$255 Vet Appointment for sick purple tang

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Aussie_Saltwater

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Guys plan is to finish the dose of Metronidazole which I have another 2 dosages left. Than 24 hours after last dose if he is eating and active move him back to display tank.I am worried about ammonia in hospital tank.

Going to get some mesh as a divider to put in the main tank so my Bicolour angel can't attack him.
 
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Charlie just had his 4th dosage of metronidazole and had his second serve of Coppepods for the day. I put a second filter which on that I think I might turn off.

Charlie had been at war with the live rock all day

Just dosing Prime to safeguard against ammonia which is my biggest worry.
 

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Charlie just had his 4th dosage of metronidazole and had his second serve of Coppepods for the day. I put a second filter which on that I think I might turn off.

Charlie had been at war with the live rock all day

Just dosing Prime to safeguard against ammonia which is my biggest worry.
FYI, Prime does not do anything about Ammonia, no matter what it may say on the bottle.
Proven by many folks here by experiment.

If you are measuring Ammonia you need to water change.
 
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FYI, Prime does not do anything about Ammonia, no matter what it may say on the bottle.
Proven by many folks here by experiment.

If you are measuring Ammonia you need to water change.

No Ammonia at the moment. I did a 25% WC before putting the medication in.

I decided to keep the 2nd filter going so hopefully that keeps Ammonia at 0.
 
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Woke up to perform a 20% WC and gave Charlie his breakfast of coppepods. He is just cruising around picking at the live rock and pods in the tank.

Much better colour and looks to have put on a tiny bit of weight. I would like to see some more vertical movement is the only issue.

I am definitely going to move him back to the display tomorrow . Not sure how but I will divide my 120 G. Only the Bicolour angel worries me. I might also reduce flow rate to begin with.
 

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Woke up to perform a 20% WC and gave Charlie his breakfast of coppepods. He is just cruising around picking at the live rock and pods in the tank.

Much better colour and looks to have put on a tiny bit of weight. I would like to see some more vertical movement is the only issue.

I am definitely going to move him back to the display tomorrow . Not sure how but I will divide my 120 G. Only the Bicolour angel worries me. I might also reduce flow rate to begin with.
That is awesome. Everything you did to save Charlie is very inspiring and didn't think many people did for fish. Wishing Charlie a speedy recovery. Charlie has a great owner.
 

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As a vet student I can confirm that we only study fish superficially and for food production.
The animals we study the most are dogs and cats (pets), horses (valuable animal), bovines and other ruminants (production animals), we also have special courses for swines and chickens (production animals), alongside general medicine courses (physiology, pathology, anatomy, pharmacology, toxicology, surgery etc.)

The vet you've consulted is probably an specialist in fish medicine (which cover pet fish and fish for food production) thus the price.
 
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As a vet student I can confirm that we only study fish superficially and for food production.
The animals we study the most are dogs and cats (pets), horses (valuable animal), bovines and other ruminants (production animals), we also have special courses for swines and chickens (production animals), alongside general medicine courses (physiology, pathology, anatomy, pharmacology, toxicology, surgery etc.)

The vet you've consulted is probably an specialist in fish medicine (which cover pet fish and fish for food production) thus the price.

They wanted to perform an x-ray on Charlie which I assume involves taking him out of water so I declined.
 

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They wanted to perform an x-ray on Charlie which I assume involves taking him out of water so I declined.
Indeed. Radiation doesn't penetrate well on water (1m of water can shield a used nuclear fuel, imagine a weak x ray beam)
However is possible to sedate and entubate a fish to performe either imaging or procedure out of water. Of course there are risks.
 

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fair play to you, if i said to my missus one of the fish is ill i'm taking him to the vets, i think she would divorce me,
i'm glad she is doing lots better
 
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So Charlie has just had his last dose of Metronidazole. Unless something changes I am going to move him to the display tank tonight.

My DP is a 4x2x2 120 Gallon with approximately 120 pounds of live rock. Filtration includes a eshopps s200 skimmer,clarisea sk-5000 roller mat, two large blocks of marine pure and a bag of seachem carbon. I am going to remove the carbon.

Charlie is a 2-3 inch purple tang.
Other stock
Bicolour angel 3 inches
Flame hawkfish
2 clownfish
5 green chromis

I have a degree of confidence that the Bicolour will start nipping at Charlie. All other fish would be fine. Plan is to get some mesh from hardware store and divide the tank into 2 giving Charlie 1/3. I will take the powerhead out of the tank on Charlie's side.

Getting nervous about making this move. Charlie five days ago was lying on his side breathing rapidly and turning pale white. He has come so far and I don't want to mess it up now.

Any advice is much appreciated.

Thanks for all the help so far.
 

Lucas Savioli

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So Charlie has just had his last dose of Metronidazole. Unless something changes I am going to move him to the display tank tonight.

My DP is a 4x2x2 120 Gallon with approximately 120 pounds of live rock. Filtration includes a eshopps s200 skimmer,clarisea sk-5000 roller mat, two large blocks of marine pure and a bag of seachem carbon. I am going to remove the carbon.

Charlie is a 2-3 inch purple tang.
Other stock
Bicolour angel 3 inches
Flame hawkfish
2 clownfish
5 green chromis

I have a degree of confidence that the Bicolour will start nipping at Charlie. All other fish would be fine. Plan is to get some mesh from hardware store and divide the tank into 2 giving Charlie 1/3. I will take the powerhead out of the tank on Charlie's side.

Getting nervous about making this move. Charlie five days ago was lying on his side breathing rapidly and turning pale white. He has come so far and I don't want to mess it up now.

Any advice is much appreciated.

Thanks for all the help so far.
The quarantine tank is stable biologically? (No2/no3/nh4)
 
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The quarantine tank is stable biologically? (No2/no3/nh4)

No Ammonia or Nitrite, Nitrate at 10. But it's a 40 litre tank with 2 cheap hang on filters worth a combined $60. I don't have a specific light either so I don't know if that could cause trouble with the piece of live rock regarding some type of die off and Ammonia spike.
 

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Never heard of someone actually taking a fish to a vet. I had this conversation with my girlfriend explaining that vets don't actually know anything about fish and that nobody takes a fish to a vet.
Just got proven wrong.
Fish vets do exist. Although not a lot they are a thing and you can take your fish to them or have them come to you. But just like there’s different types of doctors for people the same applies to vets.
 

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So Charlie has just had his last dose of Metronidazole. Unless something changes I am going to move him to the display tank tonight.

My DP is a 4x2x2 120 Gallon with approximately 120 pounds of live rock. Filtration includes a eshopps s200 skimmer,clarisea sk-5000 roller mat, two large blocks of marine pure and a bag of seachem carbon. I am going to remove the carbon.

Charlie is a 2-3 inch purple tang.
Other stock
Bicolour angel 3 inches
Flame hawkfish
2 clownfish
5 green chromis

I have a degree of confidence that the Bicolour will start nipping at Charlie. All other fish would be fine. Plan is to get some mesh from hardware store and divide the tank into 2 giving Charlie 1/3. I will take the powerhead out of the tank on Charlie's side.

Getting nervous about making this move. Charlie five days ago was lying on his side breathing rapidly and turning pale white. He has come so far and I don't want to mess it up now.

Any advice is much appreciated.

Thanks for all the help so far.

Is there any pressing need to move Charlie? You seem to indicate that the quarantine tank is stable. I always wait for at least 14 days of "no symptoms" before moving a fish out of quarantine and into a display. In cases where there was not a firm diagnosis, that is even more important. You want to avoid a relapse.
 

Lucas Savioli

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No Ammonia or Nitrite, Nitrate at 10. But it's a 40 litre tank with 2 cheap hang on filters worth a combined $60. I don't have a specific light either so I don't know if that could cause trouble with the piece of live rock regarding some type of die off and Ammonia spike.
Since it has just taken its last dose, I would let it in the quarantine tank convalescing for a good period. Moving a fish is a stress inducer which is a cortisol release trigger which is a immunosuppressive hormone.
It's essential to monitor closely the quality of water of that tank and the fish for relapses.
After a good period of time (14 days as Jay mentioned, or even more, if that tank remain stable) then moving would be advisable
 

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