Anthias - Fin tips thinning/browning

[Jay Hemdal Verified Community Expert]

The other Anthias is fine. I have copper on hand and a QT tank (10 gallon) I’m warming up now. Also metro and prazi. Anything I should do to lessen the impact on him when I put him in it?

Make sure the tank temperature and salinity are the same. Do you have a way to provide bio filtration in the QT?

Then, you need to decide if you will run copper first, prazi first or both at the same time. I'd skip the metro, it overlaps a lot with the copper. What copper product do you have?

Jay

 

[PotatoPig]

Make sure the tank temperature and salinity are the same. Do you have a way to provide bio filtration in the QT?

Then, you need to decide if you will run copper first, prazi first or both at the same time. I'd skip the metro, it overlaps a lot with the copper. What copper product do you have?

Jay

I have a bunch of rocks I can pull from the sump, along with a filter cartridge for the QT HOB filter that’s been in the sump to colonize it.

Does biofiltration risk messing up copper concentrations?

This is the stuff I have handy:

 

[Jay Hemdal Verified Community Expert]

Yes, unfortunately, using carbonate based bio media will affect the copper concentration to some degree - if you use it, you'll have to test the copper level every few days and then redose to keep the level at 2.5 ppm

Jay

 

[PotatoPig]

Yes, unfortunately, using carbonate based bio media will affect the copper concentration to some degree - if you use it, you'll have to test the copper level every few days and then redose to keep the level at 2.5 ppm

Jay

Well, unfortunately by the time I got the QT warmed up and a freshwater dip warmed up he’d perished in the tank, so I assume was too far gone by today to have done anything about.

Dipped in RODI to check for flukes, nada.

Very rapid deterioration as you’ve seen.

Thank you for your help and advice through this journey, I’ll save you a picture of a dead fish and substitute it for a video of the remaining Anthias, who’s been bolting for cover ever since I fished out her buddy. She seems lively, I note that she’s “chattering” but I’ve seen them do this when they’re stressed and is doesn’t look like gasping. IMO color looks good.

My assumption is that now this one is alone she’ll probably turn into a male providing no complications?

 

[Jay Hemdal Verified Community Expert]

IDK - she seems to be breathing fast to me....

FW dips won't show all species of flukes, most are too small to see without a microscope, and then, they just look like little balls of mucus.

I think you should consider treating the remaining fish with copper/prazi. I can't tell you exactly what is going on (symptoms are too similar to a variety of issues) but unless the female in the above video had recently been chased around the tank or something, she is breathing too fast. You can try getting a respiration rate on her when you know she has been calm - the rate should be less than 100 gill beats per minute. You can video her and count from that. In the above video, she seems to be breathing at over 150.

Jay

 

[PotatoPig]

IDK - she seems to be breathing fast to me....

FW dips won't show all species of flukes, most are too small to see without a microscope, and then, they just look like little balls of mucus.

I think you should consider treating the remaining fish with copper/prazi. I can't tell you exactly what is going on (symptoms are too similar to a variety of issues) but unless the female in the above video had recently been chased around the tank or something, she is breathing too fast.

Agree. At first I thought she was stressed from me moving rocks about to fish out the other one, but she’s still “chattering” this morning. Tried moving her to the treatment tank but ended up chasing her about the tank until I was worried she was going to go belly up from the stress, so now the whole tank is getting nuked with General Cure (metro+prazi).

This is gonna sound crazy but I’m wondering if it was something in the pellets. I normally feed them the small size ones, but have a medium size on hand so gave them those to make it easier to eat a decent quantity with each feeding - last time I put these medium ones in one of my clowns promptly stopped eating and died a little while later, along with one hermit while everyone else in the tank was fine (Anthias included). This time the same - everything seemed fine then gave the medium pellets and the next day the Anthias came down with this and when moved the rocks I found a recently deceased hermit crab (not a molt).

 

[Jay Hemdal Verified Community Expert]

Agree. At first I thought she was stressed from me moving rocks about to fish out the other one, but she’s still “chattering” this morning. Tried moving her to the treatment tank but ended up chasing her about the tank until I was worried she was going to go belly up from the stress, so now the whole tank is getting nuked with General Cure (metro+prazi).

This is gonna sound crazy but I’m wondering if it was something in the pellets. I normally feed them the small size ones, but have a medium size on hand so gave them those to make it easier to eat a decent quantity with each feeding - last time I put these medium ones in one of my clowns promptly stopped eating and died a little while later, along with one hermit while everyone else in the tank was fine (Anthias included). This time the same - everything seemed fine then gave the medium pellets and the next day the Anthias came down with this and when moved the rocks I found a recently deceased hermit crab (not a molt).

While I can’t rule out something with the pellets, that would be pretty rare. What brand are they?
Jay

 

[PotatoPig]

Welp. Anthias #2 is gone also. Dead with mouth wide open, color looking fairly normal. Heavy breathing last night (140-150/min) slowed to 60 when sleeping, back up to about 140/150 when it woke up.

Remaining Clowns seem happy and healthy, eating, no heavy breathing.

The food is TDO Chroma Boost. I realize it seems very unlikely, just last time I fed from this container a clown ate a medium pellet (the then larger of the two clowns) stopped eating and died shortly after. Last known meal was one of these pellets. They’ve been in the fridge since. Busted them out to boost Anthias food intake and then saw rapid deterioration. The clowns preferred the small ones so didn’t touch the medium ones.

Feeding the clowns the extra small pellets from the same brand, no issues at all and plan to keep using it. They seem very happy with it when they’re not chomping on pods.

Gonna junk the packet of medium pellets though just in case.