Clown died after formalin bath.

Polkman

New member
Just to figure out what happened. I recently noticed some white scratches on my male clown fish which resembled symptoms of brook. They were both healthy looking, swimming and eating well. I have never noticed them flashing either. So I figured that I should just go ahead and give them a 30 minute formalin bath at 2ml. I didn't notice any cuts or open wounds on them either. After I took them out I freshwater dipped for 1 minute and then into a clean tank. They seemed to be gasping and barly holding themselves upright. I feared for the worse and this morning the male clown passed. The female clown is still looking pretty bad and I fear she won't make it much longer. I'm not sure what happened, did I misinterpret the white marks as maybe something else? I should add that these clowns were less than an inch.






 
Explain what your formalin bath consisted of? 37% formalin, u said u used 2ml for how many gallons of water? Did you check out the formalin to make sure it was usable? (No white crystal salts)
 
Explain what your formalin bath consisted of? 37% formalin, u said u used 2ml for how many gallons of water? Did you check out the formalin to make sure it was usable? (No white crystal salts)

Sorry forgot to clarify that it was indeed 37% formalin from fish vet. I purchased it a month ago and did not see any solids in the bottle. 2 ml in 1 gallon of salt water.
 
Clown died after formalin bath.

Sorry forgot to clarify that it was indeed 37% formalin from fish vet. I purchased it a month ago and did not see any solids in the bottle.


How many gallons of water did you use? Fresh Saltwater? Did you use an air stone during the bath?
 
Yes 2 ml in one gallon of salt water which should put it around 200 ppm

And yes I had an air stone running before for around 45 mins prior to putting the clowns in. I kept the air stone running throughout the whole process. I put in a baby blue tang and a purple firefish right after the clowns for 20 mins since they were in the same tank. The blue tang and firefish seem healthy as can be and are eating like pigs. I just don't get how the clowns can be swimming and eating fine with no indication of being sick other than the marks to dead right after a formalin bath. I've did formalin baths on my other clowns at higher ppm and they've recovered with no ill effects.
 
It's been awhile since I have used formalin bath to treat new fish coming in. What I do remember is that even after following directions exactly is that I did lose a fish or two. So either they were going to die anyway or it was the treatment. I decided to stop using formalin bathes for treatment, As it is a very toxic chemical that causes cancer and God knows what else. I now use just a freshwater bath with ph and temperature matched.
 
Back
Top