Clownfish are dying?

[Cambria]

I have a 75 gallon saltwater tank which I was treating for ich using "Ich Attack Herbal Formula". The ich looks to be gone, but I'm still treating it. Although for some reason I've had 5 clownfish die.

Four of them were black & white and before they died had a couple small clear/faded spots if that means anything. They had no signs of ich on them. The other one was a snowflake which had a couple of those spots when he was dead. And all of these were sudden deaths. They seemed to hang out by the jets or on sand with rapid breathing and fins moving, and then would go up to the surface.

All the other fish seem fine, there's a yellow tang, 2 watchman gobies, 2 firefish, coral beauty, and a small blue hippo tang. It's only the clownfish that are dying. I've checked Nitrate, Nitrite, Alkalinity, and pH and all is good. I'm working on setting up a two 15gal quarantine tanks and treat all the fish with Cupramine with the Salifert Copper test kit for marine velvet.
But is this the case of marine velvet?

 

[MrTuskfish]

The clowns sound like they may have had marine brooklynella, you can Google it and probably tell.
The herbal stuff you're using doesn't work, there are many worthless ich remedies. This stuff doesn't even claim to eliminate ich, just "help prevent""". It also claims to be safe for inverts; there is nothing that kills ich and is safe for a reef tank (inverts).

It is normal for ich to become invisible for a while; but its still there and will return in much larger numbers. Copper will cure ich or velvet; but this really sounds like brook to me. Brook is very tough to cure, only med I know works is formalin. Some fish have good resistance to brook, but you still need to get the fish in the HT and let the DT stay fishless for 10+ weeks. If you're sure its brook or velvet; 6 weeks. Pics would really help.
I'd read the ich and brook stickies at the top of the disease forum. If this is brook or velvet; you don't have much time. Brook and velvet are real killers, a vital reason to use a QT regimen with all new fish.

BTW; keeping more than 2 clownfish (any species) works with juvi clowns. But when they mature and form pairs, they will not tolerate each other. You should never keep more that 2 clowns, except possibly in huge tanks.

 

[Cambria]

Thanks for the information.

I was wondering, when buying new fish and putting them in a quarantine tank for so many weeks, should you take extra measures to treat them for types of diseases or do you just look for signs of diseases within that period of time?

 

[MrTuskfish]

Thanks for the information.

I was wondering, when buying new fish and putting them in a quarantine tank for so many weeks, should you take extra measures to treat them for types of diseases or do you just look for signs of diseases within that period of time?

There sure isn't any great consensus on this question. Many folks do treat prophylacticly, I use copper and Prazi-Pro in the QT on all new fish. However, this isn't for everyone. I think a good compromise is to treat all fish with Prazi-Pro, a wormer that kills flukes and other worm-pests. PP is a very safe and easy med. Then, use tank transfer to get ich. It is a very simple way to eliminate ich; by far, the most common protozoan parasite. TT will only kill ich, not the more deadly velvet or brooklynella parasites. But these two parasites almost always make an appearance during the QT period and can be dealt with there. BTW, I currently use a 6 week QT regimen, longer than many. FWIW, I have about 1000 gallons of DT space; protozoan parasite free. But, many hobbyists don't pre-treat and have the same. (I just re-read my post: it reminds me of the old Lite Beer ads "Actually, I feel very strongly both ways".)

 

[alprazo]

100% agree with Mr. Tuskfish. The longer I've been in the hobby, the more time and effort I spend on the QT process. I treat all fish with praziquantel and chloroquine. All sharks with praziquantel, chloroquine and dimilin. 3 months seems to be the average time in QT now. I have seen over and over again fish make it through QT without treatment bring a nightmare into the DT. I had a near total wipe out several years ago when velvet made it through a 6 week QT. lost fish I had > 15 years. Even my current regimen is not adequate and I have had parasitic polychaete worms make it through. Fortunately they typically are not the killers like ich and velvet.