I've had a firefish, clown, and chromis in my quarantine tank for a little over 2 months. They went through a course of Cupramine, and were eating well and looking great. However, about 4 weeks ago the clown developed a red rough patch on it's chin that had a "raspberry" kind of look to it. I dosed Cupramine and it ebbed away.
About two weeks ago I noticed that the firefish had a small white patch that looked like an abrasion. He had gotten startled and jumped into the cover the day before, so I thought it might be an injury. However, it slowly grew wider and deeper over a few days, till it looked like a small white hole surrounded by a whitish area. About the same time the clown started getting little red dots around the chin, and then some white kind of stringy stuff around the gill area. The white stuff was maybe 1/8 inch long, but it came from a wide area (see photo) on only one side.
The fish had been through Cupramine already at proper concentrations (as far as I could tell using salifert test kit) and I wondered if it could be flukes and/or some kind of parasite that wasn't affected by copper. Also I was concerned that the white patch on the firefish might be some kind of bacterial infection.
I did an 85% water change and gave the clown a freshwater dip which he tolerated well. I didn't see anything identifiable in the water after the dip. I then added Prazipro. The white strings diminished over a day or two, but the gills looked red. As the photo will show, he also had almost clear abnormalities on his skin. The red "pimples" seemed to have gone away and left red spots in their place. I don't know if this is so, but that's how it seemed.
I now added Erythromycin in an attempt to ward off bacteria. I don't know a lot about this antibiotic in relation to fish, but understand it is broad spectum. Until now the fish were eating well, though the clown looked a bit thin to me. However, they both stopped eating at this time and began hiding a lot of the time. The clown started swimming upside down then grew weaker and began getting pushed around by the pump. Both fish were dead in a few days.
The chromis has always eaten well and appears to be just fine, though he has always looked skinny to me. He was quite small when I got him.
What might have caused these fish deaths after having been in the qt so long, and having been through copper. What is the odd white stuff on the clown and what could have been the red dots? Is it normal for these problems to show up after such a long time?
I'm attaching photos, though they aren't very good quality.
Throughout the whole two months the tank has been stable, no ammonia, low nitrates, salinity 1.024 (I use an ATO), temp 78.4 (though it did spike up to about 81.5 a couple times recently due to extreme outdoor temperatures and our house not having AC).
Ted
About two weeks ago I noticed that the firefish had a small white patch that looked like an abrasion. He had gotten startled and jumped into the cover the day before, so I thought it might be an injury. However, it slowly grew wider and deeper over a few days, till it looked like a small white hole surrounded by a whitish area. About the same time the clown started getting little red dots around the chin, and then some white kind of stringy stuff around the gill area. The white stuff was maybe 1/8 inch long, but it came from a wide area (see photo) on only one side.
The fish had been through Cupramine already at proper concentrations (as far as I could tell using salifert test kit) and I wondered if it could be flukes and/or some kind of parasite that wasn't affected by copper. Also I was concerned that the white patch on the firefish might be some kind of bacterial infection.
I did an 85% water change and gave the clown a freshwater dip which he tolerated well. I didn't see anything identifiable in the water after the dip. I then added Prazipro. The white strings diminished over a day or two, but the gills looked red. As the photo will show, he also had almost clear abnormalities on his skin. The red "pimples" seemed to have gone away and left red spots in their place. I don't know if this is so, but that's how it seemed.
I now added Erythromycin in an attempt to ward off bacteria. I don't know a lot about this antibiotic in relation to fish, but understand it is broad spectum. Until now the fish were eating well, though the clown looked a bit thin to me. However, they both stopped eating at this time and began hiding a lot of the time. The clown started swimming upside down then grew weaker and began getting pushed around by the pump. Both fish were dead in a few days.
The chromis has always eaten well and appears to be just fine, though he has always looked skinny to me. He was quite small when I got him.
What might have caused these fish deaths after having been in the qt so long, and having been through copper. What is the odd white stuff on the clown and what could have been the red dots? Is it normal for these problems to show up after such a long time?
I'm attaching photos, though they aren't very good quality.
Throughout the whole two months the tank has been stable, no ammonia, low nitrates, salinity 1.024 (I use an ATO), temp 78.4 (though it did spike up to about 81.5 a couple times recently due to extreme outdoor temperatures and our house not having AC).
Ted
