Do my fish look sick?

r.reefer

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Hi everyone, I have had my 40g mixed reef tank set up for almost 3 years now. Over the last month, I have had 2 fish die (a jaw fish and a cardinalfish). In the last few days/week, I noticed white dust on one of my clownfish, like dry skin. My other clownfish seems unaffected. I can’t tell if my coral beauty looks off as well. I’ve attached a couple videos of them to get opinions. It’s white light so my tank looks kind of yucky!

If this is something like a bacterial infection or brooks or velvet, I don’t understand how it would’ve gotten into my tank in the first place. The coral beauty was my last addition and I got him over a month ago, and I also never add LFS water into my tank.

Thank you!!


 

vetteguy53081

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You have a bacterial issue going on mainly with coral beauty angel
Best is to treat in CA a separate quarantine setting with seachem kanaplex or Maracyn 2 and assure you’re providing both good water quality and diet
What is current ammonia- nitrate-ph and salinity?
Age of tank?
what foods are you feeding?
 

Jay Hemdal

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The clowns are breathing fast and so is the coral beauty. The CB also has something going on with its eyes. Is it still eating well?
Did you see any symptoms on the cardinal or jawfish before they died?
Was the CB quarantined? If not, it probably brought something into the tank.
Jay
 
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r.reefer

r.reefer

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The clowns are breathing fast and so is the coral beauty. The CB also has something going on with its eyes. Is it still eating well?
Did you see any symptoms on the cardinal or jawfish before they died?
Was the CB quarantined? If not, it probably brought something into the tank.
Jay
I’m wondering about the CB as well. I don’t have a QT tank set up, though I really should and now I definitely should do treat this issue. As of last night, CB has been eating well.
How long would I need to leave my fish in a QT tank?
 
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r.reefer

r.reefer

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You have a bacterial issue going on mainly with coral beauty angel
Best is to treat in CA a separate quarantine setting with seachem kanaplex or Maracyn 2 and assure you’re providing both good water quality and diet
What is current ammonia- nitrate-ph and salinity?
Age of tank?
what foods are you feeding?
My tank is almost 3 years old. My ammonia is 0, nitrate is close to 0, pH is 8.4-8.6. I’m feeding marine pellets from cobalt aquatics. I’m looking at the bottle now, it’s actually got pre and probiotics in it.
 

vetteguy53081

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You will need to add to diet especially for coral beauty
Spirulina brine shrimp
Small plankton
Mysis shrimp
LRS fish frenzy

what test kits are you using
 

Jay Hemdal

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I’m wondering about the CB as well. I don’t have a QT tank set up, though I really should and now I definitely should do treat this issue. As of last night, CB has been eating well.
How long would I need to leave my fish in a QT tank?
It depends on the parasite involved here (could be a protozoan, could be a fluke). If there is a bacterial component, it is likely secondary to that. At minimum, you would need to leave the fish out of the tank for 45 days, more likely 60.

Another option would be to treat your DT with Prazipro for flukes. Flukes are not my top diagnosis here, but they are the easiest to treat for in your situation.

Did the two fish that die show symptoms? Did they die before you added the CB?

Jay
 
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r.reefer

r.reefer

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It depends on the parasite involved here (could be a protozoan, could be a fluke). If there is a bacterial component, it is likely secondary to that. At minimum, you would need to leave the fish out of the tank for 45 days, more likely 60.

Another option would be to treat your DT with Prazipro for flukes. Flukes are not my top diagnosis here, but they are the easiest to treat for in your situation.

Did the two fish that die show symptoms? Did they die before you added the CB?

Jay
I just remembered. When I tested my tank this past Friday, the pH was much lower than it should have been (close to 7.0). Could this cause these kinds of issues? I dosed with Seachem’s ReefBuffer for a couple days and the pH was back to normal yesterday. Not sure if this could be the cause, it wouldn’t necessarily explain the death of the other two fish.
 

Jay Hemdal

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That's a really low pH. What time of day did you take that reading? If you are confident that your test was accurate, there may have been a gas exchange issue. High carbon dioxide is one cause of a low pH issue, but that is low even for that. Does the tank have a good skimmer on it? (helps with gas exchange).

Jay
 
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r.reefer

r.reefer

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That's a really low pH. What time of day did you take that reading? If you are confident that your test was accurate, there may have been a gas exchange issue. High carbon dioxide is one cause of a low pH issue, but that is low even for that. Does the tank have a good skimmer on it? (helps with gas exchange).

Jay
My tank is pretty low-tech. It’s my first reef tank ever. It’s 40 gallons with an HOB filter and 2 powerheads inside, so I don’t know if gas exchange would be an issue? My maintenance includes weekly testing and weekly water changes, and topping off when needed. I believe I tested in evening. When I re-tested last night, it was back up to 8.4-8.6 (after I had dosed for a couple days)
 

Jay Hemdal

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What can happen is reverse phase photosynthesis produces CO2 at night, dropping the pH. Then regular photosynthesis takes up the CO2 during the day and the pH climbs. Good aeration (not just circulation) helps drive off the CO2 and normalize the oH.
Jay
 
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r.reefer

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What can happen is reverse phase photosynthesis produces CO2 at night, dropping the pH. Then regular photosynthesis takes up the CO2 during the day and the pH climbs. Good aeration (not just circulation) helps drive off the CO2 and normalize the oH.
Jay
Gotcha. Maybe I need to look into some kind of airstone. Do you think the temporary drop in pH could have caused the issue with my fish? Im thinking now that it’s stabilized, they might improve. I’m also going to improve their diet
 

Jay Hemdal

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Gotcha. Maybe I need to look into some kind of airstone. Do you think the temporary drop in pH could have caused the issue with my fish? Im thinking now that it’s stabilized, they might improve. I’m also going to improve their diet
Airstone would be a good idea. The low pH can cause added stress but I don’t think it is the only issue with these fish.
Jay
 
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r.reefer

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Airstone would be a good idea. The low pH can cause added stress but I don’t think it is the only issue with these fish.
Jay
Would it be worth it to add a UV sterilizer? I’m not sure if this would help my fish with any diseases they have NOW, but maybe it would kill things in my tank? I don’t have a sump, so not sure if there’s a way to add it to the display tank
 

Jay Hemdal

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Would it be worth it to add a UV sterilizer? I’m not sure if this would help my fish with any diseases they have NOW, but maybe it would kill things in my tank? I don’t have a sump, so not sure if there’s a way to add it to the display tank

Sidestream UV (in the tank itself) really doesn't have much effect on controlling diseases, I wouldn't bother with it. It does have some use when you need to sterilize water travelling from one tank to another.

Jay
 

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