Dying fish in QT

[Erin Kathryn]

Have a flame angel in QT tank who we started to treat for ich last night. Today he's unable to swim properly and looks like he's on his way out. Anything I can do to help ease his passing? Any quick emergency things I can try to do?

 

[bluprntguy]

Are you sure it's ich? A few photos may help confirm.

If you haven't already, a freshwater dip may help and reducing the salinity of the QT tank may help as well. Have you medicated the QT tank since you think it has ich?

 

[ngoodermuth]

What are you doing to monitor ammonia? Was the QT seeded with bacteria or was it cycled prior to adding the fish? What about aeration/flow? Has the fish received any medications yet?

Freshwater dip followed by an antiseptic bath (acriflavine or methylene blue) is a good emergency treatment. I would also consider a fairly large water change and adding an airstone- pending the answers to the questions above...

 

[Erin Kathryn]

I could be wrong (first time I've seen anything like it). Started copper last night, photo from yesterday. Since then his fins have torn up even more and he is just floating in the current/knocked around upside down, and breathing a little heavily. I thought he was dead when I first checked because he was just floating at the bottom of the tank.

 

[Erin Kathryn]

Well, I just watched him die. I'll post photos shortly so y'all can confirm what happened.

 

[ngoodermuth]

I definitely see spots, likely ich or maybe even velvet. I would do a freshwater dip definitely to start:



Can follow with an antiseptic bath:

Acriflavine

https://r.tapatalk.com/shareLink?sh....php?threads/Acriflavine.282887/&share_type=t

Methylene Blue

https://r.tapatalk.com/shareLink?sh...p?threads/Methylene-Blue.257467/&share_type=t

I also see a coral beauty in the background, have you noticed aggression? Dwarf angels don’t always tolerate each other, especially in the close quarters of QT...

 

[ngoodermuth]

I’m sorry... too little too late I do think you probably have velvet.

What is the copper level at now?

 

[NotSoCivil_Engineer]

As a co-owner of this little guy.

QT was seeded properly from DT. Ammonia was tested regularly with 25% WC routinely. Have a ammonia alert badge and used salifert & RS kits often to cross check. No issues there. Have a gyre in the QT so flow and aeration should be solid.

Hadn't medicated anything until spots appeared yesterday. Started copper immediately. Its currently at .1ppm - we were ramping it up slowly. They went into QT on april 11th. No signs of anything until yesterday.

Coral and flame were happy for 3 weeks in QT together with zero aggression or issues until this happened.

The suddenness of it makes me think velvet. Eyes on the coral now just in case...

 

[BeejReef]

sorry for your loss.. sad. You took all the steps
Can copper cause sudden aggression issues? Why would his fins be all torn up?

 

[Erin Kathryn]

See previous photo for yesterday's appearance. This hobby is so heartbreaking.

Coral beauty in QT with it has no visible outward signs yet, but will be treated accordingly.

 

[Aquavaj]

Are you sure the 2 weren't fighting? My CB can't be within a foot to my FA or it'll get chased off everytime. Fortunately they're in a 120 and any smaller of a tank will probably result in constant chasing and eventually death.

 

[4FordFamily]

The spots on the fish were velvet in the first photo. Tougher to see out of the water, but I am 99% sure this fish had velvet. Velvet often damages the gills dramatically more than we see on the "outside" of the fish, long before those exterior spots show up. This is generally why they expire.

It's true that Centropyge angels are very sensitive to ammonia. Even when seeding, I always advise using biospira. A centropyge with velvet is probably significantly more vulnerable to even trace levels of ammonia as a result.

Sorry for your loss

 

[ngoodermuth]

Also, secondary infections are VERY common with velvet and can kill just as quickly as the parasites themselves. That looks to be what happened here.

The fins are definitely a sign of infection, and the velvet will have heavily infested the gills as already mentioned.

I would suggest giving the CB a freshwater dip followed by an antiseptic bath, and adding kanaplex to the QT as a preventative. I wouldn’t wait for the CB to show signs, considering they shared a QT.

See humbles emergency velvet protocol in post #2 here:

Velvet (Amyloodinium ocellatum)
https://r.tapatalk.com/shareLink?sh...(Amyloodinium-ocellatum).217570/&share_type=t

 

[4FordFamily]

Also, secondary infections are VERY common with velvet and can kill just as quickly as the parasites themselves. That looks to be what happened here.

The fins are definitely a sign of infection, and the velvet will have heavily infested the gills as already mentioned.

I would suggest giving the CB a freshwater dip followed by an antiseptic bath, and adding kanaplex to the QT as a preventative. I wouldn’t wait for the CB to show signs, considering they shared a QT.

See humbles emergency velvet protocol in post #2 here:

Velvet (Amyloodinium ocellatum)
https://r.tapatalk.com/shareLink?share_fid=1020&share_tid=217570&url=https://www.reef2reef.com/index.php?threads/Velvet-(Amyloodinium-ocellatum).217570/&share_type=t

Good point. On my phone it looked like the coral beauty became an opportunist and picked at it— something I’ve seen with angels that previously got along fine, in cases where one becomes weak or ill.