Something is VERY wrong with my fish

[4FordFamily]

Here they are in QT..the three I could get. The tang's coloring is because I put the light on after it was dark for awhile. In the first pic, if you look at the tang's front left fin, you can see some spots. These are what i was talking about. You can also see the cloudiness in his eyes. The snow bass has the exact same thing. The wrasse is stuffed behind the heater and I could get one of him.

I never bought any cheap idols. I pwas going to as I mentioned to you. They were by no means cheap.

Gotcha my mistake.

 

[Breakthecycle2]

Well, I got one of my fridmani dotty backs out last night. Everyone else was hiding. The four fish in qt are still going, can really tell if the copper worked yet. Some of the fish in the main display are up and look "ok" so far, I'm going to wait until the lights cone on to check. As of last night, the three fish that didn't show any signs yet were my golden pygmy angel, bellus angel and the pumctatus wrasse.

 

[Breakthecycle2]

Only thing that concerns me is I keep getting ammonia spikes in the QT.

 

[4FordFamily]

Only thing that concerns me is I keep getting ammonia spikes in the QT.

Not uncommon. Have freshly mixed saltwater ready. Buy some salt on Amazon instant ocean is cheaper there than I have seen in awhile!

 

[Breakthecycle2]

Just did another water change. Ammonia seems to be at .25. I bought a bucket of red sea pro salt yesterday. I am adding around 1ml of cupramine after every water change. I am also dosing MB7 in hopes of keeping the ammonia under control. Only thing that concerns me is my Katoi wrasse is flipping out. Violet twitches and she appears to be rubbing her nose on the bottom of the tank.

 

[Humblefish]

Only thing that concerns me is I keep getting ammonia spikes in the QT.

The presence of copper renders most ammonia test kits useless. You will get nothing but false positives. The workaround is to use a Seachem “Ammonia Alert” badge (see below) which works even in the presence of copper.

 

[Breakthecycle2]

The presence of copper renders most ammonia test kits useless. You will get nothing but false positives. The workaround is to use a Seachem “Ammonia Alert” badge (see below) which works even in the presence of copper.

Good to know. I'll go pick one up. I managed to catch the other half my fridmani dottyback pair. My female hooded wrasse doesn't look to hot, but I can't get her yet. No loses in either tank as of right now. They are all eating the Dr G's caviar, not sure if it working or not. Some of my other wrasses who had spots last night, do not as of right now either.

 

[Breakthecycle2]

I actually think it's Brook, now that I'm reading about it. How can I find out for sure?

 

[Humblefish]

I actually think it's Brook, now that I'm reading about it. How can I find out for sure?

Formalin bath. If it's Brook, the fish will look "clean" after the bath.

 

[Breakthecycle2]

OK. After talking to my local LFS and a few others, I'm fairly certain it is ICH. Spots were gone this morning and are now back. Fish in QT seem ok, some are eating. One of the dottybacks is in pure hiding, not sure if it was because of the ammonia spike or something else. Copper level is .15. I am trying to secure an additional tank to take out all the fish and keep in empty. If I can.

 

[Breakthecycle2]

@Humblefish How long does the fish need to be in copper before the parasites start going away?

 

[Lynn52]

Not sure if any body's mentioned it but don't use ammonia detoxifies like Prime while using copper.

 

[Breakthecycle2]

Not sure if any body's mentioned it but don't use ammonia detoxifies like Prime while using copper.

No. No one did. I am using Microbacteria 7. Should I not?

 

[4FordFamily]

No. No one did. I am using Microbacteria 7. Should I not?

No that product is fine. Just stay away from prime, amquel, or other ammonia detoxifiers. I've used microbacter with cupramine many times.

And yes you'll need that ammonia badge because nothing else will properly read ammonia to my knowledge; you'll keep getting false positives. The badge is so much easier anyway!

Ich or velvet you'll need to treat the same way. Some strains of ich are really nasty. You'll want to properly qt from here out to prevent more headache.

The wrasses may not like cupramine but I only had issues with some halichoeres wrasses. My fairy did fine (the few I treated).

I use TTM and at least 30 days observation for some wrasses. I usually keep another fish (preferably a tang or angel that I want also) with them, as wrasse for some reason can hide velvet and ich very well in their gills but never really let it overtake their bodies. The tang or angel will show symptoms in that timeframe IMO. Butterflies may work as well.

Without a fish that will show symptoms, it is possible to release what seems to be a healthy wrasse in to a system that has velvet or ich that will devastate the tank. Cupramine works well IMO and has been pretty safe with wrasse.

 

[Breakthecycle2]

How long does it take for the copper to start showing results?

 

[4FordFamily]

How long does it take for the copper to start showing results?

A few days generally. It won't knock parasites off of fish, only stop their breeding cycle.

Keep them fed and the water quality high.

 

[Breakthecycle2]

How do I get the parasites off? Will they come off on their own?

 

[Humblefish]

Spots were gone this morning and are now back.

^^This doesn't line up with any known parasitic infestation. Spots from ich, velvet, brook, etc. don't disappear within 24 hrs. And then come back.

 

[Breakthecycle2]

^^This doesn't line up with any known parasitic infestation. Spots from ich, velvet, brook, etc. don't disappear within 24 hrs. And then come back.

I know it's weird, but its there. Some fish show signs and others don't. Then the others have symptoms and then the previous ones do not.

 

[pimmar]

I also read that lowering salinity to 1.012 in your Qt tank will eliminate ich, velvet and most parasites without the use of chemicals.