Can a fish bother a cleaner fish too much?

[Nick Steele]

Somewhat long if you’d like to just get to the question at hand it’s at the bottom of this post.


So my tank has been set up for 4 months now and everything is going well. I had a neon goby pair for a little while and then the male died. Shortly after his passing my female clown would swim up to the neon goby and it would hop on for a ride and clean the female clown. Fast forward to today and I have ich throughout the tank, neon goby looks like its been dipped in salt and I watched the female clown swim over to the gobys corner and shimmy in front of the goby asking for a cleaning and the goby didn’t budge at all. The female clown did this a few times and then when she didn’t get what she wanted she chased the neon goby out of the corner and up towards the top of the tank. Goby just evaded the clown but it didn’t look pretty. Is this a bad thing? I believe it’s because the goby is covered in ich that it’s not cleaning anymore for the time being.


Long story short is it possible for a fish to bother a cleaner fish/shrimp too much as in a harassing manner?

Thanks everyone!

 

[P-Dub]

Sure is. Your fish are under an incredible amount of stress with the disease at hand so, you have a greater issue on your hands at this point. You need to treat all you fish NOW. If the conditions are as bad as you describe, your first concern is QT and treatment and hope you have survivors.

 

[Nick Steele]

I’m not worried at all about the ich tbh. All fish are health and have a big appetite that is sustained with varied feedings twice a day. It’s been two weeks or so since I first seen it and all fish acting normal besides this one thing.

Thanks for the concern though @P-Dub

 

[resortez]

Sure is. Your fish are under an incredible amount of stress with the disease at hand so, you have a greater issue on your hands at this point. You need to treat all you fish NOW. If the conditions are as bad as you describe, your first concern is QT and treatment and hope you have survivors.

+1 on dub. Do not underestimate the parasite, there’s a reason why it’s a parasite. Ich will eat away at the fish faster than the fish can replenish nutrients & the longer it goes untreated the more aggressive it becomes with each cycle of reproduction. 2 weeks tells you that the parasite just begun or is half way through its second cycle & will only get more aggressive as time goes by. It is honestly bad husbandry practice to not treat & eradicate the parasite, defeats the whole purpose of a fish tank & the hobby. To answer your question, the fish are in extreme stress & poor health to the point of exhibiting aggression because they are not being assisted with the problem. I highly recommend in treating the problem & completely eradicating it from the system, if not, there’s a risk of inducing other illnesses internally or external like fungal where it can cause Popeyes, fin & scale rot, various other bacterial diseases which can be more severe & difficult to treat eventually suppressing their appetite or even bursting a float bladder, it’s all down hill from that point. Something that can be done immediately to begin helping is to start a hypo treatment (dropping salt gravity) & bumping temps to 80 but medication is still needed for treatment. Like dub mentioned, best to quarantine. Good luck.

 

[P-Dub]

I’m not worried at all about the ich tbh. All fish are health and have a big appetite that is sustained with varied feedings twice a day. It’s been two weeks or so since I first seen it and all fish acting normal besides this one thing.

Thanks for the concern though @P-Dub

I'm worried your not worried. You do realize that Ich feeds on the fish tissue and damages that tissue eventually killing your fish by, primarily suffocation due to the damaged sustained to their gills. It will even appear that the Ich may resolve itself only coming back worse than before. Basically, if you do not treat the disease your fish will eventually die. That is a certainty.

 

[Nick Steele]

Ich was inevitable in my tank as I can’t have a qt system in the apartment and I knew I would need some fish from a lfs that has an ich problem. I have a few friends who have fought off ich with zero deaths by just good feeding routine and upkeep on water quality which I am doing. I’m not proud but it is the best I can do for my inhabitants. Plus can’t go hypo due to corals etc.

 

[P-Dub]

Well, good luck to you and your friends. Unfortunately, once you have Ich you have it for life unless treated and eradicated. Yes, fish certainly can and do build up an immunity to Ich and can survive provided they do not get stressed out or there are other contributing factors that may cause an outbreak. The bottom line, however, once the Ich gets to the gill tissue it is pretty certain the damage or bacterial infections from the damage will result in the fish's death. A 5 gallon bucket, HOB or other sponge filter, heater, air pump, and a little diligence are all that is needed for a hospital tank. House all your fish in that bucket during treatment and out of your DT for 8+ weeks leaving the DT fallow and you will likely have the problem licked. Sound fish keeping and good husbandry as well as ethical aquarium practices should be something that we all strive for. A 5 gallon bucket and the ancillary equipment is, I think, the responsible and reasonable route to go even in an apartment. Barring that, your neon goby will perish as it is being harassed and under stress weakening it more than just the Ich would alone. Again, best of luck.