ok i purchased two clownfish last night and unfortenrly one of them is rubbing themselves on the rock and going crazy!! i took him out of my tank i have no idea what to do with him, my lfs wont take him back and i cannot get copper anywhere. i have no idea what to do, a freshwater dip? or something else??!!
HELP!!! ICK SIGNS!!!
- Thread starter kamuii
- Start date
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First step is a FW dip to check for flukes: https://www.reef2reef.com/threads/freshwater-dip.248898/
If flukes show (as seen in the video), treat with Prazipro: https://www.reef2reef.com/threads/prazipro.247598/
If no flukes, assume external parasites and treat with copper: https://www.reef2reef.com/threads/copper-treatment.193343/
Dosing metronidazole (click here) in conjunction might be a good idea just in case this turns out to be brook: https://www.reef2reef.com/threads/brooklynella.247938/
If flukes show (as seen in the video), treat with Prazipro: https://www.reef2reef.com/threads/prazipro.247598/
If no flukes, assume external parasites and treat with copper: https://www.reef2reef.com/threads/copper-treatment.193343/
Dosing metronidazole (click here) in conjunction might be a good idea just in case this turns out to be brook: https://www.reef2reef.com/threads/brooklynella.247938/
i dosed copper, luckily another lfs had it and i ran over and bought it. i don't have another tank to add him in, let alone the cash. the other clownfish seems to be okay, it's just him. i may just return him to the store if it doesn't work out. i was so not in the mood for this today eughhhhhhhhhhh
Scarybo
Active Member
If one clown is infected it is best to assume the second is infected.
i dosed copper, luckily another lfs had it and i ran over and bought it. i don't have another tank to add him in, let alone the cash. the other clownfish seems to be okay, it's just him. i may just return him to the store if it doesn't work out. i was so not in the mood for this today eughhhhhhhhhhh
your lfs is bad
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Scarybo
Active Member
Keep an eye on the firefish. If the clowns were in the DT it may be too late and all inhabitants were exposed. QT all inhabitants would be best practices at this point.
Scarybo
Active Member
Totally understand. Do the best you can and keep an eye on them in the event things turn to the worse. Also be aware of the risk that your DT is infected and when you add new fish there is a risk of illness.
Most of us have been there, either by not quarantining or taking shortcuts through quarantine (or sometime just unlucky) and bam DT is infected. My advise is to get a quarantine tank and start treating the fish in it. You don't have large fish, if its only the two clowns and one fire fish then 10-15 gallon tank would be enough to treat them, you need to treat the other clown since they came from same infected tank, I suggest to treat the filefish with them to be safe since you already started medicating. Clowns and fire fish have relatively thick slime coat, so if its ich it might not show, but since its twitching its probable that its ich or other external parasite. Dont worry hopefully they will survive it, they are considered hardy fish.
update: i called my lfs and talked to the guy that bagged the clownfish for me, he said they will take them back. i'm going to do a water change and watch my firefish... pray for me yall that he won't be affected!!
I would definitely not use paraguard in reef aquarium.
Paraguard ingredients: blend of aldehydes, malachite green, and fish protective polymers
Malachite Green is very harsh on fish and is classified as toxin, I wouldn't dose that with corals and risk it, also you never know the effect of the rest of the ingredients on the inverts, it was designed to be used solely on fish. Even seachem refuse to claim its reef safe, although they mentioned that some inverts might tolerate it at the described dosage.
Better option to use paraguard as a bath with plenty of aeration.
Paraguard ingredients: blend of aldehydes, malachite green, and fish protective polymers
Malachite Green is very harsh on fish and is classified as toxin, I wouldn't dose that with corals and risk it, also you never know the effect of the rest of the ingredients on the inverts, it was designed to be used solely on fish. Even seachem refuse to claim its reef safe, although they mentioned that some inverts might tolerate it at the described dosage.
Better option to use paraguard as a bath with plenty of aeration.
Unfortunately it means that he got infected. If you didn't return the clowns yet you can keep them and treat them all together with copper as you will need to treat the fire fish anyways. Be sure to dose the copper slowly and you have the appropriate test kit, you can read this guide about copper treatment:
https://www.reef2reef.com/threads/copper-treatment.193343/
https://www.reef2reef.com/threads/copper-treatment.193343/
Keep them in the tank and run fallow, remove all fish from the tank and dont add any new fish for 76 days. This way the ich will die off.
More info here:
https://www.reef2reef.com/threads/fallow-periods-going-fishless.190324/
More info here:
https://www.reef2reef.com/threads/fallow-periods-going-fishless.190324/
