Just got my brand new fish in a brand new tank and something is wrong.

[JakeH]

My fish arrived for my tank today. While acclimating I noticed one was hiding or dead in the bag while the other was active and ready to get out of the bag and into the tank. Once I acclimated and got them in the tank and put in some food I immediately realized what looked like a black spot on his lower jaw was keeping him from eating. He would go to grab food try and not be able to open his mouth while the other of the same size was able to gobble up what he couldn't. Any thoughts?

Being pro-active I went out to my LFS, sadly they don't supply for salt tanks but did have "Sentry Mardel Coppersafe: Provides relief from unwelcome parasites" so I got that and added the proper amount.

Fish came from F&S and have already been on the phone with them and awaiting e-mail/call back once they look over the pictures.

 

[microlady]

I would never add meds to a display tank (if that is what you did), and I would never treat for a disease with copper unless I was positive about the diagnosis. They are probably just stressed from shipping so keep your parameters in check and remove the copper with carbon and water changes.

 

[microlady]

And I hope your tank is cycled.

 

[JakeH]

Tank never cycled, the few creatures that came with live rock have all been thriving, I check Chem levels multiple times a day. Fish came out of transport bag that way. They will be the only fish in the tank and I added the medicine to the tank. It looks parasitic in nature. As it is inside and outside of his mouth. Cycling isn't a problem for me as all I can do until an injury from a car wreck heals is sit at home and watch the tank or tv for the next few months. Since I've had the tank, about 2 weeks now I've spent 20 hours a day looking at it sans fish until today so I want to make sure he can be healed or replaced by Dr. F&S before healthy one gets territorial. Within 5 minutes of being in the tank the sick one started being submissive to the healthy one shaking as they do when bonding.

 

[JakeH]

Also it's my only tank so quarantining isn't an option. Was planning on going to a 100+ tank in a few months and using current one as a quarantine/hopefully fry tank.

 

[Nina51]

exactly how did you acclimate them?

 

[JakeH]

Exactly as F&S instructions for doing it in bag stated. Will do drip next time, but once again the fish arrived in that condition. I however did not use a net to get them out of the bag as i dislike the effects nets have from what I have seen diving so I used a clear plastic container.

 

[JakeH]

I'd really like for him to pull through as they started bonding immediately. My on call zoologist with a specialty in water treatment has never seen a parasite like that. I've not been able to find any images of clownfish with something like that either.

 

[joshbrookkate]

While you're sitting watching the tank, check out the "stickies" in the "New to Hobby" forum. Lots of great info to read! It was how I spent my spare time in the first few months of setting up my tank. I didn't know what I didn't know. I love the learning in this hobby!

 

[JakeH]

That's pretty much all I do. Sit on lazy boy I put infront of the tank and surf the web for info. Checking Chem levels and maintaining tank.

 

[Nina51]

Exactly as F&S instructions for doing it in bag stated. Will do drip next time, but once again the fish arrived in that condition. I however did not use a net to get them out of the bag as i dislike the effects nets have from what I have seen diving so I used a clear plastic container.

there are several threads you should read about acclimating shipped fish (vs. locally bought fish). if you do a search, you should come up with several good reads. basically, many people are leaning toward only matching temp and salinity of qt and bag and releasing fish right into qt with no long drips or adding water to the bag over a period of time.

 

[JakeH]

Acclimating was not an issue. The fish came w/ what looks like a parasite or broken jaw.

 

[hotelbravo]

Acclimating was not an issue. The fish came w/ what looks like a parasite or broken jaw.

Regardless I think you should still go read up on some stuff. You claim you are reading but your doing some weird stuff with your tank like not cycling it, only adding two small rocks in there so your lacking the main filter in a tank (rock- the biological filter), adding harmful meds to your tank directly and not to a hoslital tank is a big no no. Copper is harmless for fish at those levels but inverts are going to be loss. That tuxedo urchin you are wanting. Had you put him in there, would have died. your setup is unconventional. And your going a little fast.

 

[Louis Z]

Research velvet, brooklynella, , uronema, ick, flukes . Know the symptoms. Know the treatments. Have the meds on hand . Don't wait till u see the disease Treat as soon as u get them home. Don't wait to order the meds Waiting a couple of days and the fish die. No QT tank nor HT and your doomed to repeat scenario.

 

[JakeH]

Oddly everything is ok and thriving. My question was what the heck is in my fishes mouth. No research I have done nor the people at Drs. Foster and smith were able to identify it. My set up is unconventional but it is working. The fish came to me in that condition and I'm trying to treat it. The bristle star and inverts that came with live rock are still all alive and active. And yes I want an urchin but not getting one until I'm sure my unconventional tank can support one. And no I'm not adding more LR or a sump or anything like that until it is proven that my tank's setup isn't viable.

Every response seems to be judgement when my tank is fine. Ph 0 nitrate 0 nitrites 0 amonia is less than .025 and going down since I cycled with fish and I expected that. Only looking to see if someone has seen what ever is in my fish before or maybe it was just born that way. Looks parasitic though.

 

[JakeH]

Ph 8.2**

 

[Louis Z]

Jake , the title brand new tank brand new fish and something wrong screams out trouble down the road .. I read where you stated quarantine tank is not an option . you will have to make it an option because without it you will risk the lives of your healthy fish or corals or other inverts. not having a qt tank for these fish and plopping them in your display tank usually leads to a lot of work trying to eliminate from your system. Been there done that. Need to have meds on stock to tackle the disease or parasites quickly. Fish need to be treated in treatment tanks not display tanks with other inverts or live rock since they usually die or absorb the medications. Parasites have a way of falling off and reproducing. They contaminate the tank and often spread to others or may lie dormant in the rock work or sand . Hopefully you won't transfer the rocks and sand to your new tank . If it is an odd parasite then you really don't want in a display tank . One thing about reading up on other diseases is that you get a feel for what meds are used and what they are used for. Often times its a guess of what is going on . There are thousands of diseases and parasites unknown with only a handful of treatments to work with. .and usually it takes a combination of meds to treat or eliminate parasites. I use simple and cheap 10gallon tanks for small sized fish with air stone and pvc elbows no rock work or sand . No need for cycling when you understand the tank transfer method. Sorry my mind picks up on that no QT tank option statement and quickly made a judgement. Well my process would be to zap it in a formalin bath. Your FW store should have quick cure. It contains formaldehyde and a dye . That is for simple bare tank scenario. You don't want to add that to your display tank. It blues up your silicone and usually knocks out your live rock. There isn't a tried and true quick cure process but what someone else has experimented with. Using an air stone add about 28 drops of quick cure for a recommended 50 min bath . This treatment is not guaranteed and I use it at my fishes peril . Now I have used more drops and longer time in one instance.
Formaldehyde is nasty stuff and toxic so hopefully it affects only the parasite and not the fish. There is also a Freshwater dip method that tends to shock the fish too while trying to shock the parasite off That one isn't guaranteed and also puts your fish at risk. It is often used for as long as your fish can tolerate it. I have used up to 5min and as little as a minute depending on the state of the fish Another thing I would try is to simply pull it off with tweezers .

 

[JakeH]

First thanks for useful information Louis. Perhaps my failure was in the title. The tank is going to be just my 2 fish. My concern is what is afflicting the fish. There will be almost no bio load on my tank as the tank is very literally just for them. As of 6am my time when I checked everything is still running smoothly except the injured fishes poops are string with blood in it so I'm going to get something, either a real tank or something to suffice, and throw an air stone in it and add my pwc water to it until I contact F&S as I do not want the other fish being infected since I'm fairly certain now it is a parasite.

 

[Louis Z]

Well that's another issue with different med scenario. Intestinal parasites are usually treated with metronidazole , praziquantel., and levamisole . I have used the first two and hope never have to use levamisole because the first two are readily available at all types of fish stores and cheap too. I don't know toxicity of levamisole on fish. Maybe someone else will chime in. I also can't see the small thumbnails of the fish . They won't enlarge for me so I really can't see the parasite on the mouth of the fish. Maybe because I am using an iPad . Hopefully drF&S make good. They were recently bought out . I don't know the new customer service since I haven't bought from them since the change over. So please report back with their response and your outcome

 

[biomek]

Just want to point out that regardless of the primary issue you'very posted about, people are simply trying to make other recommendations that may help you move forward. This forum is a huge resource of information available to folks who are wanting to last in the hobby. A very knowledgeable group of people with tons of experience who want to help. While most responses don't address your primary question, the other advice given is for the "bigger picture". Personally I don't have a clue about the problems with your fish and I'm surprised Dr's F&S haven't offered you a replacemnt. Hope everything works out for you.