Flame Angel - Need quick advise to save the fish

[jsvand5]

6 days is definitely too long between water changes on an uncycled QT. The ammonia badges are not that reliable. If it were me, I’d do a 5 min Fw dip, then start treating for Velvet. It looks very thin though. I don’t think it has much of a chance unfortunately. If it still eats feed it nori and siphon out the leftover pieces daily.

 

[saltyhog]

Was the ammonia test with an API test? Sometimes it's difficult to read near zero. The picture from this morning shows your ammonia badge reading clear. Was that before or after the water change? I think it's more likely disease than ammonia.

 

[balajeek15]

6 days is definitely too long between water changes on an uncycled QT. The ammonia badges are not that reliable. If it were me, I’d do a 5 min Fw dip, then start treating for Velvet. It looks very thin though. I don’t think it has much of a chance unfortunately. If it still eats feed it nori and siphon out the leftover pieces daily.

Yes i understand, I use to change every 3 to 4 days, since the ammonia badge wasn't showing me any increase and i was lazy to do WC, its my fault and i will be carefull next time onwards. sad that i lot that fish now.

 

[balajeek15]

Was the ammonia test with an API test? Sometimes it's difficult to read near zero. The picture from this morning shows your ammonia badge reading clear. Was that before or after the water change? I think it's more likely disease than ammonia.

I test ammonia with RedSea and API, the badge reading was on that day in the morning. and I am not going to trust that any more.
I was adding Seachem Seed everyday a cap full to keep ammonia low though.

 

[balajeek15]

Thanks all for your feedback. I lost the fish later yesterday. I clean-up my QT and equipments with vinegar and left it dry for a day before i start setting up.

One think i don't understand is previous night i sat in front of the tank for few min before bed and the fish was fine, next day morning around 9am we noticed its swimming on surface and slow and died few hours later

- got it on 4/28 and its been in that QT and it looked exactly the same as day one, except the last day
- If this had ick or velvet isn't it kill the fish in a day or two.
- If it had some disease wouldn't its noticeable before it reach critical state (how can it be overnight?)
- In the past i had seen Tangs, get ich/velvet and I see spots gradually increase in a few days before it gets worst and fish starts slow down, how come its not like that, are Angel hard to detect.
- Also when i noticed fish wasn't doing good, i did a 70-80% water change, did FW dip, and looks it made it worse, and i wonder if i left like that and treat very mildly or less water change rather than sudden panic actions it would've been better.
- I don't know what this parzipro is and should i keep in hand all time, is this effective at this critical stages.

Would be good to understand so i can learn from my mistakes if i ever need to handle this situation again.

 

[ScooterV]

Velvet "can" kill fast, but is not always the case. Before you got it there may have been sub-theraputic levels of copper keeping it somewhat under control. It also hits the gills first, so can kill before becoming visible. That reduces oxygen for a fish already prone to needing higher levels. Similar for flukes. Hard to see and go for the gills.

Sorry for the loss though Keep reading here and look for guidance from the experts. Off the top of my head though, your FW dip was one minute and too short to be effective. It can be up to 5 minutes, but I personally haven't seen flukes drop off until around the 3 minute mark.

 

[vetteguy53081]

Seems like ammonia burn and fungus outbreak. Myacin based treatment and good water quality will be essential

 

[balajeek15]

Seems like ammonia burn and fungus outbreak. Myacin based treatment and good water quality will be essential

Could this be that i did not do WC on time, 6 days is long right, i usually do every 4th day on this uncycled QT. Also i used Seachem Seed 1 cap full everyday, Is there any better one i can use instead as my current bottle is almost over.

 

[vetteguy53081]

Could this be that i did not do WC on time, 6 days is long right, i usually do every 4th day on this uncycled QT. Also i used Seachem Seed 1 cap full everyday, Is there any better one i can use instead as my current bottle is almost over.

WATER CHANGE WOULD HAVE HELPED BUT IT IS BEYOND THAT. You now have other issues to tackle and best accomplished in a quarantine tank

 

[MnFish1]

Thanks all for your feedback. I lost the fish later yesterday. I clean-up my QT and equipments with vinegar and left it dry for a day before i start setting up.

One think i don't understand is previous night i sat in front of the tank for few min before bed and the fish was fine, next day morning around 9am we noticed its swimming on surface and slow and died few hours later

- got it on 4/28 and its been in that QT and it looked exactly the same as day one, except the last day
- If this had ick or velvet isn't it kill the fish in a day or two.
- If it had some disease wouldn't its noticeable before it reach critical state (how can it be overnight?)
- In the past i had seen Tangs, get ich/velvet and I see spots gradually increase in a few days before it gets worst and fish starts slow down, how come its not like that, are Angel hard to detect.
- Also when i noticed fish wasn't doing good, i did a 70-80% water change, did FW dip, and looks it made it worse, and i wonder if i left like that and treat very mildly or less water change rather than sudden panic actions it would've been better.
- I don't know what this parzipro is and should i keep in hand all time, is this effective at this critical stages.

Would be good to understand so i can learn from my mistakes if i ever need to handle this situation again.

A question for #reefsquad - is vinegar an effective disinfectant for 'all' parasites - included encysted ones? I always wonder when I see people using vinegar - when a bleach solution is the one recommended in all of the research?

 

[Dr. Reef]

@MnFish1
I use vinegar solution for cleaning purposes only, for disinfecting I always use bleach.

 

[balajeek15]

If I am going to setup this QT that will also be on CP for next 30 days, does it matter to be so perfect to clean to the level of bleach? wouldn't the purpose of CP is to kill the parasites!

 

[vetteguy53081]

Obviously you will want to use a clean tank to avoid other issue. Purpose yes to assure fish are free of parasites, etc BEFORE entering display tank.

 

[Reefahholic]

Bleach @ 5 TBSP per 10/G for at least 1-2 hours.

 

[HotRocks]

If I am going to setup this QT that will also be on CP for next 30 days, does it matter to be so perfect to clean to the level of bleach? wouldn't the purpose of CP is to kill the parasites!

It's actually important to sterilize QTs especially when using CP. When treating with CP you should sterilize every 2-3 batches. It removes any biofilm etc. Which can degrade CP. Also you get rid of any unwanted parasites and bacteria as well when sterilizing.

 

[balajeek15]

Bleach @ 5 TBSP per 10/G for at least 1-2 hours.

So you fill the fresh water in tank and run all equipments with bleach for 2 hours and then remove all water, rinse and dry and ready for next use? or once I move the fish from QT to DT, use the existing water in QT to start bleach process?