zomg, fish are dying

[kinetic]

I came home today from a long and rough day at work (around 10pm) and found one of my clownfish dead and sucked against the vortech, bellus angel dissapeared, and my old clownfish covered with a white fuzz. This morning they looked great, they've been great forever. My shrimp is still alive, logs show no spike or drop in temp, params check out, all snails still alive (miraculously)...

I'm so sad.

I'm mixing water now to do a huge water change. I'm thinking of using a rock from my frag tank and dropping it into a bucket and putting my last fish in there to see if that will help, though that might be more stressful.

If she dies I'm done with this for awhile. I keep up with regular maintenance, but I think the tank needs more than just weekly water changes... can't do it.

 

[LeviT]

Sorry to hear that Art. Good luck and let me know if I can help.

 

[Tumbleweed]

Good Luck. Hope it all works out

 

[patchin]

Man, that's the pits.

 

[Raddogz]

Bummer Art!

 

[Elite]

That's weird Art. I only do a weekly or every other week wc on my tank. I don't even clean the glass now. I guess the macroalgae helps.. Hope you can fix it..

 

[LeviT]

.... i wouldn't think water quality would kill fish first so it has to be a fish ailment of some sort right? water quality would hit the inverts or coral right?

 

[kinetic]

[quote author=LeviT link=topic=4957.msg60717#msg60717 date=1224861570]
.... i wouldn't think water quality would kill fish first so it has to be a fish ailment of some sort right? water quality would hit the inverts or coral right?
[/quote]

That's what I'm thinking. But not sure what it is.

The fish looks all frazzled on the edges, fins look like they're quickly being eaten away. She has a fuzzy look to her body, losing a bit of color.

 

[pixelpixi]

Covered in a fuzz makes me think it might be marine velvet?

Sorry to hear it, Art.

 

[kinetic]

[quote author=pixelpixi link=topic=4957.msg60730#msg60730 date=1224868899]
Covered in a fuzz makes me think it might be marine velvet?

Sorry to hear it, Art.

[/quote]

does it come on this quickly?

 

[kinetic]

i'll pickup some copper treatment and get off of work early.

thanks for all of your support =)

 

[pixelpixi]

Yes, from what I've read it can happen rather quickly. Once it's visible on the skin it's already very advanced (starts out in the gills) and its highly contagious.

Be careful. I believe clownfish are sensitive to copper.

 

[cwolfus]

Are you checking PH? also, check pumps to make sure nothing is leaking out of them?

 

[kinetic]

[quote author=cwolfus link=topic=4957.msg60768#msg60768 date=1224883845]
Are you checking PH? also, check pumps to make sure nothing is leaking out of them?
[/quote]

Hmm, didn't check pH. Leaking pumps, meaning like oil or something? Didn't see much on my first pass.

 

[kinetic]

[quote author=pixelpixi link=topic=4957.msg60744#msg60744 date=1224873230]
Yes, from what I've read it can happen rather quickly. Once it's visible on the skin it's already very advanced (starts out in the gills) and its highly contagious.

Be careful. I believe clownfish are sensitive to copper.

[/quote]

oh shoot, they are? not sure what to treat it with. wetwebmedia says to use copper to treat marine velvet, but that's only on first pass at researching. I"ll look it up some more.

 

[kinetic]

When I get home I'll take a picture too, that'll help diagnose it. >.< omg i hope the little one is ok when I get home. I did a bigger than usual water change, changed the carbon to fresh carbon, cleaned out the skimmer...

 

[Paradox]

Sorry to hear that!

Oh and if you put copper in the tank, it will forever be unsafe for cephs.

 

[kinetic]

[quote author=Paradox link=topic=4957.msg60775#msg60775 date=1224892846]
Sorry to hear that!

Oh and if you put copper in the tank, it will forever be unsafe for cephs.
[/quote]

I'm going to hospital tank her in a small 8 gallon with a maxijet and some LR from my frag tank. I'll change the water pretty frequently.

So I read this article:
http://www.reefkeeping.com/issues/2004-07/sp/feature/index.php

Seems like I should treat with copper, after doing a quick 5 minute fresh water dip? Is that even safe? I've never given a fish a fresh water dip. Do I just put her in the fresh water (that's warmed up obviously) for five minutes? They say that's immediate relief but fresh water is still stressful.

 

[alve]

Sorry to hear you are having these problems. I have no experience with Marine Velvet or fresh water dipping so I hope someone else will chime in and help you out. Good luck and hopefully your clown fish will pull through!

 

[kinetic]

I might do the dip, and then put the clownfish into a hospital tank with copper. I also want to find Chloroquine Diphosphate, seems like a very effective medication.

Anybody know of where I can find such a medication? I doubt petco will have it. That's on my way home, I'll pickup some copper and if I can get home in time, I'll swing by Jim's Albany Aquarium to see what else he has.

>.< omg I really pray she's still alive when I get home. I'm going to hop on the BART and get home ASAP.