Clown in HT not looking good, should I reduce copper levels?

[Arrgh]

One of my fish were starting to show symptoms of Ich etc. He had one bit of a white spot starting, yawning and the occasional scrape on the bottom. Also his lips looked a little white.

Having lost my first two clowns to a similar ailment in the past, I thought I was on the ball this time. I also witnessed my royal dottyback take a swipe on the bottom so I setup a QT with a seeded sponge and PVC etc.

I just added the second dose of Cuprimine tonight. The fish had a few flakes this morning, and some oyster egg tonight.

The one fish (2nd clown) that did not show any symptoms is now kinda drifting around the bottom, disoriented. The other clown keeps nudging him to keep him upright. He does now appear to have one little spot on him.

I don't seem to have any ammonia according to API strips. (I know they are not accurate, but I figured they should at least register if enough amonia was present.

Just wondering if I should dilute some of the copper down and maybe bring it up more gradually or ride it out?

I do not have a copper test kit available localy,AFAIK. This is all new equipment. A 13 gallon.
I added 20 drops the first day, and another 20 today, 48 hours later.
I can do some calculated water changes with a reduced amount, or no copper.

I honestly don't know if it is Ich, Brook, velvet etc.

I'm not really sure how the dottyback is doing, but he seems to be fine hanging out in a PVC pipe.

I have had the clowns for about 6 weeks, the dottyback for about 4.

I can appreciate the performance of a QT, however I made the choice to live with my DT being fallow should something happen such as this.

Anyhow I know this is tough to give advise on, just thought I would put it out there.

 

[Arrgh]

I added an airstone in addition to the HOB and Koralia, the tank is kinda deep in proportion, maybe this will help.

 

[Arrgh]

The little guy made it through the night and seems much better this morning.

I had a look late last night and his buddy was still lifting him up, now he was lifting him right to the top of the aquarium. He would start to sink, then he would be lifted back up again.

Quite remarkable.

 

[Newsmyrna80]

Did you quarantine any of them prior to introducing them to the main? Since you only saw one spot I don't think this is ich. The yawning, pale lips and flashing are indicative of flukes. I would take the copper out immediately. You could either do a FW dip to confirm flukes or just start the Prazi treatment. Have your read the stickies on ich and fish parasites at the top of the forum?

 

[Arrgh]

Not on flukes, no. I will do that tonight.

The tank was a new startup so I rolled the dice that if the fish were ill, I would QT them then and leave the tank fallow for a while, providing it was not something that could survive without a host.

Thank you for your concern.

The fish look much better this evening and appear hungry.

I will post back when I have something to update.

 

[Arrgh]

OK I decided to take some pictures to see if I can spot anything.

The clown that was doing poorly last night does seem to have one little spot in front of his dorsal fin. I attached 1 picture.

Clown #2 is the one that I notice the spot on before. I added 2 pictures of this guy. Actually it appears to be 2 spots near each other.

I am still researching, just thought I should post these up here.

 

[Newsmyrna80]

Yeah, I'm not convinced that's ich. Unfortunate brook, which is common in clowns, presents with spots but not as many as ich. I would remove the copper. This is only stressing this fish out. Also I would have meds ready. Formalin dips (or Quick Cure) are standard treatment. The only way to know for sure what you are dealing with is to do a skin scrape and look at it under a microscope.

 

[Arrgh]

OK Thanks.