Help!! Flame angel trouble.

[Markushka]

My flame angel had developed what seemed to be ich. I treated it in a qt tank with formalin till there were no signs of white spots. Then I reintroduced the flame angel to my main tank. It was looking stressed so I left it to acclimate. In the morning the flame was still swimming around and not as stressed but seemed to be having swim bladder trouble. It was doing tail stands and swimming awkwardly. as the day went by the flame worsened, it was laying on its side. I did what I could last night when things started looking really bad. I gave up at 3 am, woke up this morning to see it still alive but on its side. I don't know what to do or what it might be. It could be formalin poisoning tho I was very carful with the dosing. It could be acclimation shock from going from the qt to the dt. I dunno, any advice?

Tank specs:
46g with 20g fuge and 10g sump
SG: 1.023-1.025
No ammonia, nitrite, nitrate or phosphate issues.
Tank has been running at the current config since Jan 2011, system dates back to 2009 tho.
All my other fish and corals are doing fine, acting normally and looking healthy.

 

[b0bab0ey]

Did you run carbon/do WCs in the QT to remove the Formalin before transferring the Flame back to the DT? If not, it could be the difference in the water chemistry between the medicated QT and the non-medicated DT. Basically, the fish didn't handle going "cold turkey" so well. Also, what's up with the 1.023-1.025 SG? Is that how much it swings in a day due to evaporation?

 

[Markushka]

I did not, Its been so long that I have run carbon on any tank that I'd forgotten about that. the fish is still hanging in there, I have it in a breeder net of sorts to keep it under closer observation. the 1.023- 1.025 range is what I keep it within, I do not actually measure SG unless there is some thing off. It was at 1.025 when I took a reading this morning with my refrac.

 

[sandwi54]

I treated it in a qt tank with formalin till there were no signs of white spots. Then I reintroduced the flame angel to my main tank.

Unfortunately, "no signs of white spots" does not mean ich is gone. Please read the following two stickies.

http://www.reefcentral.com/forums/showthread.php?t=1992196
http://www.reefcentral.com/forums/showthread.php?t=2041951

Formalin works very well on freshwater ich but is generally not a successful treatment for marine ich. The two main methods for curing marine ich are hyposalinity and copper. Cupramine (the safest copper med on the market now) is what i always use to treat ich.

now getting back to your questions. did you carefully acclimate the fish from QT to DT? it sounds like the fish is in shock, either temperature and/or pH. I would recommend that you always measure the pH and temperature difference between QT and DT, so that you have an idea of how long the acclimation needs to be. i usually go by following rule of thumb.

pH difference: <= 0.1 - 30 min, <= 0.2 - 60 min, <= 0.3 - 120 min.

If the pH difference is larger than 0.3, then you should adjust the pH of the tank that the fish is going into with commercial pH adjustment kits, before starting the acclimation process.

 

[sandwi54]

I did not, Its been so long that I have run carbon on any tank that I'd forgotten about that. the fish is still hanging in there, I have it in a breeder net of sorts to keep it under closer observation. the 1.023- 1.025 range is what I keep it within, I do not actually measure SG unless there is some thing off. It was at 1.025 when I took a reading this morning with my refrac.

Why would the salinity vary so much? when you make new water you should keep the salinity the same as the DT water. a constant salinity variation is stressful to fish and causes all kinds of problems, the worst being a weakened immune system which makes them more susceptible to diseases.