Help....my domino is dying

[talon4x4]

My domino has lost all his color. This has been happening over the past couple days. The color came back and then was gone again yesterday and now today it's almost completely gone. You can see right through the scales. His eyes seem enlarged and cloudy. He has also become very skiddish, used to be extremely bold. He is still eating though!! The domino is in a 35gal tank with 1 blue/green chromis. This tank is being setup as a reef tank and doesn't have much else going on. The current parameters are: ammonia:0, nitrite:0, nitrate: 40ppm (lost a cleaner shrimp, he may be the cause), pH: 8.2, temp: 79.3, salinity: 1.025. The tank took 5 weeks to cycles and the domino went in after the cycle, about a month and a half ago.

Any ideas or suggestions would be greatly appreciated.

 

[talon4x4]

Anyone?!?!? This poor little guy is suffering and I have no idea what to do. I can't find anything about his scales turning opaque. I found info about his eyes becoming swollen but nothing about both together.

HELP!!

 

[EyeCandy]

I personally would let him pass, they are evil. JK JK I see you really care about this fish. I think with you still having a new tank, that would be the main cause, I continually lost fish in the first 6-8 months of setting up my tank precisely because it was not "matured". If he is eating that's good, continue to do everything normal, water change wouldn't hurt. About the color, I have seen gray-ish domino damsels before but if it has suddenly changed I don't know about that.

 

[talon4x4]

I thought about the problem coming from a tank that had not yet matured, but these dominoes are pretty hardy, especially one this size 3.5", from what I've read.

Someone else had suggested "popeye" brought on by a bacterial infection. Which I don't even know how I'll treat him. He is so stressed right now the move would make it worse, plus I don't want to damage the swollen eyes.

Is this something the chromis can catch?? In the event the domino dies what has to be done?? Will the whole tank have to be torn down?? Is this something that can stay in the tank??

 

[EyeCandy]

I believe that when stressed, a fish can develope any disease lingering in an aquarium, for example, I have had a flame angel for about 3 years and just a few months ago, he was really stressed. and his eye was slightly swollen and looks like "pop eye." I did a water change and within a few days, the fish was fine. I don't believe in stressing out an animal if trying to treat it is going to create more stress and cause a larger problem. I look at it like a daycare, if you mix a sick child in with healthy kids, maybe a few might catch the cold, maybe not. As for your chromis, if they are healthy and happy, I wouldn't worry too much about them. Keep an eye on them and continue to check their color, feeding, etc. If the domino dies, I would recommend water changes. I don't think it's worth taking the whole tank down.

 

[talon4x4]

OK, I picked up the quICK cure and Methylene blue. One for ick and one for a possible bacteria infection, I was told the blue with also help with the labored/rapid breathing.

Can these both be dosed at the same time??

Should I lower the salinity in the QT tank??

Will these two treatments cause any problems like copper does, in the long run??

Is there any special testing of the water that needs to be done besides the things normally tested for??

What about temp in the QT tank, slightly lower than normal??

Sorry about all the questions. I just don't want to make things worse than they already are.

 

[kevin2000]

My 02

If the fish is eating then I would suggest holding off on the "meds in the ST" and just doing a series of moderate water changes.

Fish changing color doesn't tell you much .. many fish lose coloration every night and it comes back during the day. Might also be a sign of stress which would not surprise me since both fish can be territorial.

Cloudy eye is generally a sign of a bacterial issue .. but in many cases that clears up on its own so long as you maintain good water quality and feed the fish nutritious food. The fish's own immune system can usually ward this off. If you don't see progress then antibiotics may be needed ... those require a QT.