Fox Face not eating

melypr1985 · Dec 28, 2016

Jena Cooper said:
You have no idea how relieved I am to hear those words for once . . .
And @melypr1985, @Brew12 - The white spot I saw on Nick's fin the other night is still there - in the exact place it was. I would assume that 48 hours later, if it was an ich parasite, it would have released by now, and wouldn't be visible. Is that correct? So if that is the case - I would call it one successful save and transfer so far! (Feel free to burst my bubble if need be). But I had some hair algae growing on the drain pipe, and a few patches of algae (my husband called it broccoli) growing on my one powerhead and 2 spots on the rocks - it is ALL gone! ALL of it!! He had demolished the algae! And another interesting thing I thought I would share is that in QT - the foxface stopped eating mysis (I fed flake food and nori for him and Judy (the sailfin), and mysis for the other 2 once a day - he didn't touch the shrimp). All of the sudden, back in the main tank, he goes for the mysis!! And he doesn't fight with the clowns. He lets them have their own!

Give it another 2 days to see if it falls off. After that, you can probably assume it's lymph. Is it getting bigger? No new spots have showed up at all?

Brew12 · Dec 28, 2016

Jena Cooper said:
You have no idea how relieved I am to hear those words for once . . .
And @melypr1985, @Brew12 - The white spot I saw on Nick's fin the other night is still there - in the exact place it was. I would assume that 48 hours later, if it was an ich parasite, it would have released by now, and wouldn't be visible. Is that correct? So if that is the case - I would call it one successful save and transfer so far! (Feel free to burst my bubble if need be). But I had some hair algae growing on the drain pipe, and a few patches of algae (my husband called it broccoli) growing on my one powerhead and 2 spots on the rocks - it is ALL gone! ALL of it!! He had demolished the algae! And another interesting thing I thought I would share is that in QT - the foxface stopped eating mysis (I fed flake food and nori for him and Judy (the sailfin), and mysis for the other 2 once a day - he didn't touch the shrimp). All of the sudden, back in the main tank, he goes for the mysis!! And he doesn't fight with the clowns. He lets them have their own!

I'm going to burst your bubble and say it is inconclusive. I will say that there is a good chance it is not ich but it is a little too early to say for sure. In theory, the only way that he should be able to have ich is if the clowns brought it in with them. Just continue to monitor him. Rough huh.. having to stare at an aquarium?

Mini Coop · Dec 28, 2016

melypr1985 said:
Give it another 2 days to see if it falls off. After that, you can probably assume it's lymph. Is it getting bigger? No new spots have showed up at all?

I don't think it is getting bigger. I think it is kind of shiny, so I am wondering if the sailfin might have pecked at him and got a spot on his fin? (I have no idea) But no, no new spots, and the clowns are completely clear. Trust me - I have been examining every chance I get!

It maybe even looks a little long, not so much round.
@Brew12 gee thanks . . .

Yeah - well, I do love watching my tank . . . LOVE! I just will enjoy it a little more when this is settled and I don't have an adreneline rush every time I see a spot!

HAHAHA
And I figure out what this dang protein skimmer is doing . . .

melypr1985 · Dec 28, 2016

Jena Cooper said:
I don't think it is getting bigger. I think it is kind of shiny, so I am wondering if the sailfin might have pecked at him and got a spot on his fin? (I have no idea) But no, no new spots, and the clowns are completely clear. Trust me - I have been examining every chance I get! It maybe even looks a little long, not so much round.
@Brew12 gee thanks . . .
Yeah - well, I do love watching my tank . . . LOVE! I just will enjoy it a little more when this is settled and I don't have an adreneline rush every time I see a spot! HAHAHA
And I figure out what this dang protein skimmer is doing . . .

Even if the clowns did bring ich in the tank none of them are going to die in another couple days. Just continue to watch them and see what the spot does. Did you already post a picture? I think you did...

Mini Coop · Dec 28, 2016

melypr1985 said:
Even if the clowns did bring ich in the tank none of them are going to die in another couple days. Just continue to watch them and see what the spot does. Did you already post a picture? I think you did...

Yep. And a little video.

melypr1985 · Dec 28, 2016

Jena Cooper said:
Yep. And a little video.

Right right... Sorry I forget. A couple more days won't hurt and may be more conclusive than a picture.

Brew12 · Dec 28, 2016

Jena Cooper said:
And I figure out what this dang protein skimmer is doing . . .

Not that it will be much help but it might make you feel better. It took me 3 solid weeks to reliably pull skimmate from my tank. I had to keep playing around with the raising and lowering it and adjusting the input valve.
I specifically asked Reef Squad to put together an article to help new folks adjust their skimmer and it hasn't happened yet. Not because they don't want to, but because there are so many variables that it makes writing an article very difficult.
Just do your best and maybe ask questions in the equipment thread if you struggle to get yours working right after about a week.

Mini Coop · Dec 28, 2016

Brew12 said:
Not that it will be much help but it might make you feel better. It took me 3 solid weeks to reliably pull skimmate from my tank. I had to keep playing around with the raising and lowering it and adjusting the input valve.
I specifically asked Reef Squad to put together an article to help new folks adjust their skimmer and it hasn't happened yet. Not because they don't want to, but because there are so many variables that it makes writing an article very difficult.
Just do your best and maybe ask questions in the equipment thread if you struggle to get yours working right after about a week.

Ok! Well, at least that makes me feel a little less stupid. One minute it looks like the bubbles are popping right at the top of the collection cup, and then when I check an hour later, they are either down in the bottom of the main shaft or the entire thing is overflowing! Lol. Grrrr.
Just keep swimming, just keep swimming.....

Brew12 · Dec 29, 2016

Jena Cooper said:
Ok! Well, at least that makes me feel a little less stupid. One minute it looks like the bubbles are popping right at the top of the collection cup, and then when I check an hour later, they are either down in the bottom of the main shaft or the entire thing is overflowing! Lol. Grrrr.
Just keep swimming, just keep swimming.....

lol I lived that battle!

Give it a few days for the skimmer throat to "break in". Once all of the oils from manufacturing are stripped off and you get a coating of slime on it things will improve. Then you just need to adjust the height of the skimmer in the sump (or the sump water level if you can). I believe my skimmer was supposed to work best in 8"-10" of water but I have it at 7" and might raise it another inch.

Mini Coop · Dec 31, 2016

Alright...terrible puking feeling is back...yesterday and the day before...no new spots and the one on his fin has stayed the same. Then today all of the sudden he has a big white spot in his top fin. I have posted a couple of pics. Funny thing is the one on his fin isn't what I thought it was. I'm so hopeful that it is just a piece of sand or something. Please let me know what you think. No signs on the clowns at all yet. Just monitor for a couple of days? I hate the wait and see, but not sure I have any other choice right now.

Humblefish · Dec 31, 2016

@Jena Cooper I think you are probably still just dealing with Lympho. It can spread to other parts of the body/fins, and will sometimes get worse before it suddenly clears up.

Mini Coop · Dec 31, 2016

Humblefish said:
@Jena Cooper I think you are probably still just dealing with Lympho. It can spread to other parts of the body/fins, and will sometimes get worse before it suddenly clears up.

Ok. I'm sure hoping so. What is that? Anything I need to do to help him out?

Humblefish · Dec 31, 2016

Jena Cooper said:
Ok. I'm sure hoping so. What is that? Anything I need to do to help him out?

Maintaining excellent water quality (via water changes) and soaking the fish's food with a vitamin supplement (exs. Selcon, Zoecon, Vita-chem) seems to help: https://www.reef2reef.com/threads/lymphocystis.257461/

Sealife Aquariums Corp. · Dec 31, 2016

The fox face looks healthy with a well rounded body. Water changes and vitamin supplements is a good idea. I add coral calcium over the counter for humans, deleted in some warm water.

Mini Coop · Jan 1, 2017

Well, maybe sand? Time will tell. The white spot is gone. Now we wait . . . again . . . to see if any others show up over the next few days. Last night it looked like a smudge instead of such a distinct spot and looks like nothing at all this morning. I don't have any of the things you recommended yet to soak their food in, but I do have the garlic - so I will use that today and tomorrow until what I ordered comes. The other 2 fish are in QT and copper until Jan 5. Then I will switch out their water and monitor for 2 weeks before switching to DT. That is, IF no other spots show up on the fish in the DT to make sure I am not putting them back into a bad situation.

Can you give me some suggestions for food? Currently I feed:
Seaweed in the morning
Pellets (New Life Spectrum Thera +A Regular formula) or Flakes (Ocean Nutrition Formula Two) in the afternoon (Ususally switch every other day for which one I use)
Mysis in the evenings (usually soaked in garlic) - I just thaw an hour before I feed, don't mix with anything.

Is there another combo I should be doing, or suggestion for something else they need?

Brew12 · Jan 1, 2017

Jena Cooper said:
Well, maybe sand? Time will tell. The white spot is gone. Now we wait . . . again . . . to see if any others show up over the next few days. Last night it looked like a smudge instead of such a distinct spot and looks like nothing at all this morning. I don't have any of the things you recommended yet to soak their food in, but I do have the garlic - so I will use that today and tomorrow until what I ordered comes. The other 2 fish are in QT and copper until Jan 5. Then I will switch out their water and monitor for 2 weeks before switching to DT. That is, IF no other spots show up on the fish in the DT to make sure I am not putting them back into a bad situation.

Can you give me some suggestions for food? Currently I feed:
Seaweed in the morning
Pellets (New Life Spectrum Thera +A Regular formula) or Flakes (Ocean Nutrition Formula Two) in the afternoon (Ususally switch every other day for which one I use)
Mysis in the evenings (usually soaked in garlic) - I just thaw an hour before I feed, don't mix with anything.

Is there another combo I should be doing, or suggestion for something else they need?

Happy New Year, Jena! I hope this year is easier on you than the end of last year!

Your feeding looks similar to what I do.
Red nori in the morning
Pellets (BZA blend with other stuff) from an auto feeder in the afternoon.
Larry's Fish Frenzy in the evening. I prefer this over mysis personally. I will be switching over to LRS Reef Frenzy when my Fish Frenzy runs out.