank and I'll use tank water to start it... but what's next? I have a fluval filter kicking around. I could use existing live rock from the tank and just toss it when I'm done... or I could do daily water changes?

 

[marrone]

Do you have some name brands of good copper treatments and test kits?

If you can find it get Copper Power, if not Sea Test copper is good enough. LaMotte makes the best copper kit but you'll probably have a hard time getting one. Try and get a Sailfert kit or a Fastest kit. Slowly build up the copper over a couple of days. You need to make sure it's at the correct level to work.

Also, I need to setup this hospital tank from scratch... I have an empty 10gal tank and I'll use tank water to start it... but what's next? I have a fluval filter kicking around. I could use existing live rock from the tank and just toss it when I'm done... or I could do daily water changes?

Just setup the 10gal and add water from your tank to it. You don't need to place any live rock in the tank, actually the copper would destroy it, just put in some rocks or pieces of PVC to give the fish some hiding places. Get a smaller filter, air pump or power head and run them on the tank. All you need is to have good water movement and breakage of the water surface. Also put in a heater so the water doesn't get to cold. You don't need to do water changes daily, just don't feed the fish that much. You may want to do a water change at the end of a week but just make sure you adjust the copper level too.

 

[fluidimagery]

I can see little white spots (very faint) on the anthias and a few on the angel. I'm assuming what I have / had all the time is ich.

I'm guessing I need to treat all the fish. I have 4 Chromis (small), 3 Lyretail Anthias, 1 Eibli Angel, 1 Chalk Bass (1"), 1 false perc, and 2 Green Mandarins.

I may be wrong but I don't believe Mandarin's get ich and copper will kill them. I thought I've also read that Clowns are not prone to it.

The clown and the 2 mandarin's I'm most attached to and if I could avoid treating them it would be better incase I make a mistake. But I'll do what needs to be done. Both Mandarin's eat anything I put in the tank (brine, mysis, cylopeeze, rod's food) so I'm not worried about them not getting enough nutrition out of the tank.


Inverts include 100 or so snails and hermits, 2 cleaner shrmip, and 1 serpent star.


I have 2 10g tanks that I can use as hospitals, I need to get HOB filters for them unless powerheads are enough.

I'm going to get everyone out tomorrow.

 

[ellebelle]

If you decide to quarantine them, make sure you don't make the same mistake I did. You want plenty of flow in the tanks. I think I accidently suffocated my fish when I quarantined them because my powerhead wasn't breaking the water enough.

 

[fluidimagery]

I'm kicking myself for throwing and giving away all my old stuff from my freshwater days.

I'm going to pick up an Aquaclear for both tanks and I'll have powerheads as each as well.

I just need to find somewhere to get copper.

I'm starting these from scratch... should I use any sort of filter media in ther aquaclears? If so... what kind?

Thanks!

 

[ellebelle]

Too bad you're so far away - I have an almost complete bottle of copper and a complete test kit from when I tried to quarantine.

 

[fluidimagery]

Thanks anyway, what kind do you have anyway?

I'm concerned with hurting the uneffected fish in the QT process. Do you think 2 10g tanks will be alright for all the fish if I feed sparingly?

Tank 1 - 3 Anthias - each is 4"

Tank 2 - Angel - 3", Clown (if needed), 4 Chromis (largest is 1.5"), and chalk bass - (1")

I assume the mandarins stay in the tank.

How is your Mandarin doing btw?

 

[ellebelle]

My mandarin is not doing so hot. He won't eat frozen foods. I'm going to try one other thing, then I'm probably going to sell him to someone who has enough LR for grazing. He's still active and foraging, so he'll make a full recovery in a bigger tank, I think.

For copper, I used Sea Cure. For the test kit, I used aquarium systems because I was desperate and it was the only one that Petland carried.

You should ask Mike Marrone (marrone) his advice on exact quarantine procedures, especially with the mandarins.

 

[fluidimagery]

hopefully he'll respond to the thread.

Good luck with the Mandarin.