Clownfish Illness?? Help

[TJClown]

Hi all,

I recently bought clownfish for my birthday. I have two in a 20Gal tank. I have the tank already cycled. The parameters (nitrate, nitrite, ammonia, pH 8.5) for the water were all 0ppm when I added the fish. I noticed one week in that they were dashing around and acting erratically. They were refusing to eat marine pellets so I bought them Mysis shrimp (in which they ate).

I noticed a week after that they had white dusty film/spots on them. and one of them has white stringy poop... And given that I have a degree in biology and I have kept freshwater fish for 3 years now, I decided that it was ick with a mixture of some internal parasites. I have been treating the tank with Rid-Ich for about a week now. They seem to have a better appetite and the white dusty stuff is slowly going away but now they have increased gill movements. So my question is that should I use rid ich and general cure to continue to treat the ich and treat any gill flukes/ parasites. This is my first saltwater tank and would love some advice/ feedback.

- Tresa

 

[Chrisv.]

Hi all,

I recently bought clownfish for my birthday. I have two in a 20Gal tank. I have the tank already cycled. The parameters (nitrate, nitrite, ammonia, pH 8.5) for the water were all 0ppm when I added the fish. I noticed one week in that they were dashing around and acting erratically. They were refusing to eat marine pellets so I bought them Mysis shrimp (in which they ate).

I noticed a week after that they had white dusty film/spots on them. and one of them has white stringy poop... And given that I have a degree in biology and I have kept freshwater fish for 3 years now, I decided that it was ick with a mixture of some internal parasites. I have been treating the tank with Rid-Ich for about a week now. They seem to have a better appetite and the white dusty stuff is slowly going away but now they have increased gill movements. So my question is that should I use rid ich and general cure to continue to treat the ich and treat any gill flukes/ parasites. This is my first saltwater tank and would love some advice/ feedback.

- Tresa

There are a few things that could cause the appearance of white dusty spots, so hopefully you correctly identified the issues.

There are some detailed treatment protocol threads that are worth checking out. They are posted as stickies in the fish disease forum!

 

[Mr. Mojo Rising]

You added a third clownfish? That rarely works out, they will often kill other clowns until there are only 2 left (in some cases until only 1 is left). It was likely the stress that caused the disease. Saltwater fish compatibility is not so easy compared to freshwater, its important to google every purchase before buying it. Just my 2 cents which will hopefully help. Anyways, sorry for your trouble, good luck.

 

[TJClown]

You added a third clownfish? That rarely works out, they will often kill other clowns until there are only 2 left (in some cases until only 1 is left). It was likely the stress that caused the disease. Saltwater fish compatibility is not so easy compared to freshwater, its important to google every purchase before buying it. Just my 2 cents which will hopefully help. Anyways, sorry for your trouble, good luck.

Hi, they seem to be getting along just fine. (but that was not my issue) No fighting or anything of such. I took another reading of my parameters and the nitrate levels are 1.00ppm and the nitrite levels are .5 ppm. temp is at 79F Ich has been gone for about 2 weeks now. I am at a loss. They have been flashing/ darting and have increased gill movements. All three have stopped eating both marine pellets and mysis shrimp. and one has stringy whiteish/ yellowish poop. I dont know if I should start back up with the rid ich or general cure.... or get other medication.

 

[Ricox]

White dots on the fish is probably itch if they are flashing and darting. Just pick up some medication from your LFS also even if they aren't fighting now as they get older and two pair they will attack and likely kill the third.

 

[TJClown]

White dots on the fish is probably itch if they are flashing and darting. Just pick up some medication from your LFS also even if they aren't fighting now as they get older and two pair they will attack and likely kill the third.

I am aware they need medication... As I stated I treated the tank with rid ich and GC.... neither helped. I need to know which medication to get.

 

[Ricox]

Sorry I am not really sure.

 

[Sebastiancrab]

I would move your fish into a hospital tank and treat with either Copper Power or Cupramine. These meds will treat both flukes and Ich. Your DT needs to go fallow - see stickies in fish disease forum. You can't use these products in your DT. I have had success with using Hydroplex as a 10 minute SALTwater dip to kill the bugs on the fish and give them quick, low stress relief but they still need the hospital treatment too. Not sure about the stringy poo how to treat.