Help Needed - Sick Fish

[Glenn P]

Hi Guys,

I'm after some advice on what I can do for my sick fish.

A couple of weeks ago my phosphate filter clogged up & blocked all water
flow at sometime during the night, the next morning my regal blue tang was
looking pretty sick & I thought it was going to die.
I got the filter cleaned out, did a 50% water change & got every thing going
again. The tang came good & I thought I was OK.
A couple of days later my flame angel got a cloudy eye which I treated
successfully with a Melafix & Pimafix treatment, it then seemed to get white
spot, I also noticed my regal blue tang starting to scratch itself on the
live rock (but couldn't see any white spots) a couple of days later the
white spots came out on its fins so I started a Vertaid (Quinine
Hydrochloride Malachite Green) solution treatment.

The flame angels cloudy eye has come back (both eyes, but one is worse than
the other), & almost overnight its front fins look like they have fin rot,
it's also started to loose colour on the main part of its body (the orange
around the edges & the purple on its tail are still brilliant colours), so I
have started the Melafix & Pimafix treatment up again.

Today my regal blue tang is constantly scratching (more than before) & has
little lumps on its body that look like pimples. I have been treating them
with the Vertaid for 4 days now at 1ml per 70 litres.
The flame angle is starting to hide in the caves in the rocks, it still
seems to be eating (a little less than normal) & comes out & swims around
every now & then.
Other than the flame angel & the regal blue tang, all other fish & inverts
in the tank seem unaffected.

The water conditions are all normal & within safe levels, except for a lot
of very fine particles (almost like dust) floating around, I have seen them
get sucked into the filter, but they seem to be too fine to be trapped & end
up back in the tank, ( water changes thin them out a bit).

My water temp is a stable 25-26 degrees Celsius & I have a 5 level canister
filter (with the activated carbon removed while medicating) a 8 watt UV
filter & a phosphate filter, the tank is a 155 litre with 28 kg of live
rock.

What else can I do?

Regards
Glenn Pritchard.

[George]

"Glenn P" > wrote in message
u...
> Hi Guys,
>
> I'm after some advice on what I can do for my sick fish.
>
> A couple of weeks ago my phosphate filter clogged up & blocked all water
> flow at sometime during the night, the next morning my regal blue tang
> was
> looking pretty sick & I thought it was going to die.
> I got the filter cleaned out, did a 50% water change & got every thing
> going
> again. The tang came good & I thought I was OK.
> A couple of days later my flame angel got a cloudy eye which I treated
> successfully with a Melafix & Pimafix treatment, it then seemed to get
> white
> spot, I also noticed my regal blue tang starting to scratch itself on the
> live rock (but couldn't see any white spots) a couple of days later the
> white spots came out on its fins so I started a Vertaid (Quinine
> Hydrochloride Malachite Green) solution treatment.
>
> The flame angels cloudy eye has come back (both eyes, but one is worse
> than
> the other), & almost overnight its front fins look like they have fin
> rot,
> it's also started to loose colour on the main part of its body (the
> orange
> around the edges & the purple on its tail are still brilliant colours),
> so I
> have started the Melafix & Pimafix treatment up again.
>
> Today my regal blue tang is constantly scratching (more than before) &
> has
> little lumps on its body that look like pimples. I have been treating
> them
> with the Vertaid for 4 days now at 1ml per 70 litres.
> The flame angle is starting to hide in the caves in the rocks, it still
> seems to be eating (a little less than normal) & comes out & swims around
> every now & then.
> Other than the flame angel & the regal blue tang, all other fish &
> inverts
> in the tank seem unaffected.
>
> The water conditions are all normal & within safe levels, except for a
> lot
> of very fine particles (almost like dust) floating around, I have seen
> them
> get sucked into the filter, but they seem to be too fine to be trapped &
> end
> up back in the tank, ( water changes thin them out a bit).
>
> My water temp is a stable 25-26 degrees Celsius & I have a 5 level
> canister
> filter (with the activated carbon removed while medicating) a 8 watt UV
> filter & a phosphate filter, the tank is a 155 litre with 28 kg of live
> rock.
>
> What else can I do?
>
> Regards
> Glenn Pritchard.
>

If they were my fish, I'd put them in a quarantine tank pronto. When you
start medicating the entire tank (a tank with live rock/live
sand/invertebrates, for instance), you will inevidably run into problems,
such as the risk of killing off the natural beneficial bacteria in the
tank, and damaging or killing any invertebrates you have. So you need to
isolate these fish and then treat them for paracites and fungus (Maracyn is
good for treating fungal diseases). It probably wouldn't hurt to also
treat them with maracyn Two to prevent secondary infections. Increase
aeration during dosage. Do not use activated carbon during treatment.
Frequent partial water changes may also be needed to prevent build up of
toxic compounds. Then leave them quarantined to make sure any paracites in
the main tank, if any, go through their reproductive cyle without the fish
as part of that cycle. That way they will die off on their own. This
could take up to a month. After sufficient time has expired, and the fish
are once again healthy, introduce them back into the tank and watch them
carefully for at least a week or two to make sure the paracites don't
return. I hope this helps.

[Ray Martini]

I agree that the fish need to be QT'd. Problem is catching the shifty guys
in a LR aquarium. They hide and are quite clever at avoiding your advances.

You could try a UV sterlizer. Controversial I know but it worked wonders for
me when my Yellow Tang was at death's door with white spot. That was in
March and he's still here and doing wonderfully.

YMMV


" George" > wrote in message
news:%4oze.134658$_o.113673@attbi_s71...
>
> "Glenn P" > wrote in message
> u...
>> Hi Guys,
>>
>> I'm after some advice on what I can do for my sick fish.
>>
>> A couple of weeks ago my phosphate filter clogged up & blocked all water
>> flow at sometime during the night, the next morning my regal blue tang
>> was
>> looking pretty sick & I thought it was going to die.
>> I got the filter cleaned out, did a 50% water change & got every thing
>> going
>> again. The tang came good & I thought I was OK.
>> A couple of days later my flame angel got a cloudy eye which I treated
>> successfully with a Melafix & Pimafix treatment, it then seemed to get
>> white
>> spot, I also noticed my regal blue tang starting to scratch itself on the
>> live rock (but couldn't see any white spots) a couple of days later the
>> white spots came out on its fins so I started a Vertaid (Quinine
>> Hydrochloride Malachite Green) solution treatment.
>>
>> The flame angels cloudy eye has come back (both eyes, but one is worse
>> than
>> the other), & almost overnight its front fins look like they have fin
>> rot,
>> it's also started to loose colour on the main part of its body (the
>> orange
>> around the edges & the purple on its tail are still brilliant colours),
>> so I
>> have started the Melafix & Pimafix treatment up again.
>>
>> Today my regal blue tang is constantly scratching (more than before) &
>> has
>> little lumps on its body that look like pimples. I have been treating
>> them
>> with the Vertaid for 4 days now at 1ml per 70 litres.
>> The flame angle is starting to hide in the caves in the rocks, it still
>> seems to be eating (a little less than normal) & comes out & swims around
>> every now & then.
>> Other than the flame angel & the regal blue tang, all other fish &
>> inverts
>> in the tank seem unaffected.
>>
>> The water conditions are all normal & within safe levels, except for a
>> lot
>> of very fine particles (almost like dust) floating around, I have seen
>> them
>> get sucked into the filter, but they seem to be too fine to be trapped &
>> end
>> up back in the tank, ( water changes thin them out a bit).
>>
>> My water temp is a stable 25-26 degrees Celsius & I have a 5 level
>> canister
>> filter (with the activated carbon removed while medicating) a 8 watt UV
>> filter & a phosphate filter, the tank is a 155 litre with 28 kg of live
>> rock.
>>
>> What else can I do?
>>
>> Regards
>> Glenn Pritchard.
>>
>
> If they were my fish, I'd put them in a quarantine tank pronto. When you
> start medicating the entire tank (a tank with live rock/live
> sand/invertebrates, for instance), you will inevidably run into problems,
> such as the risk of killing off the natural beneficial bacteria in the
> tank, and damaging or killing any invertebrates you have. So you need to
> isolate these fish and then treat them for paracites and fungus (Maracyn
> is good for treating fungal diseases). It probably wouldn't hurt to also
> treat them with maracyn Two to prevent secondary infections. Increase
> aeration during dosage. Do not use activated carbon during treatment.
> Frequent partial water changes may also be needed to prevent build up of
> toxic compounds. Then leave them quarantined to make sure any paracites
> in the main tank, if any, go through their reproductive cyle without the
> fish as part of that cycle. That way they will die off on their own.
> This could take up to a month. After sufficient time has expired, and the
> fish are once again healthy, introduce them back into the tank and watch
> them carefully for at least a week or two to make sure the paracites don't
> return. I hope this helps.
>

[George]

"Ray Martini" > wrote in message
...
>I agree that the fish need to be QT'd. Problem is catching the shifty guys
>in a LR aquarium. They hide and are quite clever at avoiding your
>advances.
>
> You could try a UV sterlizer. Controversial I know but it worked wonders
> for me when my Yellow Tang was at death's door with white spot. That was
> in March and he's still here and doing wonderfully.
>
> YMMV
>

Yeah, you could try that. But if he is like me, it would be cheaper to set
up a tub to put the live rock in temporarily and catch the little buggers
so you can quarantine them than to spend over $100 on a UV sterilizer.
I've had my marine tank set up since 1991 and haven't lost a fish yet, and
I don't own a sterlizer. And I've only had one sick fish. It got better
in a quarantine tank. I'm not against UV sterilizers, but I personally
can't see spending the money to treat a couple of sick fish.

> " George" > wrote in message
> news:%4oze.134658$_o.113673@attbi_s71...
>>
>> "Glenn P" > wrote in message
>> u...
>>> Hi Guys,
>>>
>>> I'm after some advice on what I can do for my sick fish.
>>>
>>> A couple of weeks ago my phosphate filter clogged up & blocked all
>>> water
>>> flow at sometime during the night, the next morning my regal blue tang
>>> was
>>> looking pretty sick & I thought it was going to die.
>>> I got the filter cleaned out, did a 50% water change & got every thing
>>> going
>>> again. The tang came good & I thought I was OK.
>>> A couple of days later my flame angel got a cloudy eye which I treated
>>> successfully with a Melafix & Pimafix treatment, it then seemed to get
>>> white
>>> spot, I also noticed my regal blue tang starting to scratch itself on
>>> the
>>> live rock (but couldn't see any white spots) a couple of days later the
>>> white spots came out on its fins so I started a Vertaid (Quinine
>>> Hydrochloride Malachite Green) solution treatment.
>>>
>>> The flame angels cloudy eye has come back (both eyes, but one is worse
>>> than
>>> the other), & almost overnight its front fins look like they have fin
>>> rot,
>>> it's also started to loose colour on the main part of its body (the
>>> orange
>>> around the edges & the purple on its tail are still brilliant colours),
>>> so I
>>> have started the Melafix & Pimafix treatment up again.
>>>
>>> Today my regal blue tang is constantly scratching (more than before) &
>>> has
>>> little lumps on its body that look like pimples. I have been treating
>>> them
>>> with the Vertaid for 4 days now at 1ml per 70 litres.
>>> The flame angle is starting to hide in the caves in the rocks, it still
>>> seems to be eating (a little less than normal) & comes out & swims
>>> around
>>> every now & then.
>>> Other than the flame angel & the regal blue tang, all other fish &
>>> inverts
>>> in the tank seem unaffected.
>>>
>>> The water conditions are all normal & within safe levels, except for a
>>> lot
>>> of very fine particles (almost like dust) floating around, I have seen
>>> them
>>> get sucked into the filter, but they seem to be too fine to be trapped
>>> & end
>>> up back in the tank, ( water changes thin them out a bit).
>>>
>>> My water temp is a stable 25-26 degrees Celsius & I have a 5 level
>>> canister
>>> filter (with the activated carbon removed while medicating) a 8 watt UV
>>> filter & a phosphate filter, the tank is a 155 litre with 28 kg of live
>>> rock.
>>>
>>> What else can I do?
>>>
>>> Regards
>>> Glenn Pritchard.
>>>
>>
>> If they were my fish, I'd put them in a quarantine tank pronto. When
>> you start medicating the entire tank (a tank with live rock/live
>> sand/invertebrates, for instance), you will inevidably run into
>> problems, such as the risk of killing off the natural beneficial
>> bacteria in the tank, and damaging or killing any invertebrates you
>> have. So you need to isolate these fish and then treat them for
>> paracites and fungus (Maracyn is good for treating fungal diseases). It
>> probably wouldn't hurt to also treat them with maracyn Two to prevent
>> secondary infections. Increase aeration during dosage. Do not use
>> activated carbon during treatment. Frequent partial water changes may
>> also be needed to prevent build up of toxic compounds. Then leave them
>> quarantined to make sure any paracites in the main tank, if any, go
>> through their reproductive cyle without the fish as part of that cycle.
>> That way they will die off on their own. This could take up to a month.
>> After sufficient time has expired, and the fish are once again healthy,
>> introduce them back into the tank and watch them carefully for at least
>> a week or two to make sure the paracites don't return. I hope this
>> helps.
>>
>
>

[Glenn P]

Thanks guys,

Putting them in another tank.
I've already got a UV sterilizer, always have, obviously not working to kill
things. Ozone is the next option.

Unfortunately Maracyn isn't available in Australia (where I am), I think it
may even be banned.
Do you have any other treatment ideas?

Just an update, the tang seems to be going along normally (still got all the
marks on its sides & scratching), but I think the Flame Angel is almost
dead, staying at the bottom of the tank, barely moving & breathing
reasonably fast.

Thanks
GlennP.

" George" > wrote in message
news:C0Gze.138251$_o.47378@attbi_s71...
>
> "Ray Martini" > wrote in message
> ...
> >I agree that the fish need to be QT'd. Problem is catching the shifty
guys
> >in a LR aquarium. They hide and are quite clever at avoiding your
> >advances.
> >
> > You could try a UV sterlizer. Controversial I know but it worked wonders
> > for me when my Yellow Tang was at death's door with white spot. That was
> > in March and he's still here and doing wonderfully.
> >
> > YMMV
> >
>
> Yeah, you could try that. But if he is like me, it would be cheaper to
set
> up a tub to put the live rock in temporarily and catch the little buggers
> so you can quarantine them than to spend over $100 on a UV sterilizer.
> I've had my marine tank set up since 1991 and haven't lost a fish yet, and
> I don't own a sterlizer. And I've only had one sick fish. It got better
> in a quarantine tank. I'm not against UV sterilizers, but I personally
> can't see spending the money to treat a couple of sick fish.
>
> > " George" > wrote in message
> > news:%4oze.134658$_o.113673@attbi_s71...
> >>
> >> "Glenn P" > wrote in message
> >> u...
> >>> Hi Guys,
> >>>
> >>> I'm after some advice on what I can do for my sick fish.
> >>>
> >>> A couple of weeks ago my phosphate filter clogged up & blocked all
> >>> water
> >>> flow at sometime during the night, the next morning my regal blue tang
> >>> was
> >>> looking pretty sick & I thought it was going to die.
> >>> I got the filter cleaned out, did a 50% water change & got every thing
> >>> going
> >>> again. The tang came good & I thought I was OK.
> >>> A couple of days later my flame angel got a cloudy eye which I treated
> >>> successfully with a Melafix & Pimafix treatment, it then seemed to get
> >>> white
> >>> spot, I also noticed my regal blue tang starting to scratch itself on
> >>> the
> >>> live rock (but couldn't see any white spots) a couple of days later
the
> >>> white spots came out on its fins so I started a Vertaid (Quinine
> >>> Hydrochloride Malachite Green) solution treatment.
> >>>
> >>> The flame angels cloudy eye has come back (both eyes, but one is worse
> >>> than
> >>> the other), & almost overnight its front fins look like they have fin
> >>> rot,
> >>> it's also started to loose colour on the main part of its body (the
> >>> orange
> >>> around the edges & the purple on its tail are still brilliant
colours),
> >>> so I
> >>> have started the Melafix & Pimafix treatment up again.
> >>>
> >>> Today my regal blue tang is constantly scratching (more than before) &
> >>> has
> >>> little lumps on its body that look like pimples. I have been treating
> >>> them
> >>> with the Vertaid for 4 days now at 1ml per 70 litres.
> >>> The flame angle is starting to hide in the caves in the rocks, it
still
> >>> seems to be eating (a little less than normal) & comes out & swims
> >>> around
> >>> every now & then.
> >>> Other than the flame angel & the regal blue tang, all other fish &
> >>> inverts
> >>> in the tank seem unaffected.
> >>>
> >>> The water conditions are all normal & within safe levels, except for a
> >>> lot
> >>> of very fine particles (almost like dust) floating around, I have seen
> >>> them
> >>> get sucked into the filter, but they seem to be too fine to be trapped
> >>> & end
> >>> up back in the tank, ( water changes thin them out a bit).
> >>>
> >>> My water temp is a stable 25-26 degrees Celsius & I have a 5 level
> >>> canister
> >>> filter (with the activated carbon removed while medicating) a 8 watt
UV
> >>> filter & a phosphate filter, the tank is a 155 litre with 28 kg of
live
> >>> rock.
> >>>
> >>> What else can I do?
> >>>
> >>> Regards
> >>> Glenn Pritchard.
> >>>
> >>
> >> If they were my fish, I'd put them in a quarantine tank pronto. When
> >> you start medicating the entire tank (a tank with live rock/live
> >> sand/invertebrates, for instance), you will inevidably run into
> >> problems, such as the risk of killing off the natural beneficial
> >> bacteria in the tank, and damaging or killing any invertebrates you
> >> have. So you need to isolate these fish and then treat them for
> >> paracites and fungus (Maracyn is good for treating fungal diseases).
It
> >> probably wouldn't hurt to also treat them with maracyn Two to prevent
> >> secondary infections. Increase aeration during dosage. Do not use
> >> activated carbon during treatment. Frequent partial water changes may
> >> also be needed to prevent build up of toxic compounds. Then leave them
> >> quarantined to make sure any paracites in the main tank, if any, go
> >> through their reproductive cyle without the fish as part of that cycle.
> >> That way they will die off on their own. This could take up to a month.
> >> After sufficient time has expired, and the fish are once again healthy,
> >> introduce them back into the tank and watch them carefully for at least
> >> a week or two to make sure the paracites don't return. I hope this
> >> helps.
> >>
> >
> >
>
>

[miskairal]

Glenn P wrote:
> Thanks guys,
>
> Putting them in another tank.
> I've already got a UV sterilizer, always have, obviously not working to kill
> things. Ozone is the next option.
>
> Unfortunately Maracyn isn't available in Australia (where I am), I think it
> may even be banned.
> Do you have any other treatment ideas?

Maracyn! Must be a wonder drug as everyone seems to use it except us
Aussies although I dont' think the British have access to it either. You
can get antibiotics from a vet here BUT they are not usually in a form
that is designed for fish and I would be very concerned about the liquid
that is used to "carry" a drug bought from a vet. It is also extremely
expensive, like over $80 for the drug I once bought for my tropical fish.

We can however get Tri Sulpha in a form for fish and through a petshop.
Don't know if that is of any use to you but thought I'd mention it
anyway. Used in conjunction with Melafix and Pimafix on my tropicals (as
recommended on a tropical newsgroup), it worked wonders on my fish with
what I think was Columnaris.

Cheers
miskairal