help! what now?

Nicole Kelsey · Apr 9, 2019

so i had 2 clowns die they are the only real fish in there other a cleaner shrimp some crabs and some snails. right after we go them we put in a wavemaker a little to high and there color started to look weird (faded and spots missing/black in color bands). they both died after about 2 months. within 24 hours. we have 3 corals and they look great no issues. how long till i can put new fish in? we changed 25-30% of the water and levels look pretty normal.

ccombs · Apr 9, 2019

I am so sorry about your loss, is this the same tank you posted about yesterday?

Although losses are hard, we can get to the bottom of this. You will want to answer these questions.

Parameters (Salinity, Temp, Ammonia, Nitrite, Nitrate are the important ones in a new tank)
Post Mortem Pics by Chance?
Odd Behavior From Clowns
External Abnormalities (white film, white/black dots/mucus)
White, Stringy Poop?

I saw you mentioned the fading colors, was this over the 2 months or just in the last 24 hours?

The more questions you can answer, the better. We will get this solved an work to prevent even more deaths. This is the unfortunate part of the hobby.

ccombs · Apr 9, 2019

Also-thank you for your service.

ccombs · Apr 9, 2019

For other people on the forum, I am going to post this picture from @Nicole Kelsey yesterday. We were trying to figure out what this white thing was, don't know if it is related or not.

Nicole Kelsey · Apr 9, 2019

ccombs said:
I am so sorry about your loss, is this the same tank you posted about yesterday?

Although losses are hard, we can get to the bottom of this. You will want to answer these questions.

Parameters (Salinity, Temp, Ammonia, Nitrite, Nitrate are the important ones in a new tank)
Post Mortem Pics by Chance?
Odd Behavior From Clowns
External Abnormalities (white film, white/black dots/mucus)
White, Stringy Poop?

I saw you mentioned the fading colors, was this over the 2 months or just in the last 24 hours?

The more questions you can answer, the better. We will get this solved an work to prevent even more deaths. This is the unfortunate part of the hobby.

This is my smaller tank. 20 gallon high. HOB filter. 425 power head. Salinity is 1.024. Temp 78. Ammonia 0. Nitrate 5 nitrite .25. Black dots on fish color fading.

ccombs · Apr 9, 2019

Nicole Kelsey said:
This is my smaller tank. 20 gallon high. HOB filter. 425 power head. Salinity is 1.024. Temp 78. Ammonia 0. Nitrate 5 nitrite .25. Black dots on fish color fading.

@Frtdrmrose7 @HotRocks @ngoodermuth @Big G what do you guys think about the pic above? Too many spots to be ich IMHO but I don't wanna get this wrong. Brook or Velvet? I also see what looks to be like fin rot on the bottom?

The experts I just summoned are WAYYY more talented and smart than me, they can help a lot here.

Thank you for the pic.

ccombs · Apr 9, 2019

Just to confirm, there are no other fish in the tank? Depending on diagnosis, you might need to run fallow (no fish) for 76 days before any new additions.

Luckily I think this is a disease that needs a host to live, so that means there would be no total tank breakdown.

Nicole Kelsey · Apr 9, 2019

There is a lawnmower blenny and scooter blenny in there. Only been 48 hours since I got them though. No other fish

ccombs · Apr 9, 2019

Nicole Kelsey said:
There is a lawnmower blenny and scooter blenny in there. Only been 48 hours since I got them though. No other fish

Ok, that makes things slightly more complicated, not to fear though! Do you have a tank that can be used for quarantine and medication? You might need to take preventative action on the others before they begin to show symptoms.

Nicole Kelsey · Apr 9, 2019

We have a fresh water tank we were thinking about converting but as of right now. The only other tank is my 75 with fish in it

ccombs · Apr 9, 2019

Nicole Kelsey said:
We have a fresh water tank we were thinking about converting but as of right now. The only other tank is my 75 with fish in it

Alright, before we get too carried away, let's see what the experts say. I just like to ask all of the basic questions to expedite their advice later.

KrisReef · Apr 9, 2019

That looks like ich to me also. Either way, the fish will probably need to go into quarantine for treatment.

I just noticed that you are a relatively new member on here. Welcome to Reef2Reef.

Sorry about your fish.

ccombs · Apr 9, 2019

KrisReef said:
That looks like ich to me also. Either way, the fish will probably need to go into quarantine for treatment.

I just noticed that you are a relatively new member on here. Welcome to Reef2Reef.

Sorry about your fish.

Do you think it is too many spots to be ich? It looks like a coating on the fish too. That is why I was thinking velvet or brook.

Nicole Kelsey · Apr 9, 2019

ccombs said:
Do you think it is too many spots to be ich? It looks like a coating on the fish too. That is why I was thinking velvet or brook.

I honestly thought it happened when I put in the wave maker pretty high and they were being pushed around. I thought maybe they got injured by the rock. Idk though I’m new.

KrisReef · Apr 9, 2019

It looks like they were sick for a while, I'm thinking maybe ich came as a hitchhiker on the corals?

The fish also looks like it has raised scales, and secondary infections, but I agree as to waiting for the experts (with better eyes than mine).

ccombs · Apr 9, 2019

Nicole Kelsey said:
I honestly thought it happened when I put in the wave maker pretty high and they were being pushed around. I thought maybe they got injured by the rock. Idk though I’m new.

My guess would be they were weak from a disease, so they got pushed around. The presence of spots and the rotting fin point to disease IMHO.

Nicole Kelsey · Apr 9, 2019

The coral came after all this. Coral have been in for 1.5 weeks now. They were already like this

Nicole Kelsey · Apr 9, 2019

The coral came after all this. Coral have been in for 1.5 weeks now. They were already like this

ngoodermuth · Apr 9, 2019

It’s tough to say for sure, I’m thinking velvet... but you could treat for both just in case.

The scooter will need CP (chloroquine phosphate) which will treat both velvet and brook anyway. You don’t have any fish that are sensitive to it, so you could treat them all...

BUT, it’s not going to be easy to get quickly.. if you don’t already have it on hand :/

So, I think I would focus on the clown for now. Get maybe a 10-20g tank, powerhead, heater, and ammonia alert badge and move him over. You can use a sponge seeded with biospira to help combat ammonia. You’ll also need copper and metroplex.

Meanwhile, see if you can track down some CP. If you have a vet willing to write you a prescription, you can order it from diamondback drugs (it’s been verified 99%+ purity). Otherwise, national fish pharm recently started offering CP as well.

These links will get you started:

How to Quarantine
https://r.tapatalk.com/shareLink?sh...hreads/How-to-Quarantine.189815/&share_type=t

Copper treatment
https://r.tapatalk.com/shareLink?sh...threads/Copper-treatment.193343/&share_type=t

ngoodermuth · Apr 9, 2019

Here’s a link on chloroquine phosphate, sometimes helpful to share with your vet when requesting a prescription:
Chloroquine phosphate
https://r.tapatalk.com/shareLink?sh...ds/Chloroquine-phosphate.192309/&share_type=t