Fish dying help please

saltlifegal · Jan 6, 2016

I don't even know where to start, I have a 46 gal bow front that has been up and running 3 months with 2 clowns, a flame hawk, lawnmower blenny, and a mandarine. 6 bubble tip anemones. All was great in the tank until about 1 month ago, I purchased a yellow watchman gobi and he disappeared over christmas, I then purchased a 2 spot little gobi and he came up missing 2 days later, I thought maybe my 4 inch lawnmower blenny may have killed them because he seems to be a little territorial. Then last week i woke up to my male snowflake clown dead, unlike the other 2 I found his body. (I had noticed the 2 wks before that his left eye was a little cloudy but it went away a couple days later so I assumed that he may have bumped it or something.) 2 days later the females left eye became cloudy so i caught her up and did a freshwater dip and put her in the QT tank with Cupermine and Methaline blue, I have been monitoring her and she seemed to be getting worse, next both eyes became cloudy and then her tail fin looked very ragged and she is loosing more of her tail daily. I started to do a bacterial and fungus dip every other day yesterday being the 2nd dip, after putting her back in the tank her eyes are looking better the right one is almost clear and the left one something white fell off it, but her tail still looks like it is getting smaller. Now this morning I notice her color is faded. I have been getting all my info on treating this fish from the LFS we purchased our fish from but I am starting to get really frustrated at seeing my fish dying and not having any idea as how to fix the problem as it seems to be a guessing game as to what is wrong.
the water specs of the tank are:
salinity 1025
Nitrates 5
Ammonia 0
Ph 8.0
Phosphates 0.25
Temp 76

TheWhiteFord · Jan 6, 2016

@Humblefish can help you with this

saltlifegal · Jan 6, 2016

ReefingWhiteford said:
@Humblefish can help you with this

I hope so, Thank you

joshkirkland83 · Jan 6, 2016

Did you QT the new fish before they wemt into the DT? How long?

saltlifegal · Jan 6, 2016

joshkirkland83 said:
Did you QT the new fish before they wemt into the DT? How long?

No I did not, I was told I just had to do a dip acclamation, and I didn't have a QT tank at the time but I do now. This has been a very pricey learning experience.

saltlifegal · Jan 6, 2016

this isn't the best pic as it was taken with my phone, but I hope it helps. I have had this pair of clowns for 2 months and they were very healthy.

joshkirkland83 · Jan 6, 2016

saltlifegal said:
No I did not, I was told I just had to do a dip acclamation, and I didn't have a QT tank at the time but I do now. This has been a very pricey learning experience.

I understand. That where whatever this is was introduced i bet. When I went through this Humblefish told me to get everyone in the QT and administer medication there. Dont do dips.

saltlifegal · Jan 6, 2016

The lights just came on in the 46 gal and my lawnmower blenny looks very lethargic, how do I find out if there is a bacterial problem in the tank? all the anemones and the flame hawk look fine.

saltlifegal · Jan 6, 2016

joshkirkland83 said:
I understand. That where whatever this is was introduced i bet. When I went through this Humblefish told me to get everyone in the QT and administer medication there. Dont do dips.

I am using cupermine and methaline blue should I be using something else?

joshkirkland83 · Jan 6, 2016

@Humblefish or @melypr1985 should be along shortly. They would be the ones to tell you what to use. For those symptoms Ive used kanamycin and furan-2

saltlifegal · Jan 6, 2016

joshkirkland83 said:
@Humblefish or @melypr1985 should be along shortly. They would be the ones to tell you what to use. For those symptoms Ive used kanamycin and furan-2

Thank you for your help. I am sick over this.

joshkirkland83 · Jan 6, 2016

saltlifegal said:
Thank you for your help. I am sick over this.

No problem. They will help you a lot more than me. I learned the hard way also about QT. Its the most important thing when introducing ANYTHING to your tank. FYI QT time should be thirty days.

Humblefish · Jan 6, 2016

It sounds like your fish are dealing with a lingering bacterial infection, but I suspect either a worm or parasite is at the root of the problem. When you did the FW dip, did you see any white things fall off? You need to get your hands on some Kanaplex and/or Furan-2 ASAP to treat the bacterial problem first and foremost.

saltlifegal · Jan 6, 2016

Humblefish said:
It sounds like your fish are dealing with a lingering bacterial infection, but I suspect either a worm or parasite is at the root of the problem. When you did the FW dip, did you see any white things fall off? You need to get your hands on some Kanaplex and/or Furan-2 ASAP to treat the bacterial problem first and foremost.

Thank you Humblefish,
I will head to the store as soon as they open, the closest one is an hour away so it will be a little bit. Being i have cup ermine and methaline blue in the tank do I need to empty it and start with fresh saltwater?

melypr1985 · Jan 6, 2016

saltlifegal said:
Thank you Humblefish,
I will head to the store as soon as they open, the closest one is an hour away so it will be a little bit. Being i have cup ermine and methaline blue in the tank do I need to empty it and start with fresh saltwater?

Hi! Sorry for the troubles with your poor fish. You can do a large water change and have carbon running while you go get the antibiotics. Get the bacterial problem under control then we can treat the underlying issues. You said a white thing fell off his eye..... can you describe it for us?

Humblefish · Jan 6, 2016

You can mix the antibiotics I listed with both copper and methylene blue; but if you want to start over with a clean slate run some carbon as Meredith advised.

When you go to the LFS try to pick up some formalin or acriflavine just in case you are dealing with brook or velvet here as the primary cause. See examples below of products with contain these chemicals.

The following products contain acriflavine: Acriflavine-MS and Ruby Reef Rally.
The following products contain formalin: Formalin-MS, Quick Cure, Aquarium Solutions Ich-X, Kordon Rid-Ich Plus.

saltlifegal · Jan 6, 2016

Not good news. The Blenny died before the store opened to get the meds and the clown died shortly after I got home. When I got home she didn't look like she was going to make it but I put the antibiotics in anyway but was to late. Thank you all for all your help. I now have meds for most all incidences but hope with my new ways of purchasing and quarantining for 30 days it should reduce the chances of having to use them.

saltlifegal · Jan 6, 2016

Melypr1985 Or Humblefish, how will I know if it is safe to introduce another pair of clowns into the tank. I don't want to take any chances with another pair of clowns. All 6 anemones look great and water specs are good. As I said in earlier post I will have any fish quarantined for 30 days so will that be long enough for anything bacteria wise to dye off or how long should I wait to put any clowns in there?

melypr1985 · Jan 6, 2016

You could leave the display fallow for 76 days which will cover just about anything that could be in the display that's dangerous. Of course that's probably overkill. I did recently hear about converting a black molly to saltwater and introducing it to the tank. It has no immunity at all to saltwater parasites so it should show them quickly if they are still there. Just a thought.