Mysterious Spots on my Fox Face Rabbitfish Please Help

[LowezAkar24]

Please help me find a solution to this problem. This is my first 55 gallon saltwater tank. I already lost some fish and I want to save this one.

 

[LowezAkar24]

SimplyZBest2000

After 2 Days of Coppersafe treatment the parasites are dying off. After about 5 minutes of treatment my Foxface Rabbitfish instantly started swimming around in enjoyment. This fish has a lot of personality and for some reason I care more about him than any of the other fish that I lost. I am a beginner in this hobby and I am very happy that I am able to save this fish.

 

[LowezAkar24]

SimplyZBest2000

Fox Face Rabbitfish Recovery Update!

He is looking good ladies and gentlemen. He's been swimming around all over the tank enjoying the power head flow.

 

[PeterD]

wow nice recovery

 

[LowezAkar24]

SimplyZBest2000

I surprised myself. I wish I had common sense when my other fish were dying.

 

[THEDLO]

It's ich. Some thing must be stressing him, they aren't really ich prone like other fish unless they really stressed. If u feed him well (nori, mysis etc) he should heal just fine with out that copper treatment.

 

[LowezAkar24]

SimplyZBest2000

It's ich. Some thing must be stressing him, they aren't really ich prone like other fish unless they really stressed. If u feed him well (nori, mysis etc) he should heal just fine with out that copper treatment.

I doubt he is stressed. He is by far the largest fish in the tank. The only other fish in the tank are:

-Sand Sifting Goby (stays inside his rock 95% of the day)
-Maroon Clown Fish (swims/wiggles in the same spot all day)
-Six Line Wrasse (minds his own business)

No one bothers the Rabbitfish. When you say feed him well, what do you mean? They all eat every morning and I only feed them once a day.

 

[THEDLO]

Stress can come from other things. The food in the brackets are good foods. Nori is the algae paper very nesisary for this if since it generally vegetarian lol.

 

[LowezAkar24]

SimplyZBest2000

Stress can come from other things. The food in the brackets are good foods. Nori is the algae paper very nesisary for this if since it generally vegetarian lol.

What are brackets? When you say Algae Paper do you mean Green SeaWeed Veggies?

 

[marrone]

It's very common for a fish, that has ich, to all of a sudden look good. All that has happened is the that ich, that was showing on the body of the fish, has worked its way out of the fish and has fallen off. The ich spores will soon hatch and re-infect the fish again, so if you're treating with copper you need to make sure it's at the correct level, otherwise the fish will just get re-infected. You need to treat for at least 2 weeks after the last ich spore falls off the fish. If you're treating with copper make sure you have a good test kit to measure the amount of copper in the tank, too little and it doesn't work, too much can kill the fish.

Ich is a parasite, whether the fish is being stressed or not doesn't really have an impact on whether the fish gets the ich or not, though it may have an impact on the fish ability to fight it off.

 

[LowezAkar24]

SimplyZBest2000

It's very common for a fish, that has ich, to all of a sudden look good. All that has happened is the that ich, that was showing on the body of the fish, has worked its way out of the fish and has fallen off. The ich spores will soon hatch and re-infect the fish again, so if you're treating with copper you need to make sure it's at the correct level, otherwise the fish will just get re-infected. You need to treat for at least 2 weeks after the last ich spore falls off the fish. If you're treating with copper make sure you have a good test kit to measure the amount of copper in the tank, too little and it doesn't work, too much can kill the fish.

Ich is a parasite, whether the fish is being stressed or not doesn't really have an impact on whether the fish gets the ich or not, though it may have an impact on the fish ability to fight it off.

Thanks for the insight. I am going to be very optimistic about my fish making it through. I have a copper test kit and am monitoring my copper levels frequently. I don't know if this is a dumb question but is it a bad idea to introduce new fish to the tank during this time or will the proper copper levels protect the new fish from the ich disease that have not affected the other inhabitants in my tank?

 

[marrone]

It's not a good idea to introduce any new fish while your tank has ich, even if you're treating it with copper. You don't want to introduce anything to you tank until the tank is free of ich. Also you want to quarantine any new fish for at least 2 - 6 weeks, the longer the better, before placing them into your main or display tank. Do a search on QT or quarantine tanks and you'll find plenty of info about them.

Also very import, make sure you're treating at .25, anything under that will not work.

 

[LowezAkar24]

SimplyZBest2000

I was told by a guy at a fish store that the correct amount of copper is 0.15 and that is what i've been sticking to and from my pics you can see the progress. How do you know when your tank is ich free? I have never quarantined any fish before, I just added them. It was not until I got a bad Coral Beauty Angel Fish from a fish store that developed fungus that I started to have these problems.

 

[marrone]

The correct amount is .25. What you're seeing in the picture has nothing to do with the copper you placed in the tank, the fish only looks better because the ich spores have worked their way though the fish and have fallen off to start the cycle over again.

If you don't QT your fish, before placing them into you main or display tank, you take the chance of getting a fish that may have something, and by placing it in your tank, killing your other fish. Now you may get lucky and have nothing happen for quite sometime but all it takes is one fish to wipe out a whole tank.


As for knowing if your tank is free of ich, well the general rule is to wait 2 weeks after you see the last spore, or white spot, fall of the fish. It usually takes 7 - 10 days for the ich to work its way of the fish body, to the point you see the white spot. So in general you should treat with copper for 4 - 6 week, closer to 6 weeks to be sure. You can also leave you tank fallow, empty with no fish, for 6 weeks. The ich will have died off in that time, as it doesn't have any fish to host.

 

[LowezAkar24]

SimplyZBest2000

Thank Marone I will put all the info to good use.

 

[KathyC]

Am I understanding that you are attempting to treat this fish in your reef tank using copper?
That is a major no-no.
Treatment for ich must be done in a QT tank or you will never be rid of it. The idea is you kill off the ich during it's free-swimming phase (the only time you can effectively kill it) so it cannot reattach to the host (the fish).
A QT tank is used during copper treatment as your sand & rock will adsorb
http://www.madsci.org/posts/archives/2004-02/1077064138.Ch.r.html
the copper and basically render them useless in a reef tank as you will not be able to keep any inverts alive in the tank (the copper causes them to not be able to oxygenate their blood and they will suffocate to death).

Can you tell us more about your current set-up?how long has it been up, what size is it?
What were the circumstances regarding the other fish you lost and what types of fish were they?
Also ? do you have an anemones or torch corals in the tank?

 

[THEDLO]

It's a FOWLR Kathy.

 

[LowezAkar24]

SimplyZBest2000

It's a FOWLR Kathy.

I really appreciate the information Kathy, all information is useful to me.

 

[KathyC]

It's a FOWLR Kathy.

I either missed that in the thread or it isn't there..lol My crystal ball is in the shop getting repaired

The info I supplied still relates, the rock & sand won't ever be useful in a reef tank if the OP decides to go in that direction someday

Can you answer the question about the other fish you lost? I see you mention a Coral Beauty with a fungus issue? (Fungus is a truly rare event in a SW tank due to all of the salt in the water, perhaps it was a different issue?)

 

[LowezAkar24]

I either missed that in the thread or it isn't there..lol My crystal ball is in the shop getting repaired

The info I supplied still relates, the rock & sand won't ever be useful in a reef tank if the OP decides to go in that direction someday

Can you answer the question about the other fish you lost? I see you mention a Coral Beauty with a fungus issue? (Fungus is a truly rare event in a SW tank due to all of the salt in the water, perhaps it was a different issue?)

It was definitely a mouth fungus on the Coral Beauty. He couldn't eat and his mouth was chalk white and looked like it was about to fall off. After that, my tank went downhill and fish was dying left and right. I have no intention of doing any reef related stuff in this tank. I lost (2) Baby Hippos, Royal Gramma Basslet, Coral Beauty Angel Fish, Singapore Angel Fish, Key Hole Angel Fish, Pearlscale Butterfly, and a Green Chromis. Some fish died because I always tested (4) things in the tank due to my inexperience (PH, Ammonia, Nitrate and Nitrite). I had no idea that I had to add Marine Buffer at least once a week to maintain the akalinity so you know how that went. I never quarantined any fish I bought and on top of that, I was adding fish from multiple stores. One thing I can tell, I learned the hard way.