HELP!!! Problems with my new True Perculas

[carlos_fb]

I don't know if this is the right place to post this so please feel free to move this threat.

My tank has been running for over 3 months. It completed the cycle almost a month ago. 2 weeks ago I added a full cleaning crew and all inverts seem to be ok.

Last Sunday I got a breeding pair of True Perculas to finally add some fishes to my tank. They looked fine when I got them but they have not eaten ever since. I have tried every food but they don't seem to be interested in it at all. They just hang out around a corner of the tank all day and night.

Today I noticed that both of them but especially the female has some little spots of skin pelling off.

Here's a picture of her.



And here's a picture of the male.



PLEASE HELP!!!

 

[spongebob lover]

i'm sorry about your clowns dood .
I'd pm elmo and see if he can give you some clown advice .

 

[dailydriven911]

looks like ich to me. I would get them out of your system and into a quarantine tank asap. Hope they get better and start eating. Good luck.

 

[leebca]

It almost looks like one is 'sluffing' off mucous. Are they wild-caught? Were they treated for brooklynellosis? This is often a sign of this disease. Any other symptoms other than not eating? Were they eating before you got them? Are you sure they are in perfect water quality? One thing about water quality. . .

Instead of going into your display tank, it would have been good timing to put each one into its own quarantine tank. After adding the cleanup crew, that sends the marine system into an additional microbe cycle which takes a few weeks or a couple of months, to resettle. I call it the 'Secret Cycle.' (More on that here: http://www.reefland.com/forum/saltwater-fish-only-aquariums/21338-secret-cycle.html).

So putting the fish in a quarantine process would have given the fish more time to be sure they were eating and healthy and at the same time, given the marine system an additional chance to mature.

 

[Brenden]

Def not ich. Notice how it is running down the lateral line. Give us your water parameters.

 

[carlos_fb]

Here are my parameters...

Ammonia 0
Nitrite 0
Nitrate 0
pH 8.1
Salinity 1025
PPT 33
Temp 79.2 F

Thanks for your help you all!

 

[Damsel13]

oh man you don't deserve this s***

 

[Damsel13]

Lee has the best way to do it. I suggest get some live or bloodworms soaked in Ro/DI drained add some tank water and Turkey baster feed them veeeeerrrryyy slowly. They might take worms... good luck

 

[BTTRFLYGRL]

I've always had great luck feeding small Clowns Cyclopeeze. After a couple of weeks they would eat anything.
If this are wild caught Clowns I would be very concerned about Brook. Probably best to move them to qt and start formalin dips just to be safe. Brook invades the gills first and usually kills quickly

Here's some info, you can also find instructions on Formalin dips here

http://www.petsforum.com/personal/trevor-jones/brooklynella.html

 

[carlos_fb]

How can I be sure that it is Brook? I contacted the guy I got the Perculas from and he said they are captive bred but he did not know if they were treated against Brook.

 

[BTTRFLYGRL]

Look for other symtoms such as heavy breathing, lethargy. Unfortunatly, you may NOT know till its too late. Since they are tank raised, there is less of a chance that it is Brook..Unless of course they were housed with wild caught Clowns that were infected.
I had a Clown that started looking as though his skin was peeling..I had had him for a year with no new additions so I was pretty sure it wasn't Brook. I did several large water changes and he eventually recovered and never had issues again.
You could try some water changes but if they start showing any other symptoms I'd treat them ASAP

 

[carlos_fb]

I have a few more questions. If I treat them for Brook and that is not what they have, could I harm them instead? also if I remove the fishes from the tank, for how long the bacteria will stay present in the water?

 

[Scooterman]

Carlos shoot Lee a Pm & see if he can suggest some help in treating them, hopefully you can get them eating. Did the guys that sold them to you say what they were fed? Lets hope it isn't Brook & you can get them healthy again. I would consider setting up that Hospital tank, you will need regardless.

 

[leebca]

I have a few more questions. If I treat them for Brook and that is not what they have, could I harm them instead? also if I remove the fishes from the tank, for how long the bacteria will stay present in the water?

Treating for brooklynellosis is something I recommend for all Anemonefishes. If they don't have it, they are not harmed by the treatment. Some think the treatment is less stressful than a freshwater dip. But proper treatment requires the fish be in a quarantine tank AND it is more effective to have only one fish in the QT. Since you bought a pair, you should use two QTs.

The 'bacteria' I think you're asking about are the biological filter bacteria? If you have a clean up crew in the tank AND you are feeding them, those bacteria will thrive. Those bacteria are mostly attached to the surface area of the system contents, not so much "in the water."

Part of 'gearing up' (maturation process) the marine system is, after adding some of the clean up crew, to begin to feed the live rock and crew, thus beginning to introduce nutrients into the system. The things tested for (like your water parameter list) don't indicate that this 'Secret Cycle' is going on, nor when it's stabilized. Things like brown 'algae' and other tank microbial visuals are usual signals. Any brown algae on the substrate or display contents?

To provide the brooklynellosis treatment, you optimally need the 2 QTs up and running and Formalin. If you try to put both fish in one QT and do the treatment on one fish at a time, all you do is allow the infected fish to reinfect the one that was just treated. Although both fish can be treated together at the same time, the Formalin reduces the amount of available oxygen in the water and thus, two fish are additionally stressed by possibly not having enough oxygen.

As BTTRFLYGRL rightly points out, even if they are tank-bred it depends on how the fish were handled -- were they ever put into a system shared by other non-tank-bred fishes? Could they have picked up any disease or condition from other fishes? Did the breeder have a separate system for fry and young fishes and not mix their water with other fishes?

There is some evidence to suggest that the microbe that causes brooklynellosis hangs around the fish until they are sufficiently stressed at which time the microbe reproduces in large numbers. Hence my recommendation to treat all Anemonefishes for this, at the time of acquisition.

All the above is useful IF you have the correct diagnosis of the problem.

 

[Damsel13]

I was wondering what you all thought about Melafix? Since the fish are already in the display tank is there anything good about this product? Just questions.

 

[BTTRFLYGRL]

I may be wrong but I think he was asking how long Brook will remain in his display? How long to leave it fallow.
Lee is the one to answer this, there is not a lot of info on this disease. Most articles state symptoms and treatment of the fish. Even my Noga disease book has little info
I would leave the tank fallow for at least 6 -8 weeks to be safe. QT all new fish, keep water in display (and qt ) pristine. As Lee stated, stress is a big factor in Brook . Fish who carry Brook often break out after being shipped..Even bringing the fish to their new home causes stress, thus the need for QUARENTINE!! Its always a good idea to let new fish recover from this stress in a qt..Let them get used to you and eating prepared foods (if wild caught) before introducing them into the main where they will have to compete with other fish and even put up with being bullied.
Okay..enough lecturing
Brook kills quickly, can kill in hours to days. If this is truly Brook, you'd most likely see other symptoms by now..heavy breathing, gasping for air, lethargy, loss of color. Clowns can also have a similiar 'peeling' reaction to other parasites, but Brook will appear much worse. Since your not sure what your dealing with, you could move the fish to their own QT'S, lower salinity and do the formalin dips..this would take care of possible Ich, Flukes and Brook. We'll see what Lee thinks
But hopefully today has found your Clowns doing better.

PS..Melafix sucks

 

[Scooterman]

Lee can you QT them both & just add an air pump & air stone to the qt?

BTW the tank was already & went cycled about three months before adding anything to it, it should be about 6 months all together, & the clean up crew was almost two weeks apart & not a huge crew at that, may be wrong but I'd think his test still show a good reading. Tanks will always constantly have mini hidden cycles, it can & will occur as the smallest things change.

 

[Damsel13]

gotcha BTTRFLYGRL

 

[leebca]

Melafix and Pimafix have their respective places.

When I attended InterZoo 2006 in Nuremberg, Germany I went to their booth and got the low down on this product. (I wouldn't call it a medication).

I posted its pros and cons elsewhere and will refer you there rather than repeat it all here:
http://www.reefland.com/forum/marin...-melafix-pimafix-how-they-work-dont-work.html

 

[Damsel13]

Thank you leebca.