Clownfish with swim bladder disorder

drawman · Oct 15, 2016

melypr1985 said:
I honestly don't think it's going to help him, but might as well put the other clown in there with him and start raising the copper slowly. I'd suggest coppersafe as it's more gentle on fish in general. We can hope that the first one perks up, but it's a low chance.

Yeah I figured I had to do my best either way. I was hoping for coppersafe as well but the only thing my LFS had was cupramine...I think I'm going to place an online order for coppersafe so I have it on hand at least.

I had to leave for the weekend so my family is helping out with the copper dosing with strict instructions. I'm expecting to come home to a dead fish but at this stage it may be best for the guy as he was in pretty bad shape and went downhill quickly.

If that's the case I'm going to get a protocol ready to treat the remaining clown. I'm thinking of doing a round of copper to cover ich and velvet and doing two rounds or prazipro after. It's tough because I don't really see any physical markings so I feel like I'm blindly diagnosing. I'll probably leave the tank fallow for a solid 80 days...thoughts?

drawman · Oct 15, 2016

Well I was informed the clown didn't make it. I'm more relieved at this point than upset because he was doing so poorly. I considered euthanasia but figured I would try to give him all the effort I could

Now I just want to move forward and do the best for my remaining clownfish. I don't see any physical symptoms on him other than he may be a little on the thin side. I guess I would have to assume I would want to treat for all 3: ich, velvet, and brook.

So I've been doing a lot of reading with Humblefish's articles and the way I see it I could go two routes. Input is definitely appreciated here!

Route 1: Treat with coppersafe for 30 days (to cover velvet and ich), then treat with acriflavine, followed by two rounds of prazipro (not sure if I can do any of these medications simultaneously)

Route 2: Get an Rx for chloroquine phosphate and treat for 30 days (to cover ich, velvet, and brook), followed by two rounds of prazipro.

To me it sounds like CP may be the easier route and would have full coverage against the big 3. I guess I could shoot for the middle concentration of 60mg/gal. Only thing is I will need to find a vet and get an Rx. Also I'm not sure how to remove CP out of the system after dosing do you just run carbon? Thoughts?

melypr1985 · Oct 15, 2016

drawman said:
Well I was informed the clown didn't make it. I'm more relieved at this point than upset because he was doing so poorly. I considered euthanasia but figured I would try to give him all the effort I could

Now I just want to move forward and do the best for my remaining clownfish. I don't see any physical symptoms on him other than he may be a little on the thin side. I guess I would have to assume I would want to treat for all 3: ich, velvet, and brook.

So I've been doing a lot of reading with Humblefish's articles and the way I see it I could go two routes. Input is definitely appreciated here!

Route 1: Treat with coppersafe for 30 days (to cover velvet and ich), then treat with acriflavine, followed by two rounds of prazipro (not sure if I can do any of these medications simultaneously)

Route 2: Get an Rx for chloroquine phosphate and treat for 30 days (to cover ich, velvet, and brook), followed by two rounds of prazipro.

To me it sounds like CP may be the easier route and would have full coverage against the big 3. I guess I could shoot for the middle concentration of 60mg/gal. Only thing is I will need to find a vet and get an Rx. Also I'm not sure how to remove CP out of the system after dosing do you just run carbon? Thoughts?

If you can get it, then go the CP route. It's got less problems associated with it. You would do water changes mainly. Carbon would help as well.

If you go the copper route, you can combine copper and prazi, but you want to do it carefully. Combining the two can sometimes result in a bacterial bloom that will suck the O2 out of the water. What I've found is if you don't add copper and prazi in the same 24 hours, then you can reduce the odds of a bloom quite a bit. Add extra O2 to the QT while you do this as well, just to be safe. Keeping the temp down some can help as well, since cooler water holds more O2 than warmer water does.

drawman · Oct 16, 2016

melypr1985 said:
If you can get it, then go the CP route. It's got less problems associated with it. You would do water changes mainly. Carbon would help as well.

If you go the copper route, you can combine copper and prazi, but you want to do it carefully. Combining the two can sometimes result in a bacterial bloom that will suck the O2 out of the water. What I've found is if you don't add copper and prazi in the same 24 hours, then you can reduce the odds of a bloom quite a bit. Add extra O2 to the QT while you do this as well, just to be safe. Keeping the temp down some can help as well, since cooler water holds more O2 than warmer water does.

Thanks Meredith hopefully I can get lucky and source some CP. I may try to order some acriflavine as well then I can do Humblefish's protocol where he does the freshwater dip followed by the chemical bath.

drawman · Oct 17, 2016

@melypr1985 what is your first choice for copper removal from a QT? I'm placing a few orders to get a good armamentarium of fish meds.

Right now I'm debating between a polyfilter, cuprisorb, or good ole water changes and carbon.

Also, any idea how long the ammonia alert badges are effective for?

Still trying to source CP but I will have coppersafe as a backup.

melypr1985 · Oct 17, 2016

drawman said:
@melypr1985 what is your first choice for copper removal from a QT? I'm placing a few orders to get a good armamentarium of fish meds.

Right now I'm debating between a polyfilter, cuprisorb, or good ole water changes and carbon.

Also, any idea how long the ammonia alert badges are effective for?

Still trying to source CP but I will have coppersafe as a backup.

Polyfilters work well. I've never used cuprisorb so I can't comment on that except to say that others like it and say it works. Carbon is slow to remove it. You'll need water changes no matter what method you choose.

The badges last for a year I believe. I tend to lose them before that and replace them

Good luck getting CP! All you need is to find a vet willing to write the scrip. There's a place to get it filled at that Humble found. It's around here somewhere. If you get the scrip, let me know and I'll hunt up the link.

drawman · Oct 21, 2016

Well just a follow up. I've been waiting to treat my remaining clownfish as I've been waiting on my supply order to arrive. I have coppersafe on the way but unfortunately the acriflavine is backordered

The clown is swimming and eating great so I will wait to treat until next week. I don't think I will have the acriflavine by then so I may just start with a fresh water dip then ramp up with coppersafe. I can always do an acriflavine bath post copper to cover for brook then proceed with prazipro.

I have been having a tough time even getting a hold of a vet so CP may be a pipe dream at this point