Round 2

Freshbrew

Freshbrew

New member
Well, I'm at it again. Despite the loss of three fish, I bought one of those flatworm eating wrasses today. I hope she makes it. I acclimated her and put her into the tank. She sat next to a rock for about a minute and then burrowed into the sand and I have not seen her since. Hope that is normal. I wanted to wait given the appearance of my clown, I think the he has ich, but need those dang flatworms to go!!!!

I have been having problems with wild fluctuations in Ph levels. I tested it this morning and it was at 7.8 and tonight it is about 8.4. Not sure what is happening there, but Todd did some other tests on my water and said it is fine. Not sure what could be causing these fluctuations in Ph, but I hope it stops soon!

I'll keep you guys posted.

Thanks for all of your input and suggestions!

Chris:rolleye1:
 
Ph is fine. It is always going to be low in the morning unless you run your lights 24/7. Mine drops to 7.8 too in the morning and around 8.3 at lights out. With this cold weather we have been getting, our windows are closed shut for the most part. Fresh air will actually help raise the Ph. Anyways, good luck on the new wrasse. Sometimes a wrasse wont come out for a few days after they have been introduced to a new tank. just keep that in mind.
 
Freshbrew, how do you think your O2 levels are? You can't really measure them, but do you have rippling water on the surface or water crashing into your sump or an airstone or something in your system for good gas exchange?

The reason I ask is because maybe your tank is O2 poor and that could be a cause of fish loss or low Ph. I'm just grasping at straws here but I've read similar threads that discussed this problem. I don't have any links though, sorry. My Ph swings alot too from 7.7 morning to 8.1 or 2 just before lights out.

Oh, another thing, try putting your sump lights on a reverse schedule as your main lights. This should also help curb the Ph swing. Doesn't really help mine, but it may help you.
 
I doubt his O2 is low as his anemone is thriving according to him...it sounds to me like you had a classic battle with a fish disease, probably brook, or amyloodinium..perhaps even a combonation of diseases...this is a testbook case IMO. If it were o2 or PH, the anemone would have been the first to go.

Part of the problem with the message boards for noobies, is the fact they get so many perspectives and try everything making things worse. My suggestion is to trouble shoot on your own. Order the "Conscientious Marine Aquarist" from Amazon and try to trouble shoot from there.
 
Very nice eric. I agree sitting down with a good book almost always helps me more than a ton of diifferent Rc opinions.
I have got great advice and ideas off the net but the books seem to offer much more and tak you through the entire basics of the closed reef system and sometimes getting back to the basics gets you on track better than anything.
I absolutely love the Reef Aquarium III by sprung and delbeek. I refer to that book all the time and its my favorite at this time.
My second favorite is Reef Invertebrates by Calfo & Fenner, its got tank parameters section and goes over fish, rock, sand, filtration, equipment and everything, a great book.
Chris
 
My second favorite is Reef Invertebrates by Calfo & Fenner, its got tank parameters section and goes over fish, rock, sand, filtration, equipment and everything, a great book.
Click to expand...

And it addresses flatworms and how to get rid of them..it is a must have IMO.
 
Thanks for the input guys, my anenome is looking the best it has since I bought it right now, nice a big, almost had its bulbs this morning. I ttok several ph test through out the day today, at 10:30 it was 7.8, at about 3:00 it was 7.8 and just now tonight 5:00, it was about 8.4 I added some seachem buffer after the 3:00 reading. I had added some a few days ago. I guess I'll just see what happens, all the water tests are showing good, except for the fluctuating ph levels. SOOO...I guess I'll just wait and see. THe clown fish looks worse today, but it is still very active and ate this morning, so I guess he'll probably make it, but we will see.
 
How's the clown doing??

I have thought about this more, and here is a thought. I believe your clown has brook. All WC clowns have brook, sometimes though it never manifests itself. I think your Tangs died from the same affliction, however, there is no way to know with 100% certainty with out taking a scraping and analyzing it under the microscope. There could potentially be a few parasites that took hold of your fish, but I'm pretty sure brook is one of them, because fire clowns are magnets for it.

Now why hasn't the clown died? I believe that the symbiosis between clown and anemone actually helps in the prevention of full outbreaks of disease. I have read some scattered info on this, but the stinging celled nematocysts in the anemone, have to have some sort of affect on parasites. Whether this is the result of an increased production of a mucous slime coat protecting the fish, or a direct result of nematocysts coming in contact with the parasite, I believe from experience and some reading, clownfish with host anemones fight off infection greater than their counter parts without hosts.
 
Sorry so long to get back. The update is this, the Clown is doing better. The marks on him are starting to fade and he is back to his old self as far as moving around and leaving the anenome more. I purchased a wrasse to eat the flatworms, and she seems to be cutting them down fairly well, but they still can be found in large proportions. I wanted before putting the wrasse in but the flatworms were just to much to take, so hopefully the wrasse wont catch this affliction. Do you have a link to what brook looks like? It would be interesting to see. Anenomes are cool but it sucks that it cuts down on your ability to treat for disease. Thanks for everyones ideas and help. I'll keep you guys posted as this progresses, but I hope I am over the hump here. My H20 quality is within norms and I am getting the Ph to settle down somewhat by adding buffer every few days as needed.
 
Glad things are starting to turn out for you.
As far as pH, fluctuations are common in any tank, and I wouldn't worry too much about that...I always try to stay away from buffers and such, since you are adding extra chemicals to the tank. As long as the pH is the right level in the middle of the day, you should be fine, IMO.

For pictures of Brook, check out this link below. It's on another forum, but they have different diseases and their pictures listed:
http://www.saltwaterfish.com/vb/showthread.php?t=127010
 
Remember brook can kill without the fish ever showing any signs, and it may not always look the same from outbreak to outbreak. In this hobby medicating the display should never be an option, even without the anemone. There is no substitute for great water quality and consistant perameters. I had an entire post for you with links to various sites to research fish disease but before I could post, my power went out...go figure. My suggestion is to head over to the fish disease forum on RC and read articles and links provided over there...good luck. It does sound like things are getting better. Just focus on maintaining the water quality and getting rid of those flatworms. Remember...ramp up the water flow where these flatworms tend to settle.


http://reefcentral.com/forums/forumdisplay.php?s=&daysprune=&forumid=87
 
I agree, focus on water quality and do more or larger water changes if you have to.
I like to think we are water keepers rather than fish keepers, because all we really can control is the water and they cannot.
I've had fish get ich from time to time, but I keep the water quality up and the fish do fine with it.
Just remember to feed them well, even though that hurts the water they still need plenty of food, the water changes will help with removing the excess food & waste
 
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