Ick??? new clowns!

[kevin21]

hey,

my 75g finished its cycle and i let it sit for a couple weeks ot make sure params were stable.

i purchased 2 percs on monday. One of them is fine, perfect coloration, active, eating.

the second is a little smaller and is much lighter in color. he always stays at the top of the water. there is this white stringy stuff hanging off of him? what is that?

On him there is like a small patch of it that is like hanging off of him.

can anyone help?

i dont have a QT...i could probably purchase a 5g tank and fill it with water from the 75g but then wouldnt there still be a cycle in the 5g...i have no filter for it?

someone help!!!!!!!!

 

[kau_cinta_ku]

sounds to me like he has some sort of bacterial infection. best thing to do would to try feeding with garlic. i like using formula 1 pellets that already have garlic in it the clowns love it.

 

[kevin21]

i have formula two flakes...i think that has garlic but im not sure.

i dont want them to infect the water in the tank...should i take them back to the LFS?

this is only there 3rd day in the tank??

thanks

 

[shinna]

Buy some Kent Xtreme Garlic, squirt a drop or two into a container with a bit of tank water & put your food in, let it soak for 30 mins & the fish will love it. I've been using it since my outbreak of ich (yours isnt ich though) & my fish are all doing great! It's fantastic for there ammune system.

 

[kau_cinta_ku]

i don't think bacterial infections will harm anyhting in your tank except for the fish that has it so it won't concern the rest of your tank. but may want to try the fish disiese forum just in case. i wouldn't be in such a big rush to take them back to the store as you will prob. have better luck with the fish than the store

 

[kevin21]

thanks for the response...as you can see im a student and i dont drive yet! i would have to wait till my dad gets home which will be around 5!

any suggestions!

im not sure what to do...if they contaminate the water wouldnt i have to let the tank sit for 6 months and do nothing!

 

[kevin21]

ok, double post.

hopefully thats the case...i will get some kent xtreme garlic and hope that works.

thanks, any other suggestions?

 

[kau_cinta_ku]

you are talking about an ich infection but the way it sounds you don't have ich but an internal infection that won't harm the tank. only the fish that has it which can be cured

 

[Black Mammoth]

That's not Ich. Also, using garlic will not help him at this point. I know what you are talking about...I can't remember name right now. If you don't treat the fish ASAP, it will be dead by tomorrow. Go to the disease forum and ask for help there. I'm not sure if copper will help or not. You need to get that fish in a hospital tank ASAP.

Garlic in general should help, but I think he's beyond that point right now.

 

[Pandora]

Honestly, with a true bacterial infection (which I think sounds likely from the vague description, too, but pictures would help much more, since it could also be fungus, or sloughing off of the slime coat for other reasons), garlic will only help in a very limited way. THere have been scattered reports of allicin in the literature as an immunobooster for fish, but nothing confirmed for a full blown infection such as this. If it really is a skin infection, you will need an antibiotic such as tetracycline, which will unfortunately cause your cycle to crash by necessity. Was the fish in question showing ANY signs of difficulty or unusual behavior/appearence when you purchased it? Always a good idea to observe very closely and QT every purchase.

 

[kevin21]

looked fine on monday...i have no hospital tank for him.

even if i went and purchased a 5g for him...there would still be a cycle even if i used the water from the 75g.

i dotn know what to do here...i have no clue what to treat him.

 

[kau_cinta_ku]

if your main tank has already cycled and you use the water from the main tank for your 5gal. there won't be a cycle

 

[kevin21]

i have no filtration for this tank...i dont have a heater.

i have an airstone but the airstone is suitable for a 75g tank!

should i just have the 5g with and airstone in it? ill hopefully pick up a heater?

 

[kevin21]

if i go to a LFS and purchase a 5g tank and a small heater, would i need anything else??

i have an airstone suitable for a 55g tank...will this be to much for the 5g??

 

[Pandora]

Please tell me you have a heater for the 75 gallon tank? Since you have no QT set up, I don't see much choice in it... you will either need to treat them in the larger tank or return them to the store if possible (I would do the latter). Setting up a 5 gallon QT at the last minute will probably cause more stress than not. I don't think your larger tank was ready for fish yet, sorry. Are you sure it was done cycling? Cycling is a dynamic process, and if there was no real source of ammonia, then the cycle really began when you put the two fish in.

 

[kevin21]

the tank was more then ready, cycled with live rock for 4 weeks and then i let it sit for 2 more?

of course i have a heater for thr 75g.

i guess ill just return them to the LFS then. if you think thers no chance then thats probably the best thing to do.

thanks

 

[kevin21]

I called up 2 LFS and both said they wont take it back. i said i dont want my money back, cant you just put them in QT.

both said they have no QT!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

thats unbelievable. poor guys...what should i do!

 

[zimmy1979]

I would immediately start using Garlix Xtreme, Selcon, and Marine-C even though it might or might not help. Did wonders for my clownfish..

 

[kevin21]

i returned them to a LFS.

hopefully they live throught htere QT.

is my tank water now contaminated???

would it be bad to try another pair say tomorrow?

thanks

 

[Black Mammoth]

Your tank is fine. You can try more fish, but this is what I would do.

1. Get a 20g or larger for a QT tank. I use my QT tank for both QT and Hospital. That's just me though.
2. Get your QT tank setup. Make sure you have a heater and some PVC for hiding out. I also added a very low flow powerhead to continously break the surface of the water. I just use a regular light next to the tank for lighting.
3. You can speed up the process a bit by mixing 50/50 of your 75g tank and new water.
4. Get some kind of disposible filtration. People let some stuff sit in ther sump until they need it for their QT tank. But whatever you do, don't put it back in your sump.

Then you can try getting some fish and put them in your QT tank. Watch them every day. Make sure they are breathing, eating, and looking OK. QT for at least a week if not longer. While they are in the QT tank feed them with garlic soaked food.

At first I didn't have a QT & a hospital tank and I lost fish. Now that I have one, I haven't really had any problems. I'm also paranoid about my filtration so I try to do a 10% water change every other day. If I can't, I'll do a 20% - 25% change every week.

That works for me, but I'm sure there are better techniques than the one I'm using.