Help with sick fish

[pony_killer]

this past weekend, i took out all of the live rock, fish, and corals and placed them in a rubbermaid tub. then i did a huge 90% water change and added a bit more live sand to even out the sand bed. as i caught and was about to place one of my blue/green chromis in the rubbermaid tub, he kind of leaped out into the tub, maybe a 2-3 foot fall into the water. i knew my fish were all stressed but after i placed them back into the tank (5 hours later) they all seemed fine. well this morning the one fish that leaped into the tank looked very very unhealthy. he had white spots all over him and it looked like his scales were peeling and some of the other fish were chasing him around. i know he's a cheap fish and its easy to get a replacement but i really want to try and save the little fella...any recommendations on what i can do? also is it wise to setup a qt tank and throw him in there? does qt have to be a tank or can it be a bucket with a heater, rock, and powerhead? none of my fish have ick but im scared that this little guy might get the others sick.

 

[jer77]

I'd definately set up a qt. What you need is a 10 gal tank which is fine for a chromis for a while. They are very cheap at your LFS. Then get a heater, powerhead, and a regular HOB filter.

Heres some links about ick and quarantine:
www.wetwebmedia.com/ichartmar.htm
http://reefkeeping.com/issues/2004-10/sp/feature/index.php

 

[Snowboarda42]

10 Gallon tanks are around $10 at petco or your LFS.

Just let him heal up, it might be ick so you might put some copper in there as well. just make sure none of the copper ends up in your tank...

Also, make sure you paint the bottom of the QT tank.

Here is a GREAT article on QT tanks and some other things...
http://www.saltwaterfish.com/vb/showthread.php?t=127007

Sorry mods, its a link to another forum...

 

[pony_killer]

do you think its from the fall?

 

[Snowboarda42]

it could be related because the fish got stressed im sure, thus lowering its immunity to parasites, plus you stirred up alot of stuff im sure too.

Good luck

 

[pony_killer]

oh yeah the tank was a mess...i scraped off so much green algae and coraline algae off the sides and back of the tank, then i vaccumed the top layer of sand and added more live sand to the for corners of the tank and flatened everything down with a plastic bag. the water was very murky and when i turned on the skimmer i had to empty out the cup 4 times in 30 minutes because it was filled with cloudy water (ran the skimmer wet for 30 minutes)

 

[jer77]

How many fish do you have? What kinds? To make sure all of them don't get sick they all should go in a qt tank.

Before you put them into the qt tank, I'd do a freshwater dip.

 

[Young Frankenstein]

I have blue green chromis and one of them whn he gets stressed out dos the same change in color but after a day changes back to normal.