clown fish slimy?

[starionesir]

I recently bought 2 clown fish and have them in my qt and noticed one has like stringy stuff on the end of his fins and its almost slimy Web looking stuff behind his one fin. Any ideas? The other seems fine. Was looking online and looked like brook maybe but wasn't sure what to treat with.

 

[Newsmyrna80]

There is a sticky at the top of the forum for fish parasites. Here is the one for brook. http://reefcentral.com/forums/showthread.php?t=2388437
Can you post a picture of the fish? How is their breathing and overall behavior?

 

[starionesir]

Hard to get good pictures. Skin seems to almost look like it's pealing and rapid breathing. I'm thinking brook, of course I don't have formalin and just bought some but will take some time to get here. I did a fresh water dip and tried some rid ich as it has formaldehyde just not in as high a concentration as formalin.

 

[Newsmyrna80]

Do you gave any Quick Cure? It can usually be found at Walmart. If not then keep up with the FW dips and do water changes to keep the parasite population down in the QT. Although I don't put any faith in Rid Ich I think at this point it is better than nothing. Sounds like you've got a pretty good handle on what you need to do

 

[starionesir]

No I don't have any quick cure. I ordered the formalin yesterday but its coming from california so I probably won't have it till next week. I'm going to do another 50% water change tonight to try and help. He did look a little better this morning then last night. Not breathing near as rapidly but still looking worse for wear. Oddly enough the other clown looks fine. No signs of any distress.

I tried looking at walmart online and didn't find anything listed as quick cure. Is it under another name or anything? Only showed two things from API, general cure and fungus cure.

 

[lagatbezan]

here is the link for it at walmart. you might be able to find it at a local aquarium store as well.

http://www.walmart.com/ip/Aquarium-Products-Fast-Relief-For-Ick-Protozoan-Parasites-.75-fl-oz/10313376

Also I dont know where you live but if in NY long island area I have some you can borrow.

 

[Newsmyrna80]

That surprises me that the formalin is coming from California. There has been a ban on it in California for quite sometime. Anyway, if you have have local Walmart they usually have it in the pet section. Even with FW dips I'd be surprised if the fish is around next week without formalin dips.

 

[starionesir]

I'm in bel air md. Thanks for the offer though. I did find some formaldehyde local from a doctor friend so hopefully he brings it to me today and I can at least start doing the treatment. Hopefully save the fish.

 

[starionesir]

So if he doesn't show up with the formaldehyde is the quick cure a permanent cure or only temporary until you do the formaldehyde dips?

 

[starionesir]

Thanks for all that have posted but when I arrived home today after work he was dead. Oddly enough the other clown still appears to be perfectly fine? Should I still treat him with formalin or should I just do large water changes and just observe him for a while? Not sure if brook is like ich and its always there unless there is no host or if it will eventually die off on its own? I just don't want to introduce brook into my DT.

 

[Newsmyrna80]

Man, sorry about that. To answer your questions, yes Quick Cure can be used a permanent treatment for brook. I used it to treat an angel that had brook. I actually used formalin for one of the dips and it was extremely hard on him so u went back to the Quick Cure. And yes, treat the other clown. Since he's not showing any symptoms I would do three dips and put him into a new clean tank then observe for a month.

 

[starionesir]

Only problem is I only have the one QT tank that he is in. Since he is not showing any signs of brook should I just do the treatment in the QT tank which should kill any parasite in the water and just observe him and see how he does? I've read your supposed to do dips and also treatment in the tank but figure if he's not showing signs of stress and still eating well why stress him out with the dip if I don't have to.

 

[Newsmyrna80]

IME the dips are more effective than the bath. There is another active thread where they were treating via a formalin bath and the fish died with what looks like formalin burns. Do you have a Rubbermaid container to use as a temporary QT while the other is being cleaned and dried?

 

[starionesir]

I have some homedepot buckets that I use for water changes that I could use if I really had to.

 

[Newsmyrna80]

I've done that too

 

[starionesir]

Also if the quick cure is a permanent fix is that less stressful on the fish? I may do that instead of the formalin.