Sick Sailfin - Contagious?

[MjOB]

Hello,
I recently purchased several fish for my tank from a reputable provider who quarantines the fish prior to delivery, placed them in my tank about 10 days ago. One of the fish - a yellow belly blue hippo, looked awful from the get-go, hid under the rocks, and laid on the ground. Despite trying numerous things, I couldn't get him to eat. He ultimately died after 6 days, in which I found my clean up crew tearing him up. That same morning a naso tang I got at the same time, who had been doing great, disappeared (I assume my CUC is the reason I never found him.) 2 days later, when I went to do my evening feed, the powder blue tang I purchased at the same time was dead on the ground. He had seemed a bit odd earlier that day (was still eating, but swam a bit more vertical), but otherwise no signs of being ill.
Now this morning, the sailfin desjardini I purchased at the same time is doing this, and I obviously don't think he's going to make it.
Any idea what is causing this? Did one of my crabs attack him leading to this? Or is something else the cause?
All of my parameters are stable.

All of the fish I had before this shipment are doing great. I also got a blue hippo tang, red velvet fairy wrasse, and sleeper banded goby in the same shipment and they appear to being fantastic (but I would have said the same thing about the sailfin until this morning.)

 

[threebuoys]

This fish looks horrible. Did the others that perished look this bad also?

While the video is lacking crispness, I do see spots on the fins and on the body suggesting ich and mucus plugs. The fish is malnourished for sure also. You can practically see through his body in the area above the anal fin.

This fish appears morbid and as you fear will likely not survive. My concern now is that other fish in your tank are likely infected. Do you see any small white spots on the bodies and fins of any of the other fish?

Copper treatment will be necessary to eradicate the parasites. You will need to treat all fish in a QT with copper power or copper safe at 2.25 to 2.50 ppm for 30 days and allow your Display tank to be fallow for 60 days.

See the link below for detailed instructions for QT.

 

[vetteguy53081]

Hello,
I recently purchased several fish for my tank from a reputable provider who quarantines the fish prior to delivery, placed them in my tank about 10 days ago. One of the fish - a yellow belly blue hippo, looked awful from the get-go, hid under the rocks, and laid on the ground. Despite trying numerous things, I couldn't get him to eat. He ultimately died after 6 days, in which I found my clean up crew tearing him up. That same morning a naso tang I got at the same time, who had been doing great, disappeared (I assume my CUC is the reason I never found him.) 2 days later, when I went to do my evening feed, the powder blue tang I purchased at the same time was dead on the ground. He had seemed a bit odd earlier that day (was still eating, but swam a bit more vertical), but otherwise no signs of being ill.
Now this morning, the sailfin desjardini I purchased at the same time is doing this, and I obviously don't think he's going to make it.
Any idea what is causing this? Did one of my crabs attack him leading to this? Or is something else the cause?
All of my parameters are stable.

All of the fish I had before this shipment are doing great. I also got a blue hippo tang, red velvet fairy wrasse, and sleeper banded goby in the same shipment and they appear to being fantastic (but I would have said the same thing about the sailfin until this morning.)

Unfortunately this fish is moribund and thin and will likely not recover, or eat normally
I can’t recommend anything that would help it

 

[MjOB]

Everyone else looks

This fish looks horrible. Did the others that perished look this bad also?

While the video is lacking crispness, I do see spots on the fins and on the body suggesting ich and mucus plugs. The fish is malnourished for sure also. You can practically see through his body in the area above the anal fin.

This fish appears morbid and as you fear will likely not survive. My concern now is that other fish in your tank are likely infected. Do you see any small white spots on the bodies and fins of any of the other fish?

Copper treatment will be necessary to eradicate the parasites. You will need to treat all fish in a QT with copper power or copper safe at 2.25 to 2.50 ppm for 30 days and allow your Display tank to be fallow for 60 days.

See the link below for detailed instructions for QT.

Thank you for the response. The sailfin was eating just fine up to yesterday, almost took a picture of it while it was eating some nori - wish I would have now.

Of all the other fish in my tank, there's 2 - the other hippo which came in the same shipment is the only one with concern. I've attached a video. Sorry my glass is so dirty - I'm wondering if it's velvet instead of ich, though? Video of the hippo:


My foxface, which I've had for over a year now, has white spots that seen adhered to him as well, struggling to get a good video of the foxface showing it - here's a photo and video that doesn't show it that well:

I am not sure why the video comes off so blurry on youtube whereas on my computer they're fine

Same clip of the same video - left is my computer, right is on youtube. Is there a way to prevent the quality breakdown on youtube?

 

[MjOB]

Spots on the foxface have come off. I think that was just sand.

 

[tzabor10]

What is the population of the tank you dropped these fish into? Seems like a lot of fish to get at one time. Have you considered using a part time UV sterilizer in the future? Some reefers report success keeping fish in a QT for observation to fatten them up. Acclimation boxes could also help. Sorry for your loss. Those fish are awesome keep trying.

 

[MjOB]

What is the population of the tank you dropped these fish into? Seems like a lot of fish to get at one time. Have you considered using a part time UV sterilizer in the future? Some reefers report success keeping fish in a QT for observation to fatten them up. Acclimation boxes could also help. Sorry for your loss. Those fish are awesome keep trying.

It's a 360 gallon with 120 gallon sump. This was potentially going to be the last addition of fish and I was going to start focusing on coral (I do have some, but not an extensive amount for the size of the tank). I have gotten them all from the same vendor who quarantines them.

I have 5 yellow tangs, 1 gem tang, 1 whitetail bristleooth, 1 foxface, 3 wrasses, 8 pajama cardinals, 8 clownfish, 2 red firefish, 2 purple firefish, 4 damsels, 2 blennies, and 2 gobies

I had a yellow watchman goby about 3 weeks ago sitting in the corner of my tank looking at me at my computer when a crab came up behind it and killed it. By the time I realized what happened it was too late for me to intervene. Which is why I was wondering if this could have been a crab in the middle of the night cutting him and if he could have rapidly gone downhill from there - because truly, that sailfin looks 1000x worse in the video from this morning than it did just 14 hours earlier.

I actually have a Pentair UV sterilizer, but shortly after installing it I discovered a slow leak from the outlet from it. It's not easy to get to (between the wall and sump under the DT), I tried to epoxy it but that didn't fix it, so don't have it running right now as I haven't figured out how to fix the leak. It's been one of those things I have kept telling myself "I'll get around to it" and just haven't.

 

[tzabor10]

It's a 360 gallon with 120 gallon sump. This was potentially going to be the last addition of fish and I was going to start focusing on coral (I do have some, but not an extensive amount for the size of the tank). I have gotten them all from the same vendor who quarantines them.

I have 5 yellow tangs, 1 gem tang, 1 whitetail bristleooth, 1 foxface, 3 wrasses, 8 pajama cardinals, 8 clownfish, 2 red firefish, 2 purple firefish, 4 damsels, 2 blennies, and 2 gobies

I had a yellow watchman goby about 3 weeks ago sitting in the corner of my tank looking at me at my computer when a crab came up behind it and killed it. By the time I realized what happened it was too late for me to intervene. Which is why I was wondering if this could have been a crab in the middle of the night cutting him and if he could have rapidly gone downhill from there - because truly, that sailfin looks 1000x worse in the video from this morning than it did just 14 hours earlier.

I actually have a Pentair UV sterilizer, but shortly after installing it I discovered a slow leak from the outlet from it. It's not easy to get to (between the wall and sump under the DT), I tried to epoxy it but that didn't fix it, so don't have it running right now as I haven't figured out how to fix the leak. It's been one of those things I have kept telling myself "I'll get around to it" and just haven't.

I did the same with my UV. Then hooked it up with a brass fitting and nearly killed everything from the copper and Tin. Finally got it working again. It runs about 6 hours a night. I’m convinced all blue tangs and especially powder blues have flukes. The UV, proper feeding and social harmony help to keep it at bay.
With such a large system an acclimation box can help keep social balance. Also a separate tank to fatten them up might help too.

 

[threebuoys]

Spots on the foxface have come off. I think that was just sand.

Hopefully, the spots were just sand, but, keep in mind, the life cycle of Ich, particularly in the early stages of an infection, is for the spots to fall off only to be replaced by new spots a day or two later. As the population of parasites increase, the spots increase in number, appear to move but never disappear.

When I acquire new fish, the two major concerns I have are the potential for infections on the new fish (for which I QT), and the potential for aggression. Aggression could be a factor in your situation, but the quick death of most of your new fish is troubling. You asked about velvet. That could be present on the new fish. The treatments for Ich and velvet are identical.

Pay close attention to your older fish. A tank the size of yours may slow the initial progression of the parasites if they exist, but the possibility of near term infection of the older fish remains.