Emergency fish and equipment issue

[Bbentler]

I am currently having a bit of a fish issue. Three of my fish (after a transfer from a previous setup) have developed bloches on there body. It looks like a discoloration. Also, I have noticed little white pieces on there fins. I would like to treat with either copper, melafix, or pimafix, however I have an anemone and don't feel it would be safe with that. Also, for some reason my return air pipes have air coming out of them. It is causing microbubles which I believe are perpetuating the problem. I can't tell if the fish is sick or if it is just stress from the bubbles. How do you fix the return pipe from creating microbubles. I have no idea where they are coming from and why.

 

[got2lb]

The best way to treat your fish would be to put them in a different tank and quarantine them. DO NOT PUT COPPER IN YOUR DISPLAY TANK! You will NEVER be able to have inverts in the tank again. It will stay leached into your rock and will not go away.

It doesn't take much of a pinhole to blow microbubbles. Is your return pump submersible or is it external? Check all the fittings for any sign of salt creep. If there's salt creep that's probably where your air is getting in. If your pump is external make sure you have teflon tape on the threads and that the fittings are tight.

 

[Coralfreak]

It is doubtful that the bubbles are stressing the fish, however, they can get stuck in the mucus coating of the fish, and appear to be "ick" or even look like fungus. Are you using the Iwaki pump? If so, my guess on the bubbles is that you have a leak on the intake side of the pump. You wont see many signs of this while it is running, try shutting the pump down and look for leaks.

 

[Bbentler]

I found a leak and fixed it as well as turned off the protein skimmer and it got rid of the bubbles and the "sickness". My angel still has a little bit of blotchy discoloration, but she has had that for about two weeks before the transfer. Thanks guys for the help.

 

[vincejo28]

Just a little trick I have used in two or three tanks. Odiously the water level has to be over the intake on the pump (I know you knew that) but covering it never seems to be good enough. If it is a larger pump you have to have more water over it then a smaller one. If there is not quite enough water over the intake it will create a suction ( a little tornado) that brings in air creating micro bubbles. I am sure we all have seen this when our sump gets low on water. So what I have done, because I couldnââ"šÂ¬Ã¢"žÂ¢t raise the water level, I simply put a filter material in the sump laying it right above the intake. Extremely cheap and easy fix. All it does is not allow the surface water to break and let the cyclone in. Not really sure on the physics of it, but I worked great for me. I just went to Lowes and got a pond filter material. It is like an inch to an inch and a half thick and I think that is why it works so well. I also tried just putting a prefilter on the intake and that worked, but it slowed down my return, so I went with the other stuff. Give it a try, cheap and easy.

 

[Bbentler]

Unfortunately I have an external pump. So I have to do a lot of work with it to get it to work.