Need help with new Clownfish- Ich??

710Reefer

710Reefer

New member
Just got these guys from liveaquaria, they are moving around fine, exploring tank and no problems swimming. They go for the food, and they do eat, just don't seem interested after a few bites. Fed them mysis and some flakes.
77 degrees
no ammonia, ph is 8.1
sg 1.024
What do you guys think? Does this clown have ich? To me it looks more like a scrape, but then again I've never had a fish with ich so Im not sure. It doesn't have any other spots, nor does the other clownfish. I hear they get it on their fins first, is that right? Hope it doesn't have it:worried:.. They arrived in good spirits and noticed the spots when I looked inside the bag when I started to acclimate them.

sorry pics are not that clear. They move quick and my camera phone is not the best.



 
I would say you may have something there.

It doesn't necessarily appear on the fins first AFAIK.

Maybe it's just the picture, but he does appear to be clamping his fins.

You may notice the spots in different locations over time.

Does he have his mouth open much?

The good news is if it is ich you should have a chance of beating it. My fish are currently ill and I do not have such definite spots, which may mean it is something else...

Anyhow wait for more opinions and good luck with that.
 
The spots look too big to be crypto (ich) to me. They could be lymphocystis, which will go away on its own with good nutrition and water quality. Since you just got them, the lack of appetite is likely due to shipping stress. How is the fish behaving otherwise? Any labored breathing or rubbing against objects in the aquarium?
 
My lfs was cool and placed them in a qt for me. I asked them if we could work something out, I've been a good friend to them so they gave me future credit on coral or fish for future tanks. I thought that was awesome of them.

Deinonych said:
The spots look too big to be crypto (ich) to me. They could be lymphocystis, which will go away on its own with good nutrition and water quality. Since you just got them, the lack of appetite is likely due to shipping stress. How is the fish behaving otherwise? Any labored breathing or rubbing against objects in the aquarium?
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They did have a what seemed like a hard time breathing, they did seem active though. I never noticed them rubbing or bashing on anything but at night they could have.
 
you would have been much better off setting up your own qt. a simple 10 gallon tank with heater, air stone, and some pvc for hiding places. that way, you could monitor the fish yourself and treat with meds if necessary. never, ever trust anyone else to qt your fish.

liveaquaria has a 14 day guarantee and they are great to deal with! if this was ich, i suspect you would see definite signs within that 14 days. it does not look like ich to me, more like a scrape or possibly lympho.

also, from the pictures, it looks like you put them directly into your display tank. IF this is a case of ich, you have now contaminated your dt with the parasite.
 
I feel like a fool guys, No qt tank set up, No knowledge as to whats going on. My LFS told me if I didn't feel comfortable trying to treat them or have them in my tank I could leave it with them and take credit. I did that, Liveaquaria is awesome with returns so I called them and talked to them about it. They want me to call in today or receive a credit for the fish. That is awesome. Im going to set up a qt today and order another pair. Any links to setting up QTs??
 
Deinonych said:
I'm not sure these fish necessarily have a disease. Why not retrieve them from the LFS and quarantine them yourself? No sense spending more money on more fish (LA won't refund shipping costs), and establishing a good QT practice is critical to long-term success IMO.

Here's a handy link to setting up a QT:

http://www.reefcentral.com/forums/showthread.php?s=&threadid=1207733
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im going to read that right now, thanks for the link. I ordered from divers den and they gave me credit on fish and 1 for shipping. They said I only get one with my account, can I add the fish I took to my lfs into a qt tank, then transfer them to my 29 gallon with a goby and pistol shrimp? I only have 1 fish and shrimp pair but I do have 4 sexy shrimp.

Also, should I qt any new fish I order from divers den? They already placed the order for a bonded pair of Sanjay's Snowflake Black Photon clownfish ..
 
yikes! well, you won't be able to put all 4 clowns in your tank, they are much too aggressive. i guess you won't have any choice but to leave the original 2 clowns at the lfs and get whatever credit they will give you. when the new clowns come from DD, have a qt tank all set up and ready to go.
 
Nina51 said:
yikes! well, you won't be able to put all 4 clowns in your tank, they are much too aggressive. i guess you won't have any choice but to leave the original 2 clowns at the lfs and get whatever credit they will give you. when the new clowns come from DD, have a qt tank all set up and ready to go.
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Oh ok, no I'm planning on adding them to a tank I have set up for my goby and sexy shrimp. Not sure if they would try and eat them though. The clowns at my LFS are a good size.

Yeah 4 clowns would be a big no no in my 20 gallon tank. Im just going to set up a qt. I already have the tank, pump or airstone, and an extra LED fixture I had on my old 5 gallon tank.
I have ocean water from my LFS that I use for water changes, should i just start with that or water from my 20 gallon tank that I'm planning on keeping the DD clownfish in?
Also, im not sure if I need to wait for a cycle or how long i should have the qt tank up for. The fish get here on Tuesday...
 
710Reefer said:
Also, should I qt any new fish I order from divers den? They already placed the order for a bonded pair of Sanjay's Snowflake Black Photon clownfish ..
Click to expand...

Yes, QT all new acquisitions, even if they come from Diver's Den (the DD folks strongly recommend QT as well). Diver's Den doesn't really do a true quarantine for most fish, just an extended acclimation/observation for a couple weeks before offering them for sale. You do get what you pay for, though -- they have the healthiest livestock in the business IMO. The 14-day guarantee is just icing on the cake.
 
Deinonych said:
Yes, QT all new acquisitions, even if they come from Diver's Den (the DD folks strongly recommend QT as well). Diver's Den doesn't really do a true quarantine for most fish, just an extended acclimation/observation for a couple weeks before offering them for sale. You do get what you pay for, though -- they have the healthiest livestock in the business IMO. The 14-day guarantee is just icing on the cake.
Click to expand...

Thanks, I'm going to set up a temporary qt for now. I don't think ill be able to keep it running full time after these fish are introduced. Does this tank need to cycle if I'm using sea water?
 
see if you can get the seachem ammonia alert badge so you can monitor ammonia. you can control ammonia with water changes if this is just a temporary qt. my qt is this way, just used when i am getting a new fish. once the fish goes into my dt, the qt gets taken down and put in the back room till next time.
 
Nina51 said:
see if you can get the seachem ammonia alert badge so you can monitor ammonia. you can control ammonia with water changes if this is just a temporary qt. my qt is this way, just used when i am getting a new fish. once the fish goes into my dt, the qt gets taken down and put in the back room till next time.
Click to expand...

Ah thats perfect, glad I can do it this way. Ill just set it aside like you when needed. I should probably use this with corals and invert too right?

I think my local petsmart has them in stock. Going to pick one up now.
I have water in the tank with some circulation. I don't necessarily need a filter do I? I do have one just wondering though.
 
710Reefer said:
Ah thats perfect, glad I can do it this way. Ill just set it aside like you when needed. I should probably use this with corals and invert too right?

I think my local petsmart has them in stock. Going to pick one up now.
I have water in the tank with some circulation. I don't necessarily need a filter do I? I do have one just wondering though.
Click to expand...

Yes you will want a filter. A little hang on the back will work fine. Also you will want to jump start the QT to get it cycled. An easy way to do that is to take a piece of live rock out of your tank if you have some and put it in the QT. Put in some PVC pipe pieces from your local hardware store in it for the fish to hide. Don't put any sand or substrate in. You want a bare bottom.
 
live rock in a qt is not a good idea since it will absorb any medications you might have to use. also, any live rock that you put into your qt can NEVER go back into your display tank.

a filter isn't necessary unless you want to use a hob filter for more water movement. i keep a half dozen filter sponges in my sump at all times. when i get a new fish in qt, i just put one of these in the tank to provide some biological filtration. too many people overthink a qt tank. it can be as simple as water/air stone/heater/a couple of pieces of pvc. i have never cycled a qt tank. the only reason you would do that would be if you intend to keep it going 24/7/365. i can do a water change in my qt in about 5 minutes. :)
 
Nina51 said:
live rock in a qt is not a good idea since it will absorb any medications you might have to use. also, any live rock that you put into your qt can NEVER go back into your display tank.

a filter isn't necessary unless you want to use a hob filter for more water movement. i keep a half dozen filter sponges in my sump at all times. when i get a new fish in qt, i just put one of these in the tank to provide some biological filtration. too many people overthink a qt tank. it can be as simple as water/air stone/heater/a couple of pieces of pvc. i have never cycled a qt tank. the only reason you would do that would be if you intend to keep it going 24/7/365. i can do a water change in my qt in about 5 minutes. :)
Click to expand...

Thank you for all the help. Glad I'm able to set one up with minimal cost. I have everything ready for the little guy.. QT them for about 2-3 weeks??
 
that is what liveaquaria suggests you do but most people who qt go at least a month, some much longer.

i use tank transfer for every new fish, no matter what. that's a 12-day process and then i observe for 3-4 weeks before it goes into my dt.

it just take a LOT of patience!!! it's so easy to think all is well after a week or two in qt and then when the fish goes into the dt, the doodoo hits the fan and you end up with a case of ich or brook or velvet and all of your hard work goes right down the tubes. it's a chance i just don't like to take. i have learned more patience in the last couple of years than i have learned in 63 years of life. LOL
 
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