Two fast deaths. What next?

[KatoJoe]

Hello, I’m Joe. This is my first post, wish it was under better circumstances.

I recently had two fish suddenly die (blue hippo and a desjardini sailfin) and I’m wondering how/if I should quarantine/medicate two clowns so they don’t also die.

The two clowns and the desjardini had been in my DT for about six months with no problems.
I brought home the blue hippo last Friday and foolishly put it right into my DT. It acclimated well and looked to be doing ok but the following day it was breathing fast and swimming into power heads and trying to jump out of the tank. It died shortly after that, maybe 15 minutes.

I immediately took the desjardini and two clowns out and placed in quarantine on Saturday then started TTM. They had been eating well and otherwise looking good with no physical symptoms. This morning I woke up to the desjardini on it’s side on the bottom of the tank breathing rapidly with a large white splotch on its side by its fin. It died within a few minutes. I’m not sure if it’s ich or velvet or something else entirely and what I should do next. Any advice would be greatly appreciated.

 

[Jay Hemdal Verified Community Expert]

Hello, I’m Joe. This is my first post, wish it was under better circumstances.

I recently had two fish suddenly die (blue hippo and a desjardini sailfin) and I’m wondering how/if I should quarantine/medicate two clowns so they don’t also die.

The two clowns and the desjardini had been in my DT for about six months with no problems.
I brought home the blue hippo last Friday and foolishly put it right into my DT. It acclimated well and looked to be doing ok but the following day it was breathing fast and swimming into power heads and trying to jump out of the tank. It died shortly after that, maybe 15 minutes.

I immediately took the desjardini and two clowns out and placed in quarantine on Saturday then started TTM. They had been eating well and otherwise looking good with no physical symptoms. This morning I woke up to the desjardini on it’s side on the bottom of the tank breathing rapidly with a large white splotch on its side by its fin. It died within a few minutes. I’m not sure if it’s ich or velvet or something else entirely and what I should do next. Any advice would be greatly appreciated.

Hi Joe, Welcome to Reef2Reef!

It sounds like this could be Amyloodinium/velvet. This gill parasite kills quickly, and the primary symptoms are rapid breathing and swimming into water flow. Sometimes, you will see very tiny dust like spots, but not always. TTM does not control this disease, unless you add in a modification that includes peroxide dips.

Copper at full strength, in a treatment tank, is the best option in most cases. However, once fish loss has happened, copper may not work fast enough to stop the disease from spreading.

Jay

 

[KatoJoe]

Thanks for the quick response Jay. Cupramine is the only option I can get ahold of today. Is that an acceptable copper treatment?

 

[Sharkbait19]

Thanks for the quick response Jay. Cupramine is the only option I can get ahold of today. Is that an acceptable copper treatment?

Cupramine is harsher than the other copper treatments, but it works well.
That’s what I have and the fish do fine with it.

 

[KatoJoe]

Thanks. I’ll start copper treatment today and hope it’s in time to save the clowns

 

[KatoJoe]

I lost one of the clowns a couple days ago unfortunately. The other is hanging on but doesn’t seem to be doing well. I’m wondering if anyone has any insight. It doesn’t seem to be eating. I mean it goes after food like it wants to but seems to be just spitting it back out. Also it stays on the bottom of the tank, looks labored when trying to swim up and I see it laying on its side on the bottom kind of propped up with a fin frequently.

I haven’t started copper as I didn’t get the Hana copper checker until just the other day. I have treated with API general cure and finished with the TTM routine. I’m worried that it’s in a weekend state and copper might be too much.

My main question is should I go ahead with copper treatment immediately or wait to see if it recovers and starts eating/acting normal first?

 

[Tamberav]

I lost one of the clowns a couple days ago unfortunately. The other is hanging on but doesn’t seem to be doing well. I’m wondering if anyone has any insight. It doesn’t seem to be eating. I mean it goes after food like it wants to but seems to be just spitting it back out. Also it stays on the bottom of the tank, looks labored when trying to swim up and I see it laying on its side on the bottom kind of propped up with a fin frequently.

I haven’t started copper as I didn’t get the Hana copper checker until just the other day. I have treated with API general cure and finished with the TTM routine. I’m worried that it’s in a weekend state and copper might be too much.

My main question is should I go ahead with copper treatment immediately or wait to see if it recovers and starts eating/acting normal first?

what type of TTM was it? Traditional TTM does not treat velvet but can slow the progression down. It can treat ich basically.

 

[KatoJoe]

what type of TTM was it? Traditional TTM does not treat velvet but can slow the progression down. It can treat ich basically.

Hybrid TTM. The first four transfers were 36 hrs apart or less that 71 hours for the last two. There were also 2 peroxide dips about 6 days apart worked into the schedule as well.

 

[Jay Hemdal Verified Community Expert]

I lost one of the clowns a couple days ago unfortunately. The other is hanging on but doesn’t seem to be doing well. I’m wondering if anyone has any insight. It doesn’t seem to be eating. I mean it goes after food like it wants to but seems to be just spitting it back out. Also it stays on the bottom of the tank, looks labored when trying to swim up and I see it laying on its side on the bottom kind of propped up with a fin frequently.

I haven’t started copper as I didn’t get the Hana copper checker until just the other day. I have treated with API general cure and finished with the TTM routine. I’m worried that it’s in a weekend state and copper might be too much.

My main question is should I go ahead with copper treatment immediately or wait to see if it recovers and starts eating/acting normal first?

Even hybrid TTM has issues, it isn’t always easy to get good results. It may have slowed the disease progression though.

Probably too late to start copper now though (and that of course was never a sure thing in any event due to having lost some fish already).

Sorry I don’t have any solution for you here…..

Jay

 

[KatoJoe]

Even hybrid TTM has issues, it isn’t always easy to get good results. It may have slowed the disease progression though.

Probably too late to start copper now though (and that of course was never a sure thing in any event due to having lost some fish already).

Sorry I don’t have any solution for you here…..

Jay

Yeah I’ve found there to be too many opportunities for mistakes with TTM. Your response is still helpful. I was just trying get any info, good or bad. Thanks again

 

[KatoJoe]

So just wanted to update for closure. I lost the last clown overnight, including another new one I tried pairing it with. I never did treat with copper. I thought it might be too much and the fish was hanging on and seemed to be getting better day by day. So much so that I bought another clown to pair with.

I put the new clown in a QT that was set up for a week and dosed with bacteria. It was doing great! My plan was to put them together and then bring up copper level and treat them both for 30 days.

Last night I put the old clown in the new QT setup with the new clown. This morning they were both dead. I wish I had a way to know for certain what the culprit was…

I have placed all my corals and inverts in a QT that will go fallow. Not sure if it should be 6 weeks or 76 days? The old display tank was torn down, sterilized and sold.

Im using this opportunity to learn, start fresh, and set up the display I’ve always wanted. Thanks again to everyone that responded.

 

[Sharkbait19]

Sorry to hear. In this case, it’s best to go for 76 days to ensure all possible parasites have been starved out.