All fish are acting strange

[sarahlovesfish]

I have 2 clownfish, pajama cardinal, and yellow coris wrasse in a hyposalinity qt tank. They have been doing great for the past weeks, but now its getting worse. You might have seen my previous post about the yellow coris wrasse twitching and scratching. Well today, all of the fish are acting strange. The yellow coris wrasse is darting at scratching and shaking his head and tail. The pajama cardinal has lost his color, looks lethargic, and is swimming head down on the bottom. I saw one clownfish shaking too. Is this flukes like I thought it was? Or is it something else? If it is flukes, how fast can it kill, and can I treat them with prazipro while I do hypo salinity?

 

[Dmorty217]

Sounds like your salinity has went above the 1.009 that is desired. Flukes can be treated with PP. Shaking sounds like ich, same with the scratching

 

[Newsmyrna80]

You have some options. Do a FW dip and see if anything comes off. This will verify flukes. Or you could just treat with Prazi and see if their symptoms improve. I take it there aren't spots? I would start increasing the salinity. Hypo is not always effective and some people have reported problems dosing Prazi in hypo. Are you buffering the water to raise the pH?

 

[sarahlovesfish]

Sounds like your salinity has went above the 1.009 that is desired. Flukes can be treated with PP. Shaking sounds like ich, same with the scratching

I use a refractometer, and I have checked it everyday. The fish don't actually have ich, I am mostly doing the hypo salinity just for preventative treatment.

 

[sarahlovesfish]

You have some options. Do a FW dip and see if anything comes off. This will verify flukes. Or you could just treat with Prazi and see if their symptoms improve. I take it there aren't spots? I would start increasing the salinity. Hypo is not always effective and some people have reported problems dosing Prazi in hypo. Are you buffering the water to raise the pH?

Yes, there are no spots. I was originally planning on raising the saltwater slowly. I will probably do water changes instead of prazi until it gets to normal salinity levels. And I have never buffered the water before. I have done hypo salinity before without a buffer, but I know that this is isn't a good idea. Can you buffer the water with kalkwasser?

 

[Dmorty217]

I use a refractometer, and I have checked it everyday. The fish don't actually have ich, I am mostly doing the hypo salinity just for preventative treatment.

Scratching and twitching... Especially scratching are signs of ich. My orange shoulder had ich for the past 6 months before starting treatment and the only way I could see the ich was when the fish rarely flashed, then it was plain as day. He also scratched against the sand at least one time per day

 

[sarahlovesfish]

now that you say that, then the yellow coris wrasse might very well have ich. I was starting to raise the salinity, because I thought it was something else. It only went up from 1.009 1.010.:facepalm: I hope this isn't too high. Do I have to start over? And how do I control the ph during this time?

 

[HumbleFish]

now that you say that, then the yellow coris wrasse might very well have ich. I was starting to raise the salinity, because I thought it was something else. It only went up from 1.009 1.010.:facepalm: I hope this isn't too high. Do I have to start over? And how do I control the ph during this time?

I don't know much about hypo - but from my understanding, if the SG ticks up even slightly past 1.009 then the 30 day treatment clock starts over.

From what I've read, you have to continually dose "baked" baking soda to keep the pH elevated.

 

[Dmorty217]

I don't know much about hypo - but from my understanding, if the SG ticks up even slightly past 1.009 then the 30 day treatment clock starts over.

From what I've read, you have to continually dose "baked" baking soda to keep the pH elevated.

^ This is why I don't use hypo because it's very difficult to do correctly and the ph thing is just another variable you have to test and dose for during the treatment. How many fish are you treating? Can you just do the Tank Transfer Method with them? Much easier and more effective for ich. If you have too many fish for TTM, then I would suggest Chloroquine Phosphate

 

[sarahlovesfish]

I have 4 fish, so not a whole lot, and they also get along with each other. I have been considering the tank transfer since it is pretty simple. should I do tank transfer with hypo salinity or just normal saltwater?

 

[Mike Ordner]

Tank transfer is done under normal salinity. But I would raise gradually with each tank transfer since you are already so fresh. End your treatment at 35 ppt.

 

[sarahlovesfish]

thanks for the tip, how much would you raise per transfer?

 

[sarahlovesfish]

Update: I moved the fish in around 6:30 am every 4th day at this time. So far they have been transferred twice, and they will be transferred again tomorrow. They have definitely improved. The fish are much more lively, colorful, and healthy. But the yellow coris wrasse is still flashing. Although it is a whole lot less. I will do 2-3 more transfers, but I am worried the wrasse will still have it by the time of the last transfer. What should I do?

 

[DDon]

It should not have ich still after following the recommended tt protocol, assuming you did everything correctly. If it is still flashing after, he may have flukes.

 

[Newsmyrna80]

Are you transferring every 3 or 4 days?

 

[sarahlovesfish]

Are you transferring every 3 or 4 days?

I transfer on the morning of the 4th day.

 

[Newsmyrna80]

Transfer should be done on the morning of the third day. http://reefcentral.com/forums/showthread.php?t=2388428


Day 1 - fish in QT.
Day 4 - in AM, but before tank lights come on (8-9 AM EST), transfer fish to new tank, matching temp and salinity. Transfer as little water as possible.
Day 7 - repeat.
Day 10 - repeat.
Day 13 - repeat and done.

 

[snorvich]

Yes, no more than 72 hours for a given transfer cycle. Less is fine, more is not. Total of all transfers should be 12 days.

 

[Aussieiniowa]

Question if you transfer the fish into hospital tank what kills the ick in the main reef tank?

 

[Deinonych]

Question if you transfer the fish into hospital tank what kills the ick in the main reef tank?

Leaving it fallow (without fish hosts) for 72 days minimum will allow the parasites to die off.